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