The Hour and how genders are repersented

Compare the way the opening scene in ‘The Hour’ represents gender stereotypes, using camera shots, mise –en-scene, editing & sound.

The Hour is a drama set in the 1950’s based around a news television program shown on the BBC. There are many characters in the clip is one main one is a female woman who we follow around the office and we see her under a lot of pressure to get this show on and get everything prefect.

 

There is a lot of sound in the clip right at the very start we hear someone frantically tapping away at a type writer and then there is a tilt up shot where we see newspapers scattered across a desk this a directors short hand for stating we were in an office and had something to do with something media/press related. The camera stops when in the centre of the frame is the main woman in the clip she looks stressed you can tell this through the mise-en-scene, she has her hands on her temples, her glasses positioned on the end of her nose showing she is in a ‘working hard’ frame of mind & she is puffing really hard on a cigarette these are all stereotypes and/or directors short hand for showing she is stressed and under pressure.

Whilst the man and presenter of the TV is sitting in a jazzy club there are close ups of him drinking, lighting a fag and looking at his watch this shows he is not in a rush, he appears smooth and cool headed as he doesn't feel the pressure as he has time to sign a autograph for a fan when she asks we are unaware who he is but when the actress comes up and asks her we are instantly aware he must be famous. The tilt down shot shows the bit of paper he has just signed this may have been setup as a way of us finding out who he is without actually stating. This is showing that while all the women are flapping about in the studio the main star of the show is chilling and acting all calm and collected this plays along with the stereotype that all women are hormonal and stressy.

The director has a way of adding pressure with clever editing techniques there is a triple shot of 3 different actors/actresses looking at their watches they move in a sweep movement this is a clever way of confirming the pressure . The non-digetic sound of the piano jazz and the ticking of a metronome, this has carried on from the sound of the typing on the typewriter, also is adding and topping up the pressure. The main actress has to pay a visit to the new head of news, the pause before she knocks emphasises that even though she has her own PA, she isn't as high up as him and  she is under him. The set up and in the room is a clever mise-en-scene. As viewers they feel uncomfortable as the room is all dark and eary. This shows a deeper meaning that maybe the man is trying to get in the zone of the TV show.  

Discus ways in which different generations & class presented in BBC3’s some girls, use mise-en-scene, shot types, sound and editing.
We watched a clip of some girls this is a comedy drama series that is shown 10pm on Tuesday’s. It is about a group of stereotypical girls aged about 15/16. The clip we watched had its own main character ‘Viva’ she lives in a flat with her brother, dad & step mum.  The step mum is also her PE teacher at school. So for her the setup is a bit unusual.

The PE teacher/Step Mum is very unprofessional when it comes to Viva’s PE lesson she is wearing a strappy top with really tight yoga pants. Viva is rude to her and answers her back; this is because I think Viva doesn’t know where she stands with her because of the situation at home there is a clever shot type when Viva is on the floor doing press ups, it’s a close up of the teacher with Viva and her mate in the background gossiping. At home the Step Mum is perceived as the stereotypical evil step mum. She was walking round the flat like she owns it in a really short dressing gown the director may have been incorporated to make the viewer feel as awkward as Viva that is her teacher sitting in front of her.
There is role reversal with her Dad & Step Mum; she finds out that her Step Mum is pregnant. There are different views on this pregnancy; Viva is dead set on her getting rid of it. She mentions a friend who has had it done this is stereotyping that all teenagers are getting pregnant and having abortions. There is a shot from Viva’s point of view when she is looking at them as if they are the teenage lovebirds, and as if she is the responsible adult. Then Viva gets worried that the baby will have nowhere to sleep. Viva gets angry when the step mum over rides her dads opinion and says that she will have to move out and give the baby her room.
Viva packs a backpack and leaves without anyone saying bye or questioning her. When she is packing there is a fast beat music behind her packing her back, it has been edited in with a close up of the top of the bag and the odd thing she puts in, we don’t see everything because that would be boring so it has been edited out so we only get the main idea.
When Viva slams the door and runs down the stairs there is a shot from above as she runs downstairs. This is done so you feel sorry for her, that no one says bye or seems to care.

There is a teenage girl sat on a bench with a baby in a push chair with fag in one hand and a can of beer in the other this has been set up to mock teenage mums and put substance to the stereotype that all teenage mums are from under privileged backgrounds with no aspiration.

key consepts and skills

this task i was given a 4 page hand out with activits to do i thought i twould be easier to do them by hand so i have them for revision and will also make it a lot easier to learn, for me at least. For the 1st & 2nd activity we had to watch clips from movies or tv for action i picked a short clip from gold finger, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJubOZLpp4A and form my big fat gypsy wedding series 1 eposide 3.
The rest of the activities involved watching verious movies and clips, some where easier to find than others but if i could find one i just made do with what i thought would be okay.

Essay

Discuss the way in which the extract uses camera shots, editing, sound, mise-en-scene to construct representations of relationships

 

The clip we were shown had 2 main characters, man and wife, but they have a complex relationship. With trust and commitment issues.

The first scene is then in the back of a black cab, this shows that they are quite well off that they can afford to travel this way rather than a bus or walking. The woman says 'second time lucky' then there is a close up of their hands both of them are wearing wedding rings this is a clever way of making you aware they just got remarried without actually saying it. They are both wearing casual clothes, this could be refected in their relationship. She then says 'I know about Milissa' but we hear no more about Milissa so that is a scriped way of showing their complex relationship She then goes on to say that if anothing should happen to her she would want him to move on and love someone else this makes the audince want to keep watching wating to see what may happen foreshowdwing what may happen next.

 

When the cab stops the woman gets out and pays the taxi driver, the man is still unaware where they are, this shows that she was in control and that maybe she has power within the relationship. Then a ambulance pulls into the building behind her this is another clever way of saying where they are without actually stating; 'We are at the hospital'. The woman needs to go and see her consultant, he fights to come with her but she resists and says he should just wait outside. This could show that he doesnt trust her and their may be secrets within the relationship. 

 

 

Next secene she is in the doctors room, you can see the doctor is talking and she is nooding with tears streenming down her face but the director has choosen to drown out what he is saying to her with slow piano music. By this time we are still unawre if it is good or bad news and this adds more to the tention. Their is a high shot of her doctor and her sitting at the desk this may be forshadowment that someone is looking down at her or it may mean that we shouldn't be there so we are like a fly on the wall.

All the time when she is in the doctors it keeps cutting out to the man outside who is sitting in an outside coffee shop. He keeps fiddling with his wedding ring this shows he is unsure of how he is feeling about her and confused by the lack of trust within the relationship.

 

The he sees her walking, through the black iron gates she is doing her parker jacket up. She wipes her eyes then looks up at him smiling this adds yet more confusion and tention, is it going to be good news? She then shouts across the road at him this could be a metaphor that she wants to shout about her results/news.

Then without looking she steps into the road, the camera is placed over the otherside of the road a bus blocks the cameras veiw of her it is unclear what hits her but i think ity was a car going the other way alongside the bus, but there is a beep and a crash i think this was added in later the man is watching from his sitting position in the coffee shop. All sound is drowned out you can hear a heart beat hard and strong then he puts one foot in the road and the sound is back. He is frantically trying to get across the road, this leaves the audiunce on the edge of the seat. When he gets there she says a few words then dies. The camera pulls out and raises up this is conculing what was forshadowed in the doctors room, of someone up above looking down. There were white lillies scattered across the pavement from a flower stall that the women knocked over when she got hit. It is a very unforfilling ending because we never find out what was that she was in hospital for or what will happen next.