HOW IS SEXUALITY REPRESENTED THROUGH THE MACRO ELEMENTS IN THIS CLIP?
sexuality is represented through the misenscene. i denote bright clothing on the two homosexuals Justin and Marc such as pink purple and yellow connoting they have confidence and like to wear feminine colours as it shows part of what they are which is conforming the stereotypical representation of a homosexual.
moving on they both use lots of hand gestures which is a typical trait a woman has. for example when Justin runs to get the pen he pops his hands out conforming the stereotype as he shows aspects of femininity. Another example is of Marc when he has his hands on his hips connoting he is feminine and subverting the typical view of a man being masculine.
Moreover i denote that Marc works at a fashion magazine company this connotes that he is fashionable and has trendy contemporary ideas of how to dress which is also conforming the stereotype of a gay man as they are stereotypically thought to be fashionable and usually have a job associated with a job in the fashion industry and salon etc.
The cinematography also shows the representation of sexuality. The first cinematography i picked up on is a mid shot of Marc and Justin which is connoting their relationship and portraying the bond they have. This shot reveals that homosexuals are nice polite and caring which is conforming the stereotype as Marc does not know Justin that well as he is Betty's Nephew.
Another shot used in this clip is a low angle on the interns while Marc talks connoting that he is superior in comparison to them and is the more significant dominating character which is subverting the stereotype of a homosexual as they are seen as complete opposites to what Marc has been portrayed as which is an insignificant inferior character.
A low over the shoulder shot has been used on Marc connoting that Justin is in power as he has the information that his boss has asked him to find out about.
sound has been used to show the representation sexuality. the diagetic sound of Marc's voice connotes his sexality as he picks out something someone would not expect a man to pick out . "now you need sun screen" because Marc talks about body products it reveal so much about his character such as he is feminine, like to take care of himself something a typical man would not care about.
HOW IS THE REPRESENTATION OF REGIONAL IDENTITY SHOWN THROUGH THE MICRO ELEMENTS IN THIS CLIP?
The first area of representation that shows regional identity that i am going to talk about is cinematography. The clip starts of with an establishing birds eye view shot which is zooming out of the estate in west 10 London. This shot connotes that everyone live tightly packed together in this area and it’s possibly the councils flats conforming that people who are less educated and are on low income live around here.
the second shot is an extreme close up of a black boy who i denote seems to be handing over a package to a white man connoting there is something dodgy going on conforming the stereotype of some black as many people will associate black people with any type of crime.
the next shot we see is a close up shot of the white man showing his facial expression which looks very serious and suspicious connoting that he is doing some dodgy.
moving on the shot is followed up by a extreme close up of the black boy which shows his scared and suspicious facial expression connoting that he could be lying to the white man and is trying to make it look like he is not.
The next shot used is a an extreme close up shot of the black boy connoting that he is in fact not scared but feels like he is in control and is dominant however this is followed up by a very extreme close up shot of the white man who looks as if he is thinking as i connoted this from his moving head which is nodding up and down. This connotes he is superior and the black boy is inferior.
and the shot used is another close up shot of Alyssa’s face showing her facial expression which connotes she is upset/ sad about something which could either be that she is missing her boyfriend who probably died in a violent gang fight which would be conforming their regional identity stereotype or because he has gone away and she is missing him.
Moving on, another area that shows the representation of regional identity is through the editing techniques used. The first micro element used is shot reverse shot of the black boy and the white man connoting their relationship. Over the shoulder shot of a white piece of paper with a note on it held by Alyssa connoting that it is personal or that it’s a secret which she has to hide and not tell anyone about. Another of the shoulder shot is used when the black boy knock on her door this connotes their relationship and bond as they have very little space between them.
Next we see the shot reverse shot editing technique again, this time of Alyssa and the black boy connoting the relationship they may have is based on love as the shots reveal their facial expression which is happy shown through their smiles. Moving back to the beginning a tilt shot was used on the white man going up connoting he is dominant which subverts the stereotype of a white man as they are seen to be more inferior in the real world in contrast to a black man.
The last editing technique I picked up on was the cross cutting between two shot from one place to another connoting that these two places link in some way which is conformed when we see the black boy at Alyssa’s door this connotes that the area they live in is small and its take n time to move from on estate to another.
The type of editing used in this clip is continuity editing which is when everything goes in order and there are no cuts to the past or future which gives a sense of realism which is one of the features of a TV drama.
Sound is one of the macro elements that show the representations of regional identity and in this clip plays a big part in portraying it.
The asynchronous sound of the black boy connotes that they are doing something illegal which conforms the stereotypical view of this region as most people within the area is most probably doing some sort of illegal activity. "He wants nothing to do with it" this signifies that the other boy involved might not be from this region and doesn’t agree with what they are doing. Furthermore because the sound went over the white man’s shot it could signify that he is significant and plays a big part with in the drama or within the dodgy activity.
Moving on the diagetic dialogue of the black boy conforms his regional identity as he uses slang which is mainly used among people who have no education. “mans got to do his own ting" "trust me blood" the second diagetic dialogue quote from the clip connotes that they use this colloquial language to show a sign respect to each other.
Silence is used over most of the white man’s shot connoting that he is dominant and he doesn’t need words to show his power because his image does all that already. the silence could be seen as the white man giving the black man respect just to shot that he is in control or the whole situation.
Another asynchronous sound has been used but this time of Alyssa mother as Alyssa slams the door "Alyssa I want some answers man" this connotes that they either don’t have a mother and daughter relationship or that this is how everyone in that region speak. This conforms the stereotype of people who live in council flats have a lack of education.
Lastly the non diagetic Caribbean music at the end of the clip connotes that the atmosphere is good and build up a happy mood which signifies that the two youths are close.
More over the last macro element that shows the representation of regional identity is the mise en scene.
the light of the clip is all bright connoting that the activity taking place is natural for this region which is slightly subverting the stereotype as you would associate dark dull and dim lighted scenery around what they are doing to show that it is bad however it doesn’t which suggests the whole region probably is into what they are passing to each other.
The black boy is wearing a bright yellow jumper and the mixed race girl is wearing yellow and blue connoting that they are teenagers and innocent. The choice of colours conform their regional identity as well as black people are known for their traditional coloured clothing’s. On the other hand the white man is wearing causal black clothing connoting that he is the antagonist as black represents death danger and all sort of negative things.
The props that are used in the clip helps represent their regional identity too. the first prop is the package which I denote contains drugs this is usually seen handled by black people which conforms their stereotype.
Furthermore the jewelry everyone in the clip are wearing this connotes that they are trying to protect their wealth and to show that they are not slums.
the scene were Alyssa closes the door on her mum connotes that she has more power and is superior to her mum as her mum doesn’t try to come in her this also connotes that her room is the only place she will get privacy in as her mum does not come in.
another prop the eyes shadow pot brought by the black boy connotes that she must of left it in his car or at his house which signifies that they might be sleeping together which conforms the stereotype of young people which is that they have sex under age and end up having children at a young age.
how is disability represented through the micro elements?
in this essay i am going to talk about how disabilty is represented in the clip coming down the mountain throught the 4 macro elements mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and editing. The first areas i will talk about is cinematography and how it has been used to represent disability.
the first shot is a mid shot of the physically able boy Ben connoting he is the main character and the protagonist of this tv drama show. following this shot is a low angle establishing shot of the estate where the brothers live, the shot is zooming in as it is shown connoting this is a singnificant place, their shelter and somewhere where they will always feel safe. futhermore the zoom is an editing technique which is one of the macro elemts, leading the shot from outside to inside.
once we are inside the house we see a extreme close up shot of the disabled brother looking at the spoon full of weatabix, this conotes that he doesnt really have a care in the world about things that are important but of things that intrest him such as the food that he likes as he is glaring at it as if it was really fasinating.
The next shot we see is a close up shot of Ben as his mother is kissing his diabled brother before leaving conoting the disabled boy is much more important and needs lots of love however the facial expression of the physically able boy signifies he feels left out and also need to feel loved and isnt because his brother is disabled.
Moreover there are lots of high and low angles used in this clip. The first low angle we see is of Ben with a gun in his hand with an eye line match aiming at his brother, this coonotes he is jealous of the attention his brother gets and wants to kill him as he has said this in the clip too. Fouthermore this shows that disabled people get more attention as they are inferior and need support in life and with out it they could end up being effected more mentally which means the phuysically brother would have to be treated un equally conforming the stereotype of disabled people.
moving on a high angle is used on Ben however does not look week or vulnerable as his takes up most of the shot making him look dominant incontrast to his disabled brother who is on the ground looking up at Ben. Because Bens brother is disabled he hasnt got the power to climp the tree and is something we would expect a disabled person to do which confroms the stereotype of a disabled person not being able to things for them selves and need other to do it.
.Editing is used to porttray the representation of disability. montage editing is used at random in this clip cross cutting from ben to black and white shotd of animals the pace of the shots are slightly which may be in away representing the way Ben feels about his disabled brother this conforms the way a someone who is physically able and has a member of family is not able.
another editing used was the 180 degree rule at the begining on the midshot of ben panning from one side to the other to help us establish he is our main character the protagonist. shot reverse shot has been used several time to portray the relationship between the two brothers. the shot present how they feel towards each other as the phisically ables facial expression signifies he doesnt like his brother for various reasons and the disabled facial expression insinuates that he doesnt really know what is going on around him as he is fouccussed on what is on his hands.
another editiing technique used is eyeline match, this is used to show what the disable character is looking at which was a sausage, once he sees is he takes it this conforms the stereotype that they dont really know whats going on in the world as he took food of someone elses plate.
another aspect that shows the representation of disability is the mise en scene. The mise en scene show the mother kissing the disabled sons head connoting she needs to show effectionate to him in order for him to feel normal and part of the familly.
when the mother leaves the father is holding a prop which is the knife this weapon makes him look dominant and powerful as a knife has various meaning behind which makes him look intimdating and superior.
the costume and makeup of most people are casual, t shirts, shirts, hoodys and blouse even for the disable boy connoting equality helping the lessabled boy to fit in and feel like he isnt diferant. the costume of the strangers on the streets were also casual however most of them were wearing black connoting they are the antagonist in the disabled boys eyes as they as differant to him and will need to be protected from them inorder for him to feel safe and lead a normal life.
futhermore whne they are sitting at the bus the disabled boy always has a prop with him some kind of and it changes every day connoting he is a child and is pretty much innocent doesent know what he is doing and just wants to have fun.
also when the cinematography showed the disabled boy to be week and vulnerable when ben was up on the tree the diabled boy had an icecream on his hand this signifies and reinforces the idea that he is jsut like a child as he is taking great pleasure in licking the icecream as he looke really happy.
lastly rules of third have been used to show the positioning of the characters the disabled guy is loacted at the centre of the shot signifying he is the main attention with is able brother on oside and the antagonist which is just a stranger on the other connoting his vulnerability when he is with strangers and that he will always need someone with him th balance out the weekness so no harm will be in his way.
The last aspect of the macro element is sound which also helps in conveying the representation of disablity. the first sound we hear is the diagetic voice over of Ben at the Begining of the clip connoting that he could be the disabled character in the clip "if i was thinking straight i would have had to kill him in a sensible way" this makes him seem as he is mentally disabled subverting the stereotype of a an able person.
futhermor the diagetic dialect between the brothers connote that they have a normal brotherly realtionship as all brother have moments of stupidity like this one, over the weetabix "but i like weetabix" this connotes that disabled people only think for them selves as thats all they actualy can do they cant really take into consideration of other people as others have to take iconsideration of the situation he is in.
also when the disabled brother talks he has a slight speach impairment making it harder to understand this conforms the stereotype of disabled people not being able to express them selves as able much as able people can. while the brothers fight over the weetabix the perants take ove the disabled brothers side "ben that was abit selfish" even though it was clearly understandable as disabled boy did take 8 pieces the perants took his side this was only becaue it would have hurt the disabled brother feeling and he wouldnt have really uderstoond what he done wrong so the only way to solve it was to put the blame on the able brother.
and last but not least the diagetic dialouge "i need a poo" connotes that the disabled boy needs to let everyone know what he is doing so they know his where about and also to support him if he needed any which in many cases he would. this also confrom the stereotype as most disabled people do not know how to handle themsleves in situations like this.
the notion that part of a persons identity is rooted not only in the county but also in the region they live in. the sense of belonging. something similar to national identity but on a smaller scale.
typically ethnic minorities are portrayed as the antagonists which confrom the sterotypes
the non diagetic music that goes over a clip when an ethnic minority is shown typically is tense, mysterious and builds up an atmosphere.
props help portray the representation of ethnicity such as you would accociate weapons like knives and guns in order to show they are dominant and are the villan.
when sound bridge is used to show the ethnic minority to be superior or inferior depending on who is dominating with it.
diagetic dialouge helps portray a person ethnicity - sound bridge, asyncronous and syncronous sound
non diagectic sound - ehtnic music- their ethnicity
The first micro element that portrays the representation of ethnicity is cinematography the clip starts off with a tracking shot of Zainab who is moving from one end of the room to the other end connoting she is one of the dominant characters in this clip as we are directly introduced to her and because she takes up most of the shot (a mid shot has been used ) where as the other character are at the background and you can almost see the length of their whole body.
There was a cut used once Ian had brought out the new uniform to everyone working whilst wearing it this connotes that Ian has the power to make the others do as he wants which is conforming the stereotypical view that white people are superior and are more powerful then ethnic minorities.
more over after the cut shot had been used it was followed by a tilting up shot of Christian connoting that even though Christian does not say much or is not shown to be dominant he is and is in fact in the same power as Ian as they are both from the same ethnicity. The shots we see of Masood family are mainly mid shots and long shots.
props such as the kitchen is used to represent ethnicity within this clip as well. Zainab is using the cooker and is cooking a curry dish which conform the stereotype that Asians only what curry. furthermore Ian and Christian are using the kitchen to also cook however they are cooking mash potato and some sort of pastry this conforms the stereotypical food white people eat as bangers and mash count as an English meal.
The diagetic dialogue of Ian represents his superiority. "we're going to start having some proper leadership here which means enforcing some proper food hygiene standards" this portrays Ian as being authoritative which is conforming the representation of white people because most TV dramas show white people being superior to individuals of other ethnic groups. Also what Ian says slightly suggest the stereotypical view that Asians are not hygienic .
The mise en scene represent ethnic divisions. Ian with his superiority uses tissue to split up the kitchen into two leaving the two ethnic groups, Masoods family on one side and himself and Christian on the other side. this conforms the stereotypical view that there are ethnic divisions and that society do not want them to mix because they want to show that white people hold the power and make sure that the rest stay as minorities.
Furthermore the costume that they are wearing from the point 50 seconds onwards on the clip changes to a uniform were all of them are wearing including Ian white coats and blue aprons however Ians apron is different from the rest connoting he is trying to be the leader and that they are all working for him which is not the case. Masood and Zainab are in partnership with Ian in running the place.
The diagetic dialogue we hear are dominated by Zainab and Ian. Zainab is a Muslim women and because of this and how dominant she is, she is subverting the stereotypical representation of her ethnicity because in Islam men are known to be the dominant one, the ones who are in control/ the ones with the bigger voice not women. Furthermore Zainab is conforming the stereotype of her ethnicity by her accent as the majority of the audience would expect this.
The non diagetic Punjabi music represents the Asian culture. Christian is dancing along with Masoods family connoting that Asian music is now becoming a popular music genre which all ethnicities may listen to which is conforming the conventional view of the modern world becoming diverse, which can be argues to being true or false. The Punjabi music is playing over Ians voice connoting that even though he may be superior what he talk about is insignificant and nobody actually wants to know what he is saying.
Another micro element with sound is used to represent ethnicity is silence. Throughout the whole clip tamwar doesn’t say anything till the end connoting his weakness and inferiority which conforms the stereotypical view of someone Asian.
when all the characters are inside the room the mise en scene shows the order in which they come in based on dominance. the position of the characters are as follows Zainab Ian Christian Masood and then Tamwar. this could signify that Zainab is much more powerful then Ian or that she doesn’t take his nonsense; she is superior then him (is not scared to stand up to him)
Editing is used to portray stereotypical ethnicity through longer airtime. Ian is the main character we see more through the clip however even when we don’t see him at times we can still hear him which is using asynchronous. This confirms that he is dominant and has more power and conforms the representation of his ethnicity as he evidently dominates the clip with the amount of screen time that he has.
Representation of ethnicity is as well shown through the pace of the editing even though there is not much happening within the clip. The pace of the editing is generally slow however goes slightly faster when there are shots of Zainab connoting that she has also dominant as she takes over lots of shot however also suggesting that she is not significant enough to have the same amount of airtime as Ian Beale.
Rule of third has been used to show the representation of social class in this clip 'cranford'. the composition of the poduction design shows the class distinction between 5 characters. the woman in the carrige is upper class as she is loacted in the middle of the shot connoting she is superior where as the two men who are carrying her are working class even though they are also located in the middle; this is because they are merely just a source of transport and have no actual signifcance; this conform the stereotype of a lower/ working class. The other two ladies are running on foot and are always looking up at the lady in the carraige connoting that they are slightly lower in the soical hierachy; this is because they know one another. (during the time the story is set classes hardly mixed together)
The diagetic dialect of mrs foresster and Miss pole portrays the class of the two women. the lace signifes representation of upper social class. "this is the sort of lace that generally belongs to ladies of great rank "this is evidence that they are not upper class but middle as they refer to it belonging to people who are.
Cinematopgraphy has been used to show the class of the two gentlemen. A long shot has been used and also rule of third connoting they are significant. Because its a long shot ideally it should signify that they are not important however they have been placed in the middle of the shot and have longer airtime which leads to a mid shot which conforms the representzstion.
The clip starts off with a the moon and star symbol representing the religion Islam. This connotes I am a Muslim. Then you see a short clip of a flag which is of the country Bangladesh signifying to the audience of where I come from. There are couple of clip of things I like such as, makeup, love hearts, using the computer and lollipops . I am a very peaceful person and I love big teddies :). the worlds natural beauty astonishes me, I could look at it for hours. the image of the woman hand writing I love is only there to signify the next following clip you are about to see are thing i genuinely lover :). Twilight is a movie that I am obsessed with hence the writing over it. Swings are awesome. i also love cats but I’m not allowed to have one. the next few following things are the films i like and programs I watch in my spare time. when the clip of the program east enders is shown the non diagetic music has changed, I have done this to show the viewers the significance of it, it’s a program that I can’t miss :)... the music changes once again, this time it sounds more aggressive and is fast paced connotes the following images are something that i do not like. the images are of insects, ghosts and grave yards in the night.
The trailer starts with lots of fade outs to help the audience to establish the setting of the scene. there are cuts going from one character to the other character one by one to show the main characters of the film. After the company logo has been shown the director decides to use the edititing technique, tilting for an establishing shot, connoting theres a change of scenery. A fade out has been used between two shots, connoting they link together. Once the shot of the guy with the girl in bed is shown, in the other shot the girl says 'Gary cheated on me' this signifys the link and also expresses how she may be feeling. The director decided to use the black and white static screen to connote that the next shot that we will see will be through a camcorder. there are lots of fading shots connoting time is passsing by. as the fades are shown it tells the story in breif. when Gary stabs the girl with the four way spin wrench the editing become fast paced showing cuts from clip to clip. the cuts move from one another every second making it intense which gives the audience some sort of thrill and keeping them wondering whats going to happen next?
there is a close up of the file connoting its significant. showing a close up of the swing moving very fast connotes a sense of mystery and builds up tension and a thrilling atmosphere. there is a longshot of the orphan child pushing her sister of the slide conoting she this is a phsycological thriller. once she has pushed the girl ther is a low angle of her which connotes shes powerful and dominant. there is a low angle of the her adopted mother on the phone connotes her vulnerability and weekness. having the girl apear out of know where whilst the little girl is sleeping creates horror and is also a cheap suprise as the audience could probably guess that however it still leaves them with the after effect. there is a high angle of the orphan however even though it should show her week she still looks very powerful her smile connotes that she is evil and isnt right in the head
Once charlotte gets of the bus, she waits at the bench for Shapali. This shot is a high angle shot connotes her being lonely and vulnerable whilst waiting.
Once charlotte had finished talking to her auntie she waits a while for the bus to arrive. This shot is a low angle shot connoting the size of the bus is very huge and dominating.
this shot is over the shoulder shot which hides the identity of the woman opposite Charlotte. This is also a two shot which connotes the relationship between the two.
