Class notes - Thursday 28th November 2013

How is the representation of gender constructed through:
1) Mise-en-scene
2) Camera shot, composition, angle and movement
3) Editing
4) Sound

1) The majority of this clip is set in an upper-class clothing store to set the tone of what type of characters would be able to shop their and what class they're in. The sales assistant is well-dressed in a suit to show that he's a man of importance who's in a high position of power. With him being a male who appears to be in a high position of power, he conforms to the stereotype that men are superior. The main woman who appears in this clip is dressed in an expensive suit and had a very large diamond ring, suggesting she has a high place in society due to her class. She wears a skirt type of suit and has blond hair (wig) which helps her conform to her femininity.

2) At the beginning of the clip when the elderly woman is looking for a dress, the camera uses a high angle shot to show that she's inferior - possibly because she's a female or that she can't afford the item of clothing. The camera does a swipe movement when changing from the clothing store to the two men in a bar/lounge to show the dramatic division of class. In that particular scene, the man who's smoking is slightly blurred by the camera to show he's of lesser importance than the man in the suit who's clearly shown in every shot. When the upper-class woman is searching frantically for her ring, the camera is tracking her movements whereas the camera stays vigil on the sales assistant - the woman drives the scene and appears to have authority in the scene. With the scene where it's the two men in the clothing store, medium close-ups are used to portray the intensity of the situation and focus on each character's emotions and facial expressions.

3) In this clip, there are numerous transitions within editing. For example, the majority of this clip is set in the upper-class clothing store, but will often switch to the two men in the lounge or a man sitting on his sofa, supposedly fixing some sort of alarm. The shot duration was dependant on the conversation spoken through characters; when the sales assistant and elderly woman were having their long conversation about buying a dress, the camera shots were quite lenghtened to emphasize the conversation structure. When the upper-class woman was having her conversation with the sales assistant, their sentences were brief, as were the shot duration.

Class notes - Thursday 14th November 2013

In TV Drama, we analyse the following
-Costume
-Appearance
-Behaviour
-Role
-The challenging or reinforcement of stereotypes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=488u-LJKsK4
Representation of age - Top Boy
-The older male seemed to have more power due to his height and the way he addresses the younger boy
-To some people, the younger boy could be seen as inferior, submissive and scared, but another interpretation of his actions could be passive and that he isn't phased by the situation
-The older male appears to be a mentor to the other kid, giving him advice motivating him to "make something" of himself. The dialogue that's only spoken by the older male sets up the situation in the scene
-Some may say that the older male drives the scene because of his age and dominance in conversation but another suggestion could be that the younger boy drives the scene because of his lack of communication and facial expressions
-For the first part of this scene, the camera is tracking the two characters, showing they're both of importance. The main shots in this clip are medium close-ups and there are wipe transitions