Gender and Age Representation in 'Lovely Bones' - Olivia Farren

The Lovely Bones (2009)



In the opening scene of The Lovely Bones, age and gender is represented through aspects of mise en scene, camerawork, sound and editing.

Straight away we see a little girl playing on the floor, the girl about 2/3 years old, and this is presented to us in a number of ways:

- The fact that she is on the floor tells us that she is young as she clearly doesn't have head of family status, and that she obviously doesn't mind being on the floor as she is too busy playing, like young children do, to care.

- Surrounding her in the shot are various toys, such as a teddy bear and a picture book, and these items are universally associated with very young children, which tells the audience of her age.

- Along with the composition of the shot communicating her age to the audience, her costume tells us of her young age. The bright red dungarees with the bright red shoes is stereotypically associated with young children.

- The camera in the opening sequence is filming from a high angle, this shows that she is being looked down upon by the audience, as she is younger and very little, also showing that because of her being so young she doesn't have any authority to be looked up to.


-  Blonde curly hair is stereotypically associated with little girls, the blonde also representing the innocence of her because of her age.

- The key lighting in the opening sequence is highlighting the little girls face. The bright white light reflects off of her pale skin, rosy cheeks and light hair which gives an angelic affect, therefore presenting her innocence and age to the audience.

In the opening sequence, it then forwards to '12 years later', when the little girl is now fourteen:

- To present her as now being a teenage girl, the girls appearance has clearly changed.