Hotel Babylon

In this clip, the white people seem to be predominantly more powerful than those of other backgrounds. In the beginning, the first three characters we see are white men from professional backgrounds. When the first man is by himself, there is no non-digenic music until the two policemen are shown. This suggests that immigrants are usually worry free until immigration services come into the picture, showing how cruel white people can be. The receptionist at the beginning is also of higher power than the black man she ordered. This all suggests that those of other races are of a lower social status in this workplace.
While the immigration officer is speaking to the receptionist, there is use of an over-the-shoulder shot. This suggests equality between them as they are both of the same race. This is used often, when white people are speaking to each other in this clip, their eyelines usually meet, showing they are both equal. However, when the woman gives an order to Ben, he is sitting down, showing a high angle shot of him. This reinforces the idea that other races have no power in this environment.
When the man rushes down to inform Jackie of the immigration officers, the non-digenic music implies a hectic situation. This is also suggested by the handheld camera (shaky) as this implies confusion and fast pace. The music is also changed from the previous scene where the receptionist is speaking to the immigration officer, reinforcing the idea that the staff have to react quickly when the immigration service arrives.
It is significant that the man named Ben (who is told to "deliver forms" to another compartment of the hotel) is the only African American in the reception area, and he does not seem quite as calm as the receptionist, stuttering when asked to deliver forms. This suggests that other races feel out of place in comparison to white people. It is also worth noting that he goes instead of any of the white people in the room, which gives the idea that he is on the side of the immigrants despite his presence in the reception area with no other immigrants. This suggests he is seen as an immigrant just because of his race. This shows how unfair some of the other races are treated in the world. Rarely do we see any other race than caucasian in a position of power in this clip.
As Ben rushes down the corridor to find Jackie, there is a long take of him running. This suggests that this is routine and the hotel often comes under investigation. There are many short takes when Jackie runs around trying to round up the immigrant workers, which gives the narrative more pace as well as reinforcing the confusion and hecticness of the situation.
As Jackie is in the kitchen she speaks several different languages to communicate with the immigrants. This suggests that those of other races are more open and accepting of other cultures. All of these different languages are only spoken by those of non-caucasian race, and the only language that the white people speak is English. This suggests that white people are less tolerant of other cultures and are elitist in attitude compared to the others.
The use of parallel editing while they are in the room to when Ibrahim is cleaning outside is significant. This shows that they are all in the same danger, even though Ibrahim's is going to come sooner. It is also significant that Jackie locks herself in with the immigrants to support them through the difficult situation when she had the option of leaving them to fend for themselves, since she is in no danger from the immigration offices. This suggests that there is more closeness between other races which is caused by the overwhelming danger of immigration officers, they must join together to keep themselves safe. It could also be that she sympathises with them more than other white members of staff as she is of Asian descent. It is also worth noting that while she has locked herself in with the immigrants, other white members of staff are outside of the room. This may suggest that she is isolated from other white members of staff.
When they are locked in the room, a diabetic woman faints, showing a high angle shot. This suggests those of other ethnicities are weak and vulnerable when faced with the danger of Immigration officers. This is all contributing to the idea that white people are asserting their dominance over other races unfairly, and it is difficult for members of those races to retaliate.
It is worth noting the lighting in the room where they are locked as opposed to the hallway where Ibrahim is cleaning. The hallway is well lit, as Ibrahim believes there is no danger and everything is fine. Where it is darker in the area where they are all hiding as they all know there is an investigation. This shows that those who pay no attention to the immigration service are much happier, until they are caught. Where those who are knowledgeable about the trouble they're in lead much darker lives.
After the woman faints, a black man shows medical knowledge to try and help her wake up. This suggests that Black men can often be more educated than white men but are still forced to take a lower quality of work simply because of their race. This is an example of how unfair white employers can be.
When Ibrahim is seen by the Immigration officers, he tries to run and falls, and there is a low angle shot as he is being dragged away. This suggests the men are forceful and in a position of power over the immigrants, even dominating their lives. The use of parallel editing as this happens alongside the diabetic woman being treated is significant, as well as the fact the non-digenic music reaches it's peak as Ibrahim is caught, then lowers in volume once the woman has recovered. This shows that while some can be safe from the immigration service, they are quick to forget those that are not so lucky.
In conclusion I think that this clip is an excellent example of white extremism in the world. They take advantage of their social backgrounds to dominate and instill fear in members of other races. They cause constant fear and strife for the people that must run from them. However, is it worth it? The white people seem to live amongst themselves, but those of other races are open to each others cultures, especially in this clip, where different languages are spoken among them, and they are all united against one threat. We can even speculate that the white race may turn towards aggressive and domineering behaviour because they simply don't blend in among other cultures.

ER Essay

In this essay i will talk about the representational issues about age in the show ER, through mis en scene, sound, editing and camera.

The white lab coats connotate purity, innocence and peace illustrating that the doctors are miracle workers and have only good intentions; to heal and save people’s lives. The white lab coat also informs the audience that the doctors have a high and important profession; this leads to the audience taking the doctors in white lab coats seriously as they watch on.

The first child the audience sees in the clip is playing Sudoku; this highlights the intelligence and maturity of this young child as he’s playing an intellectual game. The game allows the audience to see into how the child is like; grown up for his age and smarter than his looks/ age bring forth; he’s mature for his age as children are stereotyped to be slightly dumb and just like to play with toys that aren’t intellectual.

The first child has stage make-up on to show how ill/weak he is, lighter make-up is used to make the effect of a white face which connotates the child is unwell. Dark bags underneath his eyes illustrate that the child is sleep deprived most likely because of his illness. His cracked, dry white lips convey that the child might have not eaten in a while or had the energy to do so, this also illustrates that he’s dying as he’s losing colour from his face; not getting sufficient nutrition and his body is giving up on him. All in all this creates sympathy for the boy as the audience feel obligated to sympathise for him.

The male doctor with the child has a sympathetic look on his face, which furthers the sympathy the audience has for the child as they realise that if even the doctor is sympathising for the child there might be little hope that he might get better. 

The props used all display the location of scene and profession, such as: the medical costumes, medical lighting, medical furniture, and not forgetting the equipment that’s used to hear heart beats that’s wrapped around the doctor’s necks. This reminds the audience about where the scene is set and the accents of the actors tells them that it’s set in America.

There are any people walking in different directions with props e.g. Medical equipment, connotating that it’s a busy day in the hospital and there are many patients who need looking after; there’s a lot of people in need of attention. A busy atmosphere displays a realistic image of the hospital setting and signifies that the staff are hard working,

Doctor’s are positioned standing over their patients to signify their inferior position over them, as the doctors are the people the civilians are trusting with their medical care. The doctor’s facial expressions express their frustrations of having a number of irresponsible patients; this goes against stereotypes, as parents are supposed to be grown up enough to be responsible for their children but in matter of fact they’re being ignorant like children and letting their kids come in harms way. Tired facial expression again demonstrates that they are hard working \ serious expressions demonstrate their determination to save patient’s lives.

The woman Doctor wearing a white doctor’s coat contrast from her male partner who wears a nurse’s uniform signifying that she’s the more inferior person in their relationship.

Maturity of the young boy’s dialogue contrasts with the young boy in the reception who got bitten by a gerbil. The boy in the reception goes with the stereotype of children being clueless and reckless where as the sick boy in the hospital bed is more independent and did research on his illness showing maturity which is unusual for a boy his age. During the clip the ill boy response “he’s okay I will tell her tonight” Shows his maturity and independence.

Old womsn in waiting room states in the dialogue of the conversation between herself and the doctor “I am here for her” Highlights she’s seen as waist of space. This goes with the idea that older people in the way of things as they always have to be looked after and taken care of; like children and babies. Older Doctor uses medical terminology – Woman says she does not understand what he meant, goes with the stereotype that older people are wiser and more knowledgeable. As the drunk is on the operating table, consistent beeping is heard connoting age can be a burden to society.

Woman doctor’s voice is more sympathetic with children and sterner with older people, this is because older people are meant to be capable of looking after themselves where as children more or less have to be baby coddled. A baby can be heard crying in the distance; the mother is possibly not looking after her child and needs to pay more attention to the baby, shows again that older people need to look after children but it’s difficult to do so when the parents are as incapable to look after themselves as they are to look after their offspring.

“Would you like me to be there?”  Older male is seen as a kind of parental figure.

Fade at start of clip. Continuity editing treats the child and the doctor equally at the start of the scene. Cross cutting to child being childish contrasts to child genius. Short reverse short  of the conversation between an intelligent boy and the boy doctor; they have a close relationship or a close relationship is about to form. Cut from waiting room to surgery room a difference between older people being more capable to succeed and older people that act younger than their age and are incapable of taking care of themselves. Short reverse shot between doctor and child illustrates that they are equals. Cut to young people and emphasises on younger arguments suggesting arguments are less important in comparison to other story lines. Long take arrow creates impression of busy place (hospital).   

Primevil

The scene starts with an over the shoulder shot illustrating regardless of the man being shown to be much bigger than the woman he has no power over her when it comes to influencing her to stay. We hear calm non diegetic music in the background at the start of the clip, which foreshadows that all is not well and something will most likely change the mood of the scene sooner or later. We see the woman climb into a car that looks like a Toyota land cruiser which in most cases is a manly car; this goes again the stereotype idea of women driving small cars and men driving masculine fast, land type cars; giving the woman a more independent and man like. Continuity editing is used throughout the clip.

The tone of the non diegetic music changes into a darker sound, allowing the audience to speculate that something bad is going to happen to the main characters in the clip. A wide shot is used when we first see Abby in the digger; the wide shot act as an establishing shot for the specific scene to show the location of the wood and forest the characters are in. The digger used by Abby once again goes again the stereotype of men being the ones that use the larger, stronger machinery; connotating the women in the clip might be stronger than the men when it comes to combat.

We see a man placing down a large steak for bait, connotating the characters attempting to catch a very large animal. The audience starts to hypothesise the character are on a dangerous mission to capture something that could most likely kill them. We see one of the male characters standing by while Abbey does the digging; this illustrates role reversal and the woman taking charge. The close up shot of the end of the digger establishes the fact that Abbey is vastly experienced in using this type of large machine typically seen to be used by men; underlining  Abbey’s non stereotypical mannerisms, giving the impression that she’s somewhat of a tomboy. The mis-en-scene used also reinforces this point, she has a short almost boy like hair cut and wears a leather jacket that makes us think of male characters e.g. men on motorcycles; mainly men, strong motivated characters.

A reverse shot is used to show the man’s apprehensive facial expression as a close up shot of the buried arm is revealed; as the arm is revealed the non diegetic music quietens in order for the loud symbol non diegetic sound to portray the emotion of horror that the characters are feeling. A mid shot is used to demonstrate how Abbey is capable of taking over as the close us shot shows her stopping digger.

Non diegetic sounds of the animal roaring are used to frighten the audience, allowing them to realise the main characters are in serious danger. A Low angle shot of the Saber tooth tiger emphasises the danger the man is in; the director deliberately does this to make the animal look larger than it already is, as a high shot of the man as the saber tooth tiger tries to attack him.

The non-diegetic sound of the ambient sound-track is used to suggest the apprehension and panic; also helps with creating the pace of the action into a faster speed, especially in the chase scene. The non diegetic sound of the ambient sound track together with the fast pace of the editing elevates the tension. The blurring and wipes between editing gives the action the impression that it is too fast to see and reinforces the fact that the creature is extremely fast.

Abbey calls over the saber tooth when she sees that her male friend is struggling to chase of the animal; the audience can see clearly that Abbey isn’t afraid of anything and most certainly isn’t a damsel in distress like most of the stereotypes try to perceive women as. The fact that she also fights the Sabre-toothed, saving her friend illustrates her determination. Continuity editing is shown throughout that part of the clip.

A wide shot of Abbey is used to show her running after her friend who’s being chased by the Saber-tooth chased reinforces the role reversal as the man if stereotypically meant to be physically powerful and gutsy where as in this case the male character is in fact running and being chased. A contrast is shown as Abbey chases after the man with a gun coming to his rescue for a second time. The dark shape of the gun in her hands, recaps power, as a gun is in this extract, power.

The low angle shot is used as an establishing shot allowing the audience to notice the characters are still in the woods; the zip wire is made more prominent in this scene.

The woman talking the farmer who breeds dogs is portrayed as a immaculate, more of a stereotypical view of a lady. This is conveyed through the sequence “My Best Coat”! This scene allows the audience to get a clear view of what the woman’s personality is like. She is sconfident and stern when talking and knows she can get what she wants as she flaunts chest. Her red lipstick suggests she’s perceives herself as powerful and lustful; she thinks she can get any male to do what she wants. Although in this case the man pulls out a gun a close up revealing her fear; she’s not as powerful as she acts. Even the colour of the lwoman’s “Best Coat” is white, which provides the thought of purity and pristine.

 

The over the shoulder shot and the cross cut editing exposes the farmer’s rising anger towards the woman threatening him. The music becomes slower, but is packed with tension as the sounds carry on through the scene with the farmer and his shotgun, creating a sense of fear and anticipation. This alongside with the wide shot and the farmer’s face, pierced with anger, suggests a tension filled shot. The farmer is weak when the women threatens him but has much more power when he picks up the gun; allowing him to take back control and throw the woman to the ground. The stance the woman takes on the ground makes her look almost vulnerable and incapable of escaping…she’s the stereotype woman you see in most movies as the male character is made out to look strong and daring while the woman sits there hopelessly waiting for her prince to come and save her ‘damsel in distress waiting for her knight in shining armor’.  The line “won’t be pushed around anymore” indicates his explosion of anger. The diegetic noise of the barking dogs also conveys a sense of threat and panic.

Primevil Essay

The scene starts with an over the shoulder shot illustrating regardless of the man being shown to be much bigger than the woman he has no power over her when it comes to influencing her to stay. We hear calm non diegetic music in the background at the start of the clip, which foreshadows that all is not well and something will most likely change the mood of the scene sooner or later. We see the woman climb into a car that looks like a Toyota land cruiser which in most cases is a manly car; this goes again the stereotype idea of women driving small cars and men driving masculine fast, land type cars; giving the woman a more independent and man like. Continuity editing is used throughout the clip.

The tone of the non diegetic music changes into a darker sound, allowing the audience to speculate that something bad is going to happen to the main characters in the clip. A wide shot is used when we first see Abby in the digger; the wide shot act as an establishing shot for the specific scene to show the location of the wood and forest the characters are in. The digger used by Abby once again goes again the stereotype of men being the ones that use the larger, stronger machinery; connotating the women in the clip might be stronger than the men when it comes to combat.

We see a man placing down a large steak for bait, connotating the characters attempting to catch a very large animal. The audience starts to hypothesise the character are on a dangerous mission to capture something that could most likely kill them. We see one of the male characters standing by while Abbey does the digging; this illustrates role reversal and the woman taking charge. The close up shot of the end of the digger establishes the fact that Abbey is vastly experienced in using this type of large machine typically seen to be used by men; underlining  Abbey’s non stereotypical mannerisms, giving the impression that she’s somewhat of a tomboy. The mis-en-scene used also reinforces this point, she has a short almost boy like hair cut and wears a leather jacket that makes us think of male characters e.g. men on motorcycles; mainly men, strong motivated characters.

A reverse shot is used to show the man’s apprehensive facial expression as a close up shot of the buried arm is revealed; as the arm is revealed the non diegetic music quietens in order for the loud symbol non diegetic sound to portray the emotion of horror that the characters are feeling. A mid shot is used to demonstrate how Abbey is capable of taking over as the close us shot shows her stopping digger. 

Non diegetic sounds of the animal roaring are used to frighten the audience, allowing them to realise the main characters are in serious danger. A Low angle shot of the Saber tooth tiger emphasises the danger the man is in; the director deliberately does this to make the animal look larger than it already is, as a high shot of the man as the saber tooth tiger tries to attack him.

The non-diegetic sound of the ambient sound-track is used to suggest the apprehension and panic; also helps with creating the pace of the action into a faster speed, especially in the chase scene. The non diegetic sound of the ambient sound track together with the fast pace of the editing elevates the tension. The blurring and wipes between editing gives the action the impression that it is too fast to see and reinforces the fact that the creature is extremely fast. 

Abbey calls over the saber tooth when she sees that her male friend is struggling to chase of the animal; the audience can see clearly that Abbey isn’t afraid of anything and most certainly isn’t a damsel in distress like most of the stereotypes try to perceive women as. The fact that she also fights the Sabre-toothed, saving her friend illustrates her determination. Continuity editing is shown throughout that part of the clip.

A wide shot of Abbey is used to show her running after her friend who’s being chased by the Saber-tooth chased reinforces the role reversal as the man if stereotypically meant to be physically powerful and gutsy where as in this case the male character is in fact running and being chased. A contrast is shown as Abbey chases after the man with a gun coming to his rescue for a second time. The dark shape of the gun in her hands, recaps power, as a gun is in this extract, power.

The low angle shot is used as an establishing shot allowing the audience to notice the characters are still in the woods; the zip wire is made more prominent in this scene. 

The woman talking the farmer who breeds dogs is portrayed as a immaculate, more of a stereotypical view of a lady. This is conveyed through the sequence “My Best Coat”! This scene allows the audience to get a clear view of what the woman’s personality is like. She is confident and stern when talking and knows she can get what she wants as she flaunts chest. Her red lipstick suggests she’s perceives herself as powerful and lustful; she thinks she can get any male to do what she wants. Although in this case the man pulls out a gun a close up revealing her fear; she’s not as powerful as she acts. Even the colour of the woman’s “Best Coat” is white, which provides the thought of purity and pristine.

The over the shoulder shot and the cross cut editing exposes the farmer’s rising anger towards the woman threatening him. The music becomes slower, but is packed with tension as the sounds carry on through the scene with the farmer and his shotgun, creating a sense of fear and anticipation. This alongside with the wide shot and the farmer’s face, pierced with anger, suggests a tension filled shot. The farmer is weak when the women threatens him but has much more power when he picks up the gun; allowing him to take back control and throw the woman to the ground. The stance the woman takes on the ground makes her look almost vulnerable and incapable of escaping…she’s the stereotype woman you see in most movies as the male character is made out to look strong and daring while the woman sits there hopelessly waiting for her prince to come and save her ‘damsel in distress waiting for her knight in shining armor’.  The line “won’t be pushed around anymore” indicates his explosion of anger. The diegetic noise of the barking dogs also conveys a sense of threat and panic.

Dr Who

Didability - Final Re-Write

An Arial shot is used to make obvious distance between David and his brother in addition to how different the two are from each other. A voice over is used permitting the audience to become aware that the story is being told from David’s point of view. The theme tune of the show is used to set the mood of the scene; makes what David says more light hearted “last summer I decided to kill my brother”, the teen light-hearted music makes the audience assume David is joking about killing his brother. 

The pan shot used to introduce David allows the audience to make assumptions on the character; the black and white posters on David’s side allow the audience to assume David is rebellious and doesn’t think twice before acting...the audience start to assume David isn’t joking about killing his brother when the pan shot moves to David’s expression, which is still and motionless. The dark lighting on David/his side of the room mirrors how David might be perceived as untrustworthy/dodgy as he talks about killing his brother. The shot is then moved to David’s brother Ben; where then the shot is zoomed in to Bens face allowing the audience to get a closer view and realise Ben’s disabled. Ben’s part of the room is light and colourful connotating Ben being childlike and innocent.

The continuity editing allows the audience to understand the characters more; creating a sense of reality which permits the audience to empathise with David therefore letting the audience create a personal relationship with the character. 

A montage is used to illustrate how evolution has failed David’s brother, leaving him to be “a big potato with eye tentacles.” The montage is used to describe David’s brother’s disability; down syndrome, helping the audience understand more about why David isn’t pleased with his life. 

The Diegetic sound ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ by the beach boys creates irony in the clip; David has just finished talking about how he had planned to kill his brother. The continuity editing carries to the next scene where the audience is introduced to the rest of the family. Jump cuts are used to reflect the family’s disorientated lifestyle. The audience is allowed to get a glimpse on what David’s goes through every single waking moment he spends with his disabled brother; the audience starts to empathise with David. David’s voice over begins once we see a close us shot of Ben eating breakfast; the flowing commentary of David’s feelings towards Ben start to become more noticeable when we hear David’s voice over complaining about how the “recipe changes and you end up with a brother who is a big potato with eye tentacles”. Hearing this the audience immediately recognises the disgust David feels towards Ben. The continuous noise of the kitchen utensils and plates reflects on the chaos that goes on in their home. There’s a close up shot of Ben as he eats his cereal, this gives us a clear view that Ben isn’t ‘normal’ due to the way he eats his cereal. David accuses Ben for finishing his cereal when he says “you ate the bloody Weetabix”, furthering more the hatred he feels for his brother. Gary and his parents are continuously shown in mid shots whereas close up shots are used for Ben reflecting his innocence. David’s mum interferes before David can go on to further insult his brother and light-heartedly tells Ben “that was a bit selfish”; doing so we see that Ben gets away with a lot of thing which would most likely frustrate David, which is when we hear David immediately disagreeing with his mum exclaiming “a bit selfish??”.

The Kitchen is shown as a negative place when a long shot is used, the audience start to notice that the kitchen is most likely where most of the family’s arguments are; the kitchen is where the family comes together and eats when they’re not in their rooms.

David tries to steal some on Ben’s cereal; we hear Ben come out with a simple “no!” to the audience’s astonishment the mother ironically sides with Ben once again “oh can you just grow up please!” The audience starts to notice that Ben is the favourite child/well treated child as the dad stands up giving Ben a loving squeeze while he looks up to gives David stern look. We hear David give off a loud sigh connotating that his parents siding with Ben happens frequently. We see more of the division in the family between the two brothers as before, the mother walks out she giving Ben a kiss on the head on her way out while David sits there watching. Throughout the clip we hear the non diegetic sound of the Beach Boys ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ in the background while the family argue, furthering the irony. 

The theme song is used in the background as the two brothers make their way to the bus stop. An establishing shot is used as the two brothers walk to the bus stop while we hear the theme song in the background. Diegetic sound is used when we hear a dog barking and cars going by once again reflecting on the disorder David and Ben go through, the dog barking reflects David’s violent thoughts towards his brother. This reflecting on how wherever David goes with his brother he’s always going to have chaos surrounding him.

A visual effect is used which allows the audience to see through the gun, giving insight into how David’s brain works; his thoughts on killing his brother that seemed to have turned into somewhat of an obsession. The audience commence onwards to assume David has major issues with his brother moreover likely to detest Ben. 

A flashback is then used to show earlier events of David and Ben on their family holiday; allows the audience to become aware of David’s life being surrounded by what his brother wants, as their parents put Ben as their priority, taking Ben to the same place for their holiday because Ben likes it there. The audience is permitted to take a walk in David’s shoes and notice how life with Ben can be a pain. During the flashback cutaways are used to show establishing shots of where the boys go on their holiday.

More continuity editing is added to the clip letting the audience know that the clip is moving on to how David's everyday life is normally like.

In the next scene a close up shot is used to show the school; once again the theme song is used to create familiarity as the boys go to the school on weekdays. We see David outsmarting the teacher letting the audience recognise that David is smart and possibly misinterpreted by his family and everyone around him; people don’t take David into consideration when his brother is around...David lives in his brothers shadow and the only time he can be himself is when he’s away from his brother. The long shot of his friends helps us see their body language so the audience can make their own assumptions about David’s friends…the people who influence him. David’s friends talk about David having to babysit his brother connotating that even they think Ben is a burden. This helps us understand how the people in David’s school might not accept disabled people as fellow friends. David gives his brother bus money/money to buy chocolate in order for Ben to not tell his parents about David letting his get on the bus alone.

Cross cutting is used to show the other kids on the bus with Ben, illustrating how different Ben is in comparison to other ‘normal’ kids. Creating tension; the audience fears for Ben’s safety as he’s on his own, he might not be able to get home safe. The cross cutting reminds the audience that Ben isn’t an ordinary boy who can cope with everyday life; while other kids on the bus can manage to get home safe it’s not the same case for Ben. Ben’s safety is unpredictable...can’t be foreshadowed, the audience is led to make their own assumptions as to whether or not Ben ends up getting home, thus ending the clip on a cliff hanger.