'The Fear' essay

Discuss the ways in which the extract uses camera shots, editing, sound, mise-en-scene to construct the representation of social class.

Mise-en-scene is used to represent social class, as the props used in the scene show that the scene is set in a wealthy upper class place, and we can see this through the use of modern computers and decor (art, fancy chairs). You normally don't find pieces of art found around in places of which are lower class. The computer could be used to both show upper and lower class, as even though it is setting the scene to be upper class, it could also be used to hint at Ritchie's lower class identity as when he looses his temper with the receptionist, he looks like he is about to cause damage to the computer keyboard before his old friend walks in, implying that maybe he isn't aware of the prices of upper class items and doesn't treat them with as much respect as people who know the value of them would. The styling of the characters in the scene also portray differences in social, as the receptionist is made to look professional and classy, same with the doctor but Ritchie is made to look scruffy and as if he doesn't take much pride in his appearance  which could be relating to both what kind of personality he has, but the job he has and the social class he fits into.

Another way in which social class is represented in this clip is through the use of camera shots, angles and movements. One of the shot that is used a lot in this scene is a wide shot, which allows the viewer to see more of the setting and begin to make judgement of the area where the scene is taking place is. For this instance, in the wide shot the viewer sees a rather spotless room looks clean, with a lot of fancy furniture and technological equipment such as computers and electronic equipment which automatically shows the viewer that the setting is both extremely professional and trusted but also quite wealthy looking aswell. This is suggesting to the viewer that as the doctor owns this office, he is being portrayed as upper class, whilst Ritchie who has come to see him and already started causing mayhem is the lower class character.

There isn't much editing used in this clip, but there is some camera cutting to show more of the upper class 'posh' surroundings. This is used for the viewer to recognize the differences between social classes.

Sound is also a major element used to represent social classes in this clip, as non diegetic sound is used to show that the receptionist is higher class than Ritchie. We can see this through the tone and manner in which the receptionist speaks, compared to Ritchie who has a Scottish accent which is often seen as lower class, sometimes seen as 'uneducated' and 'rough', and he also speaks in an aggressive tone which shows he might be short tempered which is seen as a lower class trait.

In conclusion, I think that camera shots, editing, sound and mise-en-scene contribute into the representation of classes, but I think that mise-en-scene and sound contributed the most into creating upper class and lower class images for the characters in the scene.

Some Girls essay- Discuss the ways in which the extract uses camera shots, editing, sound, mise-en-scene to construct the representation of gender.

Discuss the ways in which the extract uses camera shots, editing, sound, mise-en-scene to construct the representation of gender.
In the scene from 'Some Girls', we see many different types of sterotypes of gender and this is done through the use of camera shots, editing, sound and mise-en-scene. Overall females are represented as mature and more able but males are seen as immature.
Males are firstly represented as childish, this is done using mise-en-scene when Viva walks into her house after school and asks her father whether he has prepared her any snacks and he seems to ignore her as he is playing a video game. This is suggesting that he is irresponsible as he is a grown adult who even has children, but is playing video games. This is also a role reversal as Viva seems to be the mature one who has been at school all day taking responsibility for her life whereas her dad seems to have been at home all day doing nothing but playing video games.
Camera shots also contribute to how gender is represented in this clip from 'Some Girls'. For example, when the girls are in PE, their PE teacher is a female but is portrayed as a very strong dominant type, which is the usual stereotype for a male. This is shown through camera angles as when the PE teacher punishes Viva for answering back, she asks her to do press ups, and then the camera only shows her face when she demonstrates. Press ups are usually stereotyped for males and as the camera shot is a close up, she looks more of a male than a female as you can't see her body just her face.
Gender is also represented when Viva finds out that her dad is having a baby with his new girlfriend, which is also her PE teacher. She seems to be mortified when she finds out but is acting very grown up about it, this is shown through the camera angle that is close to her face showing her facial expressions. There is also a what seems role reversal when she is telling her 'step mum' to get rid of the baby which is what you'd expect from a mother to a daughter but this is the other way around. When Viva's dad and his girlfriend start explaining themselves to Viva, the girlfriend says that the baby was planned but he seems to be unaware that it was. This goes back to the stereotypical male and female views where the female is meant to be portrayed as someone who is meant to look after children and produce them and the male isn't meant to be too bothered or aware, as we can see in this clip. Shortly after this, the girlfriend says she has a 'to do' list and Viva's dad laughs at her and tries to make a joke out of it, this shows another representation of gender as females are seen to be more organised than males stereotypically.

Discuss the ways in which the extract uses camera shots, editing, sound, mise-en-scene to construct the representation of relationships.

In this essay, I will be looking at how camera shots, editing, sound mise-en-scene is used to construct relationships. Through the use of these, the viewer has a bigger understanding to their relationship and throughout this essay I will be showing how it constructs the relationships.

Camera shots play a big part in the construction of relationship in the clip from Cutting It. We learn a lot about the relationship of the two characters in a very short clip. For example, when they are both in the taxi, a lot of the camera shots are close up which reveals a lot about the characters as they are making a lot of eye contact and a close to eachother, we can clearly see they are more than acquaintances and instantly see they are very fond of eachother due to their body language in the shot types which were used. In one of the camera shots, Gavin plays with his wedding ring whilst he is waiting for his new wife Allie to leave her doctors appointment. His facial expression is doubtful in this camera shot and it shows a lack of trust in the relationship between them. It also makes us question their past relationship and what would have happened before for them not to trust eachother. It also shows a sort of lack of commitment in their relationship as Gavin begins to doubt their marriage as his new wife Allie is at a very serious doctors appointment which looks like its following on from many other previous doctor appointments.

There hasn’t been a lot of editing used in this seen, but when Allie is sitting in the doctors room, the camera shot is at a birds eye view which foreshadows her death because when she gets hit by the vehicle and is laying on the floor, the camera shot is a bird eye view. When Allie is laying on the floor dying with Gavin besides her, the camera fades to black which is insinuating that Allie’s death is like Gavin’s world ending and almost as if he can’t see himself in the future, which represents their relationship as strong and as if they are soul mates.

Sound has been used to contrast the representation of relationships. For example, when Allie is sitting in the doctors room, non diegetic sound has been used not only for the viewers tension to build up from not knowing what’s going to happen but to show the lack of trust in Allie and Gavin’s relationship. Its also suggesting that the viewer knows as much as Allie’s own husband knows about her health which isn’t suggesting that they have a strong relationship if they can’t even trust eachother with how they will react knowing their health status. Sound also represents relationship in a strong bond way when Allie gets hit by the vehicle and Gavin sees her. When Gavin realises what has happened, the viewer only hears a loud heartbeat and then when he runs to see her the heartbeat stops and we hear the background noise (cars beeping). This suggests that the bond they have in their relationship is what seems unbreakable and invincible because Gavin can only see Allie when she gets hit and it almost sounds like his heart is at risk if Allie dies.

Mise-en-scene also represents relationships. When Allie and Gavin have their hands on eachother we can see their wedding rings, this shows that they must love and trust eachother to some extent if they have gotten married to eachother.

Ideas for my own TV drama

For one of my tasks, I have been asked to develop a pitch for my own TV drama which includes a plot, setting and characters/actors. 
I have thought to do a TV crime drama as I find it very interesting. My TV drama would be set in New York. A couple who have just gotten engaged move to a new apartment. The male who is called Tom gets a new job as a journalist which means he is away a lot of the time. His fiance is often left by herself at home and starts getting doubts about her relationship with Tom. One day when Tom is away, his fiance Emily, gets suspicious and asks his colleagues how long it'll take for Tom to come home (she makes it less suspicious by saying his phone is off and she is unable to contact him) but they say that Tom hasn't been at work for the past 3 days, which means that he has been lying to her. Emily begins to stress and cry, realising that the only reason why he could possibly be lying because he cheating. She isn't thinking straight, and thinking about what she can do to keep him, but then she begins to think that maybe Tom never loved her and was only using her. She begins to over analyse the situation and then thinks that he can't be with anyone but her so the only way she can make sure of that is if she kills him. Excited by this thought, Emily begins to plot the murder of her fiance even though she has no evidence of him cheating on her. Emily plans to strangle him when he gets back as she wants to make him suffer. When Tom gets back from his mysterious get away, Emily is awaiting his arrival. When the couple go to bed and Tom is slowly falling asleep, Emily begins to strangle him and kill him. When she kills him she flies into Italy and it all becomes certain to Tom's family who killed him and the hunt for Emily goes on.

Glossary of TV drama terminology

Mise-en-scene - arrangement of scenery and properties to represent the place where a play or movie is enacted.
Wide Shot - a video or film recording made with the camera positioned to observe the most action in the performance.
Camera Movement - the way in which the camera moves during a shot or scene.
Pan - a shot where the camera, mounted on a tripod or dolly, is moved in a horizontal arc from left to right, or right to left. The term derives from the world 'panorama', suggesting the wide visual field that the pan can reveal.
Track - or a tracking shot - a camera shot where the camera is mounted on a dolly and records whilst moving along a track similar to a miniature railway track, often parallel to a moving subject.
Tilt - a tilt is a vertical camera movement in which the camera points up or down from a stationary location. For example, if you mount a camera on your shoulder and nod it up and down, you are tilting the camera.
Dolly - a wheeled camera platform. A 'dolly shot' is a camera shot where the camera is moved forward or back using this platform.
Dolly crane - counterweighted long metal arms with a flexible camera mounting that can raise or lower a camera to show high shots of the action.
Stedicam handheld - a camera mounting that straps the camera to the body of the operator and incorporates a device that keeps the image steady.
Zoom/reverse zoom - a shot where the camera zooms in on the subjects or zooms out away from it

Key Words Glossary - SOUND

Diegetic Sound - sound whose source is visible on the screen or is implied to be present by the action of the film:

• voices of characters
• sounds made by objects in the story
• music represented as coming from instruments in the story space

Non-Diegetic Sound - sound which is not visible on screen and hasn't been implaid to be present in the action:

narrator's commentary

sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect

mood music

Soundtrack - a group of songs put inside a movie, which later can be released on a CD.

Theme - a melody which is used to identify a performer or a dance band or radio/tv programme.

Tune - a melody which characterizes a certain piece of music

Incidental music - a piece of music used in a film or play as a background to create or enhance a particular atmosphere.

Sound effects - created to enhance sounds or emphasize the content of films, TV shows etc.

Ambient s0und - in atmospheric sounding and noise pollution, ambient noise level (sometimes called background noise level, reference sound level, or room noise level) is the sound pressure level at a given location, normally specified as a reference level to study a new intrusive sound source.

Dialogue - conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie.

Voice-over - the voice on an unseen commentator in a film of television programme.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/)

What roles or jobs are there in TV dramas?

There are many different roles and jobs in TV dramas, the most popular ones are director and producer but there are many other ones such as:
- costume designer
- location manager
- make-up artist
- researcher
- set designer
- television producer
- screenwriter
- story editor
- stunt coordinator
- production manager and assistant
- composer
- sound editor
- special effects co-ordinator and many more
These all play important roles in TV dramas, because without them, TV dramas wouldn't be like we know them to be and probably a lot more boring.

Representation of social groups

Social groups are represented differently on different TV dramas. For example, usually on detective dramas, males are the detectives and are seen as the strong stereotypical type. This has always been the case apart from the small number of female detectives which have appeared on our TVs in the past 30 years or so.
Depending on what the TV drama is, the social groups will be represented differently. For example, on a programme such as Downtown Abbey, women are viewed to be lower than the men socially, as it is set in the past when women had less rights than males.
If it is a modern day drama such as Waterloo Road, we see that men and women have the same rights most of the time and we see a clear difference on how social groups are represented through time and different TV dramas.

Essay question

Compare the way these two TV dramas construct representations of gender using the following:

 

1.                Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

2.                Mise-en-scene

 

I have chosen to compare Hustle and The Killing for this question and I will be comparing the ways that they construct the representations of gender through camera shots, angles, movement and composition and mise-en-scene. Both of these dramas do this through many different types of ways such as full body shots of the characters to represent how gender is constructed.

In the scene from Hustle, gender is represented in many different ways. This has been done through technical codes such as lighting, the use of camera shots, angles, movement and composition and mise-en-scene. For example, lighting is used in the Hustle to represent gender in a very flirtatious and sexy way Dexter Gold finds his dream girl ‘Emma’ and then fantasizes about her with his passion around her, which is gold. The way lighting is used in this scene to represent gender is when the Dexter is fantasizing about her, Emma the ‘dream’ character looks like a sort of dream and heavenly type of girl, which would be ironic as he thinks she is his perfect dream character. This is done through a brighter, purer lighting which brings out more features of the female character and makes her look like the stereotypical dream flirtatious girl.

Lighting also constructs the representations of gender in the gripping scene where the Sarah Lund who is the Deputy Superintendent, is chasing after what seems a criminal she has been trying to catch. At the beginning of the scene, the lighting is foggy, unclear but isn’t dark and isn’t too nerve wrecking as the light is still visible which makes you feel less worried for Sarah. As the scene progresses and the chase happens, Sarah Lund’s vision becomes less clear because the lighting turns darker as she loses the criminal which is suspected to be male. This could show gender representation because Sarah Lund is seen to be more vulnerable, being a female character by herself in a dark big building unaware of the whereabouts of a male criminal who as we see in the scene, is able to cause harm and has the usual stereotypical male characteristic as he is represented as being more powerful and strong than Sarah who is a ‘weaker’ and less powerful character, maybe because she is a female.

The relationship between the two characters in The Killing (Sarah Lund and the criminal) is unknown as there is possibility Sarah has been face-to-face with the criminal before, but they have no positive connection whatsoever as Sarah is trying to capture him, and possibly imprison him, whereas the criminal is willing to do anything even if it means hurting Sarah, to get away from her and escape the possible outcome consequences. There is no romance or friendship between these two characters.

Whereas in Hustle, the relationship and connection between the two characters (Dexter and Emma), is completely the opposite, as the whole scene is about Dexter fantasizing about Emma in a ‘sexy’ way as she is laying in barely any clothes, licking her lips, winking which is a very flirtatious and alluring towards Dexter which is making his attraction to her grow very rapidly. This represents both Dexter and Emma very stereotypically, as being a female; Emma is shown as being very feminine, sexy, the every man’s dream type (long blonde hair, blue eyes, feminine figure) and a sex icon which is a very stereotypical way to represent gender. Whereas Dexter is also shown in a very male stereotypical way because he is pretty much falling at Emma’s feet because she is this ideal perfect flirtatious stereotypical women.

Mise-en-scene plays a big role in the construction of gender in Hustle, because in Dexter’s ‘fantasy’ where he sees Emma being very flirtatious, the stuff put in the scene such as the bed covered in his favourite thing which is gold, her clothing which is a gold outfit and every prep in his fantasy is gold. This shows a sense of power for the male character as gold is seen to be as a very powerful, successful colour which could hint at the fact that Emma who is less powerful and a woman could possibly only want Dexter for his success and money, not because she is attracted to him.

The camera editing and how it is used plays a big role in how gender is represented in both Hustle and The Killing. For example, in The Killing, when Sarah is trying to find the criminal and is acting very cautious, the camera is used mainly for close up and mid shots of her, showing that she is scared and she isn’t shown as being very powerful due to the fact that when the camera is close up to her, we can see her facial expression showing her fear.

Scheduling

Scheduling is very important in television. It could depend on how many views a programme gets which could be critical if the programme isn't getting enough views. People work very hardly to put a schedule together, this is important because if two popular programmes such as X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing are on at the same time, they will have to rival for viewers. There are some programmes on which are popular all the time, such as in the morinings on the BBC, 'BBC Breakfast' is on everyday, talking about all the recent news and is very popular, whereas on ITV 'Daybreak' is on which gives the same sort of programme, but it all depends on the viewers preferences of which programme they will watch.

Types of TV drama

There are many different types of TV drama.
One of them could be comedy such as Cuckoo (played on BBC Three).
Another type could be crime such as The Bill.
And the third one could be detective such as Murder, She Wrote.

Traditionally, dectective dramas usually show the detective being male but there are some older detective dramas such as Murder, She Wrote where Jessica the detective is female. More recent, The Killing has had a female detective but typically, the detectives are male.

Uses and Grafications theory

Types of conflint in TV crime drama

I've never really given any thought into the types of conflict that occurs in TV crime drama, but last week we learnt about many different types of conflicts that can occur in TV crime drama such has:
criminal vs victim
criminal vs partner/family
criminal vs police
criminal vs detective
criminal vs law (courts)
detective vs suspects
detective vs criminal
detective vs police
detective vs lawyer
detective vs partner/family

I think that it's really important that many different types of conflicts are used because if only one conflict was used the TV crime drama wouldn't really make much sense and would be very boring and repetitive for the viewer.

Different shot types

EWS (extreme wide shot)- the view is so far from the subject so that the person isn't even visable. Example below:

This type of shot would be used for establishing the setting (mainly at the begging of a programme or a film)

There are also many other important shot types such as VWS (very wide shot), the subject is barely visable.

Shots types: what are they and why do we need them?

2 weeks ago, before I started Media Studies, I did not in any way consider shot types when I was looking through magazines or watching films. As the Media Studies lessons progressed, I learnt that shot types are really important in how a television/film is presented. There are many different shot types such as; Close Up, Point-of-view Shot, Wide Shot and Weather Shot. A shot such a weather shot is important because if a news reporter is reporting on a serious weather case somewhere such as a hurricane, it'll be important that there is a weather shot so that the viewers are able to see what is going on and to see the situation for themselves.
We watched a clip of an EastEnders episode, and saw that shot types are used to show different power levels, for example at the start of the clip, the camera was shown from an above angle making Ray look small and powerless (click below to see clip) - clip can be seen at 6 minutes 45 seconds
EastEnders clip