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.