The Walking Dead - Season 2 Episode 12 (AMC 2012)

Representations
The Walking Dead - Season 2 Episode 12 (AMC 2012)
http://www.zzstream.com/2012/03/walking-dead-season-2-episode-12-better.html

I'm going to be analysing the representations of Rick and Shane in the scene where they are looking for the prisoner in the woods (start 32.45 end 40.00)

Right at the start of the scene, when Rick and Shane exchange dialogue, Shane is on the left hand side of the screen where as Rick is on the right, this helps to show how they are opposing each other. Also, Rick chooses to wear his police uniform which represents him as a more positive character as police are supposed to stop crime. Shane chooses to wear black, representing him more negatively, also the fact he has shaven his head  tends to stereotype him as a thug.
 Shane tells many lies such as the prisoner took his gun, the audience know he is lying and can also tell that Rick also thinks he is lying, though he has no proof. He gestures for Rick to lead, and Shane follows him, watching his every move, almost stalking him.
 We then cut back to Daryl and Glenn examining the dead prisoner's body, they discover his neck has been broken and he has no bite marks, they instantly assume it was Shane as it is the obvious answer however neither of them like to say it.
 We then cut to a long shot of the are that Rick and Shane are entering, in order to establish the scene, this scene is chosen rather than the woods so that it would be less dark and there would be more open space for action. The next shot is a medium-long shot of the two characters emerging from the woods with Shane still stalking Rick. Rick begins to start making acquisitions saying the "barn door was shut when T-Dog rolled up" and Shane makes a stupid ambiguous comment "I saw that too" at this point not even really trying to hide the fact he did it because he knows he has Shane in the perfect position that he wants him.
 Rick stops, without even turning round and puts his gun away in it's holster and says "so this is where you plan to do it" and he knows that Shane is going to try to kill him because he wants to be with Lori. Shane lifts his gun, he is on the left of the frame facing right and it cuts to Rick on the right facing left and he questions Shane. Every single time it cuts between these two characters, they appear on opposite sides of the shot in order to really show their opposition.
 Shane puts his gun away and puts his hands up asking for Rick to raise his gun at him but Rick plays the 'good cop' and refuses, he wants to do everything he possibly can to stop either one having to kill the other.
 Shane tends to shout or talk in a very gruff voice, where as Rick talks quietly and tries to talk him out of it in a civilized manor.
 Now Shane gets angry and points his gun straight at Rick's head instructing him to "Raise your gun!". Rick continues with the 'good cop' act, telling Shane that he will have to gun down an unarmed man. Shane seems to have no problem with doing this despite being a former police officer. Shane is strongly represented as a very selfish character here as he will sacrifice others for the good of himself, even killing his 'best friend' just so he can get with his wife.
 Rick tries to reason with him trying to make him put down his gun and walk back to the farm, telling him about Lori and Carl who he loves. Rick moves towards Shane who still has his gun pointed directly at him and he goes to lay his gun on the ground but Shane grabs it. Rick immediately pulls a knife out and stabs Shane in the chest, Shane tries to shoot but misses.
 Rick lays him on the ground and says "Damn you for making me do this Shane", he stands over his body until he is dead and begins to cry because he has been forced to kill his best friend for the good of his family. Though technically Rick should be represented badly here as he just murdered his best friend, he did it to protect his family and also because Shane was a danger to the rest of the group and probably would have killed more people if he had stayed alive.

To sum up, Shane is represented as a traitor and a villain because of the sort of things he says, how he looks and also his actions. Rick is represented strongly as an honourable character who will do anything to protect his family, he is not seen as selfish as if he were alone he would have let Shane shoot him.