How is characterisation established in different media products?

By Jay Bullimore

The Protagonist• The protagonist within any movie or television programme are characters

who play the ‘leading role’. These are key features of a protagonist within a film:

The protagonist might be the character that has the most screen time within the movie or television programme.

The protagonist is meant to connect to the audience during the course of the movie or film, we as the audience would want the best possible outcome towards the end of the movie and they may be saddened if its not what we expect.

Their role within the movie may not be good socially or morally even if they are playing as the protagonist, yet we as the audience will still want what is best for them.

• Within the first few minutes of the movie Jumper (2008) the protagonist is presented as a usual guy in the world, he has no powers, he is showcased in such a normal life. Until one day he suddenly teleports when he is in trouble, this automatically changes the audiences perception and they can straight away tell that he is the protagonist. With the fact that the protagonist didn’t even know what happens suggests that he didn’t know what he actually did and what he’s capable of.

Jumper (2008)

The Antagonist• The antagonists within films are generally on the opposing side from the

protagonists. However, they aren’t always the bad guys and can sometimes play along side them, but they usually have opposing views as the protagonist. Antagonists key features are:

From my experiences the antagonist is generally someone that fights against the protagonist within the movie, and usually the audience doesn’t care what happens to them. However, in some cases the audience could be more connected to these as much as the protagonist.

They are supposed to be presented (at first) as an unbeatable force but as the movie continues, the protagonist finds a way of destroying them and eliminating them.

Films can test the audience and make them believe that someone else may be the antagonist, much like the protagonist.

V for Vendetta (2005)• In the movie called V for Vendetta the masks play an important part of the

antagonists character, the bold colours of white and black contrast with what it is he actually does within the movie.

The masks also present the fear of the unknown within the movie this helps to create an atmosphere and build the tension for the audience.