Titanic is a love story set against real historical events: the sinking of the great ocean liner amongst the ice packs of the North Atlantic in 1912. Directed by James Cameron; famous for Aliens, True Lies and the Terminator movies, and starring actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Billy Zane; it is listed amongst the top ten grossing films of all time. It has won eleven Oscar awards including the much sought after award of 'Best Motion Picture', tying with the illustrious record set by Ben Hur in 1959. In its first year of release it sold more tickets than any other motion picture in history and it was the first ever to gross one billion dollars in worldwide

I will now look at how representation is used to distinguish the third class passengers from the first class in the clip. Cal, Rose and her mother arrive in a carriage with another carriage of baggage following. The belongings that they take on board with them are status symbols. The fact that the horn of the carriage is blown suggests they want to draw attention to themselves and this obviously works as the camera cuts to a mid-shot of a little girl turning around to see what is happening. A high angle shot is used when the door to the carriage is opened and the driver holds his hand out to Rose who is wearing a massive hat, which for a while conceals her identity creating mystery and ambiguity as the audience wonders who she is. Her outfit is mainly white which connotes purity and makes her stand out in the crowd. The music helps to create suspense as it builds up to a crescendo when Rose finally lifts her head. We can tell from the amount of focus the camera places on her at this point that she will be an important character. Cal then steps out and is presented as a stereotypical handsome gentleman, wearing a top hat, waistcoat and suit. We can tell by their clothing and arrival alone that they are first class passengers. Cal leads which represents his controlling nature, and they walk to board the ship, moving between the working class people. This creates a contrast between appearances of the two classes; they are radiant and well dressed whereas the poor are plainly dressed in drab colours and stand waving to their friends and families who have been 'lucky' enough to get a ticket in third class. Cal, Rose and Ruth are faded into the background as third class passengers are brought into the foreground, telling us that the focus is now on them. Action codes tell us that the third class passengers are having health inspections; a small boys mouth is being examined whilst a man is having his beard and hair inspected for lice. At the same time we hear a voice saying, "third class passengers queue here for the health inspection", which acts as a narrative code by telling us what is going on. This diegetic part of the narrative runs parallel with what is happening and highlights the difference in the way the two classes of passenger are treated; unsurprisingly first class passengers are allowed to walk straight onto the ship without an inspection. Tracking is used to follow Cal, Rose and her mother as they slowly walk up the ramp dressed in lavish clothing with their heads held high. High-key top lighting above them makes them look important because it highlights them walking up the ramp like royalty. The camera tilts downwards to focus on some well-groomed dogs boarding the ship with other first class passengers, which suggests that third class passengers get treated worse than animals. We see this idea again later on in the film when a close up is used to show the dogs being walked on the third class deck and Tommy Ryan, Jack and Fabrizio's Irish friend, says "that's typical, first class dogs come down here to take a shite." To this Jack replies, "Lets us know where we rank in the scheme of things" and Tommy says, "Like we could forget". It also comes up again when the ship is sinking,

(Titanic-BFI Modern Classics pg. 72)

"Says Tommy Ryan in a statement that is meant to drive home the film's class analysis, "If this is the way the rats are going, that's good enough for me".

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2392
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)