Essay

In Monarch of the glen we a spoon fed a amazing contrast in characters, Amy a girl that is presented as being older than she really is and the headmaster a old, wise, angry man. These opposites are part of Straus's theory of binary opposite, this states that there is always two opposites that cause conflict. The portrail of Amy starts in a negative way almost instantly as the first scene is of a rural area with very stereotypical dress with a big volume of water, this follows the almost stereotypical view of Scotland ( very rural, with lots of locks/ lakes), this scene then changes to show Amy dressed in baggy jeans and a bright yellow top run into the shot, the camera follows portraying her importance however this importance is almost insulted by the way she slouches to one side.When the headmaster is seen Amy is almost fully alienated, he is dressed in very stereotypical clothes ( blazer, tie, jumper) also the caster has picked a amazing actor to play him as he is almost facial and physically a stereotype of a head master ( old, posh-ish voice).

When the crash happens the Headmaster portrays the immense differences between respect and age, when it is just him and Amy, he yells and is very aggressive with his body language however when the dad comes into shot his body language improves becoming less aggressive however he still has a small hint of anger in his voice. Where as the Headmaster is almost lent forward not scared at all Amy is hiding behind the dad the mom and her boyfriend, the camera angle almost looks down at her, this is to make the audience feel some sort of sympathy/empathy.

In the house the Headmaster is very head-strong, when he is let into this very iconic oak panel study he seems not only at home as a stereotype but also as a person, he almost leads the dad to the brandy flasks, whereas when the dad walks out to confront Amy she is very submissive to him ( not being aggressive and standing up but staying seated until he pulls her up), also she as a young person is being portrayed as almost trigger-happy as she yells to him "I hate you".

When Amy is in her room we as a audience realize, just how young she is though the amount of pink in her room, the magazines spread open over her bed, the pictures around her mirror of good times, the teddy bears and this big "girly writing" all over the card, in the background we hear birds cheeping giving the audience a sense of her innocence, how ever when the older women comes into the room she is shot from outside the window this shows amys isolation compared to the other older characters.