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Representation of age - video clip

The representation of class - essay

This is from a period drama called Cranford. This clip is set in village, the accents of the characters tell me the village is in the north of England. A medium long shot, shows a boy, his costume consists of dirty looking rags, his costume does not consist of shows. From the dirty poor clothes, I can see he comes from a family whom do not earn a lot. Because there is a lot of space around him, he must be working or looking for supplies, period drama's do not usually have an under class, because if you didn't work you would die. So he is most probably working class. The soundtrack following the footage, is classical but a slow pace, following the slow paced motion of the young boy walking. The soundtrack is sympathetic to the boy, making the audience feel sorry for him having to support his family.

A panning shot, across the boy as he walks home, showing the smoke from a chimney afar. This panning shot also shows the boy holding potatoes, in a closeup shot while panning. He is carrying potatoes, he is only a boy so it is showing he isn't lazy challenging the lazy stereotype of the working class. He could have farmed the potatoes, but he could have stolen them, which reinforces the stereotype than working class people are criminals.

The audience now see the clip cut from the forest location, to his house with his family in. The forest location is not a common place to live, because it is a cold and deserted place to live. It shows me that, the boy and his family, cannot afford a nice area to live in. Reinforcing the stereotype of the working class, not earning much money. His house is small, and low key lighting caused to a lack of lighting (only one candle), as well as the family costume being dull and unclean, and the lack of space and props. This shows the lack of wealth the family have, reinforcing that they are working class. 

The boy is greeted with dialogue a cheer, showing their family is close, and challenging the stereotype that the working class aren't as happy as higher classes. Shot reverse shot with the one hundred and eighty degree rule, showing the father thanking the by for helping support his family. The farther gives the boy a gift, dialogue is said in a strong northern accent, ''A mans job'' this ideal in society in this era, of a man being in charge is a moral of the working class, reinforcing again that they a working class family. 

The prop of leather boots, is what a middle class and upper class men wear, and is a wealthy part of a costume. The boy reads words, from a prop, a newspaper, making it an important part of the clip, causing conflict with his father. Reinforcing the stereotype that the working class are uneducated.

It is now night time, a medium shot shows the boy walking through the forest, the low key lighting and non diegetic foley of animal noises creates suspense and a sense of uncertainty. The soundtrack is not louder than before, after his father didn't accept his excitement for knowledge,reinforcing the stereotype that the working class are not educated and do not want to be. An establishing shot shows a big manor house, the juxtaposition between these two locations, shocks the boy. This reinforces the stereotype that the working class, live in small cheaper houses. This house is white rather than the boys house which is dull. The light colour, makes this building look cleaner and more expensive. Showing that an upper class family live here. A closeup shows the boy look around, he is shocked at this huge house. The soundtrack is at a slow pace, a flute is playing, it is quite exotic sounding, showing the higher classes wealth.

In the morning, shown by high key lighting, a new character is introduced. He wears leather boots,clean clothes and a tailored jacket. The clean and tailored costume, shows me he is a higher class than the boy. The man has an aggressive approach to the working class boy, by pulling him by his ear, he may have thought he was stealing. The costume lets the man know he comes from a lower class, and reinforces the stereotype that the working class are criminals.

He takes the boy new another location, his office. This shows me he does not live at this manor house, but works there. He is not a laborer because his costume looks expensive and clean, he could be an assistant of the manor, seems to be lower middle class or middle class, he is also well spoken and pronounces words, but remains to have some accent but not as much as the boy, this is because he would have been educated. The man takes a liking to the boy after some dialogue, about him liking all of the words in the office. Perhaps the man was from a working class family, who did well for himself. A pull focus, shows the bread in focus and then the boy. This is showing the audience the importance of the props of the bread and jug. The juxtaposition f the working class boy and the middle class man, reinforces the stereotype that the middle class have more wealth than the working class. 

After the man offers the boy a job to do, the clip cuts to another location the land outside of the manor. A low angle shows the lady of the manor, the low angle shows her power and she has a title showing she has power. A long shot is used to show the lady of the manor, to show her costume and the space around her. The space shows her wealth. She is in front of the assistant man,showing she has more power than him. Also her costume is white and she wears a white dress, this means it is clean and expensive. All of these points means she is upper class, therefor lives in the manor. She does not work, shown by the costume and amount of time she has, reinforcing that she is upper class. She has not got an accent, which shows she is educated, also reinforcing that she is upper class.

She is over looking the marque being built, she has an event planned. Reinforcing the stereotype that the upper class have extreme wealth and power. The men building the marque have a similar costume to the boy, and because they are working they are working class. These laborers, are shown through closeups shows them and extreme closeups showing the hammers they are using to hit the pegs of the marque in. A fast paced soundtrack is played along with the fast paced footage, shows the men working, the jolly music reinforces that upper class people have more fun than people who are laborers and are a lower class than them. The diegetic foley of the hammers, also reinforces that the more physical work you do the lower class you are. The assistant of the manor man asks for ''five dozen chairs to be put out'', this means that a lot of people will be attending, reinforcing that the upper class have a lot of friends, who are upper class as well.  

This last location is a piece of land, a medium shot shows a man is helping woman also wearing white costumes, onto horse and carriages. This reinforces the upper classes wealth. Throughout this whole clip, a handheld camera is used when the working class are in shot, but a tripod is used to the shot is steady when the upper class are in shot. This is showing that the upper class and stable and the working class are shaky and not as put together. Reinforcing that the upper class have the most power.

This clip reinforces all class stereotypes, but creates sympathy for certain characters. The boy has the most prominence on screen, but he has the least power because of his age and class, but this allows the audience to feel sympathy for him. The clip represents class in a negative way, showing that you cannot have class without education or wealth. The mis en scene used in this clip gives a visual categorisation into a class, in the views of the upper class. The sound creates sympathy for those who are working class, specifically the boy. Editing also creates sympathy for the boy. The camera work also pin points certain stereotypes of each class. The middle class make tv dramas, so they  slightly bias to the middle class, in terms of the way they look and act. They have made the working class look unhygienic and uneducated, and the upper class snobby and not thankful for what they have. Yet they have made the middle class characters, look clean and humble.

Hotel Babylon representation of ethnicity

The representation of ethnicity in the clip from Hotel Babylon, is based around immigrants whom work in a hotel. The location this conflict is based in is a hotel, firstly a closeup shot shows a White British man who works at the hotel, then shot reverse shot shows two policemen also White British. The policemen wear black costumes with police written, these are usual British police uniforms, this shows that danger is approaching. Also the soundtrack begins as soon as the shot shows the policemen, the soundtrack is loud and fast, an action soundtrack, which also shows danger is approaching. This reinforces the danger stereotype of ethnicity.

A medium long shot now introduces John, and two other men, their costumes consists of business suits. These men are again White British, showing in this clip people with a British nationality have power, because of their costumes. John then shows the blonde British woman at the reception desk, his ID, showing he is important. 

A code is said, from Jackie to Ben, Ben is also in a business suit, but is not White, therefore challenging the consistent trend so far, that White British men have all the power. A new location is now introduced as Ben, rushes to Jackie, she runs downstairs to the immigrants, the pace is now even faster, showing Jackie has a connection with the immigrant. The immigrant are working downstairs, showing they are at a lower level, therefore they have less power. Jackie's dialogue is in a foreign language now, and so do other workers, showing there are many nationality's working downstairs. Their costumes shows they has less power, because they are not in suits, but in uniforms. The juxtaposition between the immigrates and Jackie, allows her to have more power than the illegal workers. But she still feels she has to help them, and is passionate about that. Showing she doesn't feel threatened by them, so she is challenging the stereotype that immigrants are dangerous.

The clip now cuts to anther worker upstairs, vacuuming, all the space around him shows he is alone. He is wearing headphones, so cannot hear. The foley of the vacuum, adds to the suspense building, making the audience feel sympathetic to this immigrant worker. This also reinforces the stereotype of pity, which is what builds sympathy for this character. His costume is red, representing danger, which is a consistent trend in this clip in costumes, props and the interior of a building (walls, elevators etc).

Now cutting back to the hurry and busyness of the immigrants, closeups of the key and the staff only sign on the door, reinforcing the fact that they are staff, the the importance of them hiding. There is now no space between the workers in the new location of the cupboard, this reinforces the stereotype that they are unified, because they are huddled together. The lighting is low key in the cupboard, showing the stereotypical danger of immigration.

A worker faints, and Adam is introduced, he helps the woman who has fainted, by using a prop of jam. Jackie is show at a high angle, showing she has less power in this situation, because she isn't educated in this instant. Adam say's to Jackie ''I wasn't always a cleaner'', which insinuates he was in the medical profession, challenging the stereotypical immigrant, with being not educated because they come from an exotic country which is stereotypical as being poor. Jackie has a prop, a watch, which shows her wealth from power, but so does Adam (seen in a medium shot at the end). This shows he had or does have wealth, it may be because he was in the medical profession and had more power than he does now.

The non diegetic sound of knocking at the door, breaks the shot reverse shot of the conversation, and the camera quickly zooms towards Jackie, building suspense, and reinforcing the stereotype again that hiding immigrants is dangerous, but challenging the stereotype that immigrants are dangerous themselves. Jackie is then given the news that the immigration officers have taken a worker, she rushes back upstairs. She shouts at john, creating conflict, reinforcing the stereotype that ethnicity causes conflict. The worker struggles and the movement of him becomes faster, reinforcing the stereotype of danger, because he becomes more aggressive in his movement.

The soundtracks now slows down, and becomes sad. Showing the immigrants are not as unified because a close friend/family member has been taken. Jackie now empties his locker, as the family members watch, the soundtrack continues to follow the emotion of the picture. This shows that the stereotype of danger, is real in this case.

A new location is shown, of a cafeteria, the panning shot, shows the cafe, and the different tables showing different nationality's, which is reinforcing the unified stereotype. A medium shot now shows Adam and another woman, praying, every other table are talking and laughing, but they are quieter and sad because of the man being taken away. The clip is ended with a fade out, showing that their is now no danger, but sadness.

This clip is representing ethnicity is a positive way, showing the immigrant works in danger rather than causing danger through conflict. The audience feel sympathy towards the different nationality. Ethnicity has been shown in this way, to give the message that ethnicity shouldn't making some have less power, and immigrant works are not dangerous, but are being targeted because they are immigrants. 

Representation of disability - Coming down the mountain

This clip is from Coming Down the Mountain, represents disability. In the first shot a boy is introduced, this ''normal'' by, has younger brother called Ben who is disabled. The first shot pans around the older brother at a high angle. The high angle shows that he is not powerful, and the panning shot shows a close up of the boys face, this is showing his youth and that he looks ''normal''. Also that the is a lot of space around him, showing he is alone, the audience now feel sympathy for him.  Normal does not exist, but society categorize people into groups to show who has the most authority and power. In this case the disabled boy, is not ''normal'', the ideology of society is to treat people who are disabled differently to those whom are not. The low key lighting in these shots, also shows the older brother as being angry and upset.

The next shot, is a closeup of Ben, Ben is disabled, so the closeup shows this. The anger of the older brother is shown, before this, which is shown through many clips cut together without transitions. The pace of the clips speeds up, as well as the dialogue from the older brother. This sequence being shown shows his anger towards Ben, because the next shot is of Ben, so it is directed at Ben.

The long shot shown at the very begging, shows the location of the boys bedroom. This shows they are brother, and shows the layout of the room. The older brothers side of the room, on the right (''right'' meaning ''normal'') is tidy. Whereas Ben's side on the left, is messy (showing he cannot keep his room clean because he is disabled. Also showing he is childlike, because his side of the room is brightly coloured and their are toys. The older brothers side is dull, rather than brightly coloured, showing he is older, but also that he is miserable. Because Ben is childlike, because of his disability, he is unaware of his brother being angry and upset because of him.

After those bedroom shots, another location is introduced, flats on an estate, shown by an establishing shot. The soundtrack over the top is a pop song, it sounds very cheery and happy. It sounds like it could be playing from a radio, making the scenario happier than the older brother thinks of it. This means that every one but the older brother, can cope better with Ben being disabled.

The parents are now introduced through a medium shot, in a kitchen, with closeups being used to show Ben eating. The brothers are both wearing casual clothing, representing they are both of the same sort of age.Ben is wearing a pale blue colour, which is most commonly worn by newborn baby's, so this shows he is not as mature and childlike. The older brother is wearing darker colours, showing he is more mature. Whereas 

The conflict created by Ben having eight Weetabix, causing an increase of sound in the older brother dialogue. The working class parents, are stereotypical supportive of Ben, so stand up for Ben, when the older brother is mean to him. The shot reverse shots, show the conversations, at this point teh audience now think of the older brother as a villain, because he is meaning unkind to Ben. Ben is thought of the stereotypical victim. 

A long shot shows the next location, the bus stop, Ben always has to have someone with him, like a child again showing he is child like, so their is a lack of space around him, showing he is not alone like the older brother. The foley used of the bus stopping, ends that shot.  A cross fade is used at the begging, to show sympathy for the older brother. Now just cuts are used to change shots. 

The next shot shows the older brother retrieving a kite for Ben, a kite is a toy so makes Ben childlike. Reinforcing the stereotype that disabled people are childlike therefore sympathy is created fr them. Ben then is in the shot, a long shot, he is lower than his older brother showing the older brother has more power because he is older and ''normal''. Ben is eating an ice cream, again reinforcing he is childlike. The older brother has the most prominence on screen, showing he has more power than Ben, again reinforcing the ideology that disabled people have no power. 

Towards the end the the older brother is seen at school, he is sitting in the class with school uniform on, showing he is a student. He may be seen during the clip as the mature and older brother, when in fact he is still at school him self. A closeup shows him drawing, which is a childlike activity to do. This shows me that he is too quite childlike, so shouldn't have to look after Ben. This makes the audience feel sorry for him, and in a way switch roles. Rather than Ben being the victim, his older brother is, Even though he is nasty to Ben.

This clip represents disability in a negative way, showing that disabled people are not ''normal'' so have no power in society. This may be shown in this way, t create sympathy for the disabled, to allow society to be more accepting. On the other hand, most people are accepting, it also creates sympathy for the boy. Showing that disability doesn't just effect the individual whom is disabled, but their family, in this case brother.

The representation of Regional Identifty

Stereotypes:
Urban
Suburban
Rural
Grim up north
Essex 
Arrogant Londoner

Urban

A town/city, hoodie culture, gangs, locations may include flats, night clubs or town centers. Usually age and class tie in closely with this stereotype, youth whom uses slang. Fast and loud soundtrack, to show youth. Fast cuts, fast pace.






Suburban

Locations such as houses are used. Family, middle class are stereotypical. Transitions, cross dissolve. Shot rev shot, usually lots of conversations. School uniform and suits for costumes.









Rural
Out of towns, in the country,farm, natural colours (green) and high key lighting used. Accent, and casual farming costumes. Long shots or establishing, to show space. A humorousness soundtrack, because farmers are usually represented as uneducated. Slow pace, basic cuts, to show they are uneducated.







Grim up north
Working class or under class, aggressive and loud. Youth are seen a lot, they wear revealing clothing, fake tan and lots of makeup.  Fast and loud soundtrack, to show youth. Also unemployed, and poor characters, shown by costumes and dialogue. Fast pace for youth, but slow pace for unemployed to show they are boring.





Essex girl

Youth, tan, makeup revealing makeup. Clubs, low key lighting as well as slang and an accent. Fast and loud soundtrack, to show youth, and surroundings if at a club. Fast pace no transitions.







Arrogant Londoner
Business men, who work in London, commuting to London. Long shots or establishing, to show surroundings, arrogance of personality. Business suits for costumes, and masculine soundtrack. Fast pace, basic cuts to show masculinity therefore arrogance.