TIMED CONDITION - ESSAY ON REGIONAL IDENTITY- 45MIN

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.