A gun was not fired until twenty minuets after Derek Bentley had said
“Let him have it”
This information was also left out of the Article, which makes it seem biased because the reader would then automatically think that when Derek Bentley said
“Let him have it”
He meant give him the gun. But by leaving this information out it would persuade the reader to believe that the gun was used immediately after Derek Bentley had said these words. Which leads the reader to think that Derek Bentley meant shoot him.
The journalists can easily make the reader think something that is not even there by leaving just a few pieces of information out.
The article talks about the killing of Constable Miles where the journalist has used some emotional language, which could be bias towards the two boys.
“A family man with an expecting wife and two young children.”
This is biased because the journalist has used emotional language to sway the reader to feel sorry for his family. This could lead to the reader Blaming Christopher Craig and Derek Bentley for taking this man away from his family. Also the Journalist has wrote
“Constable Miles had loyally served the force for 12 years. He is now dead. It was a brutal killing.”
This emotional language is used to make the reader think that he had a good life and served a good life and then was Brutally killed because of Craig And Bentley.
Some things in the Article were presented as facts where as they are in fact opinions.
“Two suspicious armed men”
This is not a fact this is an opinion this is very biased towards Craig and Bentley because it implies that they were out to commit a murder not a robbery.
“Ruthless raiders”
Is also an opinion presented as fact this suggests that they were master criminals but in fact they was not.
In the film there are many scenes that show bias, by using different lighting, music, and camera techniques, and script. In this case however the film clearly wants to use Derek Bentley as a victim.
In the opening sequence the lighting is dark and dull. Orange is used to show fire and then the camera shows close up shots of events happening everyone looks confused. The close up shots show bias in the way they just show different tragic events happening this is not biased towards Bentley at the very beginning but then the camera zooms in on Derek Bentley after hearing the words
“Derek”
Repeatedly used by the father so we recognise who the character is covered in rubble from the bombing.
The music in the opening sequence kept getting louder at the beginning this is to draw your attention into the film right at the beginning and then the camera zoom shot and show you who you are feeling sympathetic for and why. Therefore by the start of the film, even as a child, the audience has come to see Bentley as a victim and feels sympathy for his predicament.
I see Derek as a quiet boy, very secretive and a lonely person. Derek has quite a lot of pets and my impression from the film is that the pets are his friends.
The scene that shows this is when Derek’s sister brings round some comics but he doesn’t want her to come in. it almost seems as if he would rather sit on his own and read comics this shows that he is a lonely person. He finally lets her in when she tells him just how alone he is going to be if he doesn’t speak to anyone.
In contrast Craig is portrayed as a gangster who likes to play with guns. He takes them everywhere, and appears immature in his behaviour and actions. I thought this when Derek and Craig first meet at the train station. Chris Craig jumped at Derek with a gun as if it was a game this shows his immaturity.
Derek Bentley and Christopher Craig are two different people with two different minds.
The friend ship between the Two boys, Christopher Craig and Derek Bentley, seems to be more one sided than the other. Derek Bentley desperately wanted the friendship of Christopher Craig, whereas Craig uses Derek for his own ends. The butcher’s scene supports this when Derek takes the keys from the shop to prove he is good enough for the gang and at this point has started to dress like Christopher as well which shows just how much Christopher Craig misleads Derek Bentley.
At the beginning of the trail scene there is a long shot from the back of the courtroom showing the judge as a well-respected character with everyone looking at him. This caused the feeling of tension between the judge and the rest of the court. Slow panning around the room was used to show peoples expressions, which seem cold and non-sympathetic towards Derek. Then showing his expression, which is very venerable.
Just After Derek was sentenced to death there was a low angle shot at Derek Bentley this was important because it shows him as heroic for it has the audience looking at him so the lighting is coming out of his behind him symbolic to his innocence.
Derek Bentley had a lot of support from the country it showed this when the post man brought in a sack full of letters from people trying to help but none of this helped Derek Bentley was still hung and this shows biased towards him that the fact they just ignored it.
In the execution scene dark lighting was used to show death and depression. The camera used panning around the room again to show peoples expressions and at the final part when Derek gets executed bright lighting was used to show saintly.
Bias functions a lot in the media and can present opinions as facts and use emotional language to sway it’s readers or audience, whereas the film uses different camera shots and lighting to set a certain mood. All non-fiction texts are biased, and we have to be careful about realising how our opinions are influenced.
