ANALYSING A CHARACTER: DOWNTOWN ABBEY

How is a character portrayed using the micro elements? 

In this clip the newspaper boy represents the lower class. This can be seen through a long shot where he is on the left side of the screen besides the massive castle which is shown through a wide shot. In this shot the newspaper boy appears almost as a shadow and is barely visible as his dark, dull saggy clothes camouflages with the surrounding bushes. This creates the idea of "unimportance" as this shot does not focus on him. In addition, the size of the castle compared to the boy shows a contrast in power, because the castle's massiveness makes the newspaper boy appear weak and powerless. 

Moreover, lack of power can be seen in a mid shot where he rides his bicycle quickly. In this shot the sound of the bicycle traveling on the gravel is turned up ( so louder than the other sound effects used) this is to emphasise that he is hurrying and shows the importance of his job and gives the audience an idea of how much he relies on his job. Also, the fact that we never get a close up shot of the newspaper boy shows his unimportance in the film.