Thursday, 26 January 2012

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of ethnicity using the following:
- camera shots, angles, movement and composition
- editing
- sound
- mise-en-scene

        The scene opens with an ariel shot of a barren, deserted room, which looks cold and untouched. The only light that enters the room is natural light covered by a thin blind, so the room appears dark and dreary, the blind is there to show that no one can see in to the building as if they are doing something wrong, that no one can see, this makes the audience on edge as they don’t know what is going to happen. Shadows is all you can see in the grand room, which shows that the villains have wealth which is not a stereotypical trait. The non-diegetic sound also adds to the tension of the scene and creates an eeriness to the scene. The villain is shown as superior to the MI5 agents as they are sitting down on chairs tied up. Whereas he is shouting down to them in a harsh tone. He is Iraqi but is shaven and in a suit which is not stereotypical, as due to people such as Sudaam Husain represented Iraqis in a manner of thick bearded men who want to create trouble and are dressed in thawbs. He has a toned, slender figure which is also not stereotypical for this race within the media. The villains sidekick is a broad man of the Iraqi race, he is hired as his body shape would scare others. As he is much larger than the average man, so would win in a fight if placed in the situation. All you can see of him is a small area around his eyes. The rest is covered in black clothing and he is holding a huge gun, this also creates tension as the accessory is deadly. He also holds a gun up to the MI5’s throat and his boss says he can kill anyone. Which shows he is emotionless and they do not care who they kill on their path to victory, which is the villain trait in them. This shows that the villains (Propps theory) have captured the English and are bullying them. The MI5 agents stay calm and try to retaliate to scare the Iraqi's but they do not succeed. But still show no emotion to not seem fazed by their capture. The woman has a masculine haircut to show strength and is also dressed in a suit. so she does not get stereotypically be degraded as she is a woman. She has British skin and does most of the talking throughout the scene, rather than her partner. The mise en scene such as rope is used to tie her down which shows she is a strong, independent woman. The close ups of her face also show her stern exterior with her strong jaw line which puts the character as a threat. Her hard exterior is extended with her outfit of a masculine suit, to emphasis this fact. Her partner is a black male also dressed in a suit, who seems reserved. This may seem as they are degrading the black race as she is superior to him, she is making the decisions and actions they are taking. He is just following in her footsteps. But on the other hand the British government have hired a man of another race, which shows he is a well-educated man. Throughout the whole scene the camera is always shaky to reinforce the tension and eerie atmosphere, they also use quick movement between each transition to create tension and suspense in the scene. When the photo is slammed on the desk the non diegetic music placed with it is loud and unexpected, before this the music is almost silent to emphasis this change. The cuts of the scene are edited together so that the scene flows. They challenge the ethnicity representation as they normally always show the English or American’s as they strongest characters of the scene. But in this case they are the weak characters being taken and tortured. The lady of the MI5 was forced to read a script, she is looked down upon and even though she is the victim in the scene, she composes herself to not seem as she is the weak character. This challenges Alvaro's theory as the villain is shown as the more wealthy character whereas stereotypically they are the poor characters. But it sticks to the theory as he is of the Iraqi race. The sidekick is represented as the British public see a typical Iraqi man. He is dressed in black, suspicious and has weaponry on his person. This reinforces that the Iraqi man in the suit may be the leader of the villains and has the stereotypical Iraqi men working for him. But this may also challenge the British view of Iraq's to show that they don’t all look like they have been represented the media. It may be trying to show the good side to the Iraqi side of things as all they here in Britian is the British side of things. The script is also challenging as it does seem as the Iraq's have suffered greatly with the attacks they have been receiving, they are all being punished for what a few members of their society have done. So it gets the audience thinking about the actions they are taking and be aware of the people suffering in other countries. In the scene they end to use a lot of zoomed shots and close up shots to show the emotion in the characters faces to express what they are thinking about the situation. this is also emphasised by non diegetic sound to add suspense and emotion to the scene.


Monday, 5 December 2011

Discuss the way in which the extract constructs representations of ethnicity using the following:
camera shot
editing
sound
mise-en-scene

The first scene is filled with non diegetic sound of eery music, which is placed over the scene to create tension and get the audience to assume something bad is going to happen.

There is an over the shoulder shot of the customer and it looks down on the employee to show that the employee is a shy character and the customer has had a past of authority over him and as they talk about their past times, it shows that there is a past story to be told. As when he first saw the customer he tried to avoid him, rather than catch up almost as he was scared of this man. So it implies that there is a story to tell about their past and here is a reason why they don't talk anymore, they have completely different body language the customer is up for meeting up again having a big party but the employee tries to say no nicely but the customer over powers him and almost forces him into coming to this party. Their language is also very different, it shows that the employee used to act like the customer and he has changed his life around and as the customer seems to be very wealthy it stereotypically shows that he has got his money from the wrong reasons.
-2 maids eastern European; alvarado's theory slutty, dance for money to emphasis they use burlesque music. no standards, one had sexy black underwear and one had white baisc underwear with religious symbol and does not perform for the man, the other one is sly for money the underwear emphasis' the difference between the two maids.
- rich Japanese man; robe, glasses, money on the side they are exotic to him.
-manager with toilet roll; mixed race Chinese, busy, poshly dressed, clean cut with a bun, but also sly and secretive wants to find things out.
-2 managers; British white, woman is blonde, gossips about the staff and they have control as the staff look up to them paternalistic leading. the woman in clueless but the man is conserned shows the male has a higher knowledge in this case.
-italian chef; kisses hand and head, refers to English pig, in competition for head chef had an affair so not a nice man, abusive.
it refers to diegetic and non diegetic sound to add emphasis e.g track playing while the the exotic woman is dancing.

Monday, 21 November 2011

how did the crosby show and rustic roots challenge previous sterotypical representations of black people in TV drama?


not much speech given, represented in a bad way, or taken the mick of not amny of them shown if any. 
U.S. television since then made sporadic attempts to address these particular white-black issues, such as Roots, The Cosby Show and through a proliferation of black newscasters at the local level, but all the while cleaving steadfastly to three traditions. These are, firstly, the continuing virtual invisibility of Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans. Indeed, some studies indicate that for decades Latinos have hovered around 1 to 2% of characters in TV drama, very substantially less than their percentage of the public. Secondly, the tradition of color-segregating entertainment changed but little. Even though from the latter 1980s Black shows began to multiply considerably, casts have generally been white or black (and never Latino, Native or Asian). Thirdly, the few minority roles in dramatic TV have frequently been of criminals and drug addicts. This pattern has intensively reinforced, and seemingly been reinforced by, the similar racial stereotyping common in "reality TV" police shows and local TV news programs. The standard alternative role for African Americans has been comic actor (or stand-up comic in comedy shows). Ram'rez-Berg (1990), commenting upon the wider cinematic tradition of Latino portrayal, has identified the bandit/greaser, the mixed-race slut, the buffoon (male and female), the Latin lover and the alluring Dark Lady, as six hackneyed tropes. (If Latinos are given more TV space, will the first phase merely privilege the audience with negative roles in a wider spectrum?) Let us examine, however, some prominent exceptions.
Roots confounded the TV industry's prior expectations, with up to 140 million viewers for all or part of it, and over 100 million for the second series. For the first time on U.S. television some of the realities of slavery--brutality, rape, enforced de-culturation--were confronted over a protracted period, and through individual characters with whom, as they fought to escape or survive, the audience could identify. Against this historic first was the individualistic focus on screenwriter Alex Haley's determined family, presented as "immigrant-times-ten" fighting an exceptionally painful way over its generations toward the American Dream myth of all U.S. immigrants. Against it too, was the emphasis on the centuries and decades before the 1970s, which the ahistorical vector in U.S. culture easily cushions from application to the often devastating here and now. Nonetheless, it was a signal achievement.
The Cosby Show was the next milestone. Again defeating industry expectations, the series scored exceptionally high continuing ratings right across the nation. The show attracted a certain volume of hostile comment, some of it smugly supercilious. The fact it was popular with white audiences in the South, and in South Africa, was a favorite quick shot to try to debunk it. Some critics claimed it fed the mirage that racial injustice could be overcome through individual economic advance, others that it primly fostered Reaganite conservative family values. Both were indeed easily possible readings of the show within contemporary U.S. culture. Yet critics often seemed to think a TV text could actually present a single monolithic meaningfulness or set up a firewall against inappropriate readings.
popular as the black man was a educated doctor with money and living a very healthy life. 


prince of belair- upper class black family rich lifestyle, happy family, lawyer so again educated. also argue will smith was coming from a not so good background shows both sides of the  environment. 


black people often shown as sidekicks. 

Monday, 7 November 2011


OPENING TITLES OF DOWNTON ABBEY
These titles have never changed as hey do not need modifying in anyway as the are set in the past so is called a period drama. The opening starts with a over the shoulder view of the dog being walked by his owner in a very nice countryside setting with bright blue skies and fresh green grass with a extremely large house in the background. The image has had the contrast brightened to emphasis the angelic setting. Then there is a jump cut shot into doors with dark green posh curtains opening to a bright white light which entices the audience to see what is behind the opening doors. Could be anything in their eyes at that moment in time. It then has a fading shot to shows a bell ring for the servants to one of the rooms in a large posh house, which was common in the 1916-1919 era. Then it shows a shot focused on the mail neatly stored and a fuzzy background where you can make out that a maid walking up the stairs to follow the bell that was rang. The shot is also panning to the right whilst this action is taking place. Then it zooms in very quickly to a copper old fashioned pan boiling then there is a quick jump cut onto a servant/waiter correcting the three sets of cutlery so that they are perfectly lined up. At this point you can tell how posh the house it is set in is and can figure out that the house you saw at the beginning it in fact the house the drama is set in. It then shows little things that happen in the house that the maids do for example turn on lamps and cleaning the dust,also everything that is occuring is done with a very elegant manor about it and slowly done to perfection. Finally the finishing picture is of the house and its reflection which represents the house very well as it shows the house itself but also what happens downstairs, the maids and servants side to the house that is not know to the upstairs. So shows that the house has two sides to it through the image being reflected and the page split into two to show the two completely different sides of that era and how people lived so differently and the importance of social class in that society. Also within every shot the the camera either pans left or right or tilts up or down. There is the same music throughout the clip with is non diegetic sound, which is soft, calming music which is made from an orchestra, in the genre of classical music. Also in every shot there is a name that comes across the screen and follows the direction that the shot is moving. The font is an old font which looks like roman numerals, so shows it is of the older style to fit in with the period drama, also the title is also shown in the same font just slightly larger in size.




Thursday, 13 October 2011

90210
The O.C
Skins
i have looked at the opening scenes of these 3 T.V Drama's. they have shown that the first two are popular and rich characters with stereotypical characters where as skins is more about the real troubles with a poorer theme to it and more in depth emotion and deeper story lines and is more serious and depressing with very graphic scenes included. where as the first two are more child friendly and lighter story line. they all have in common that the program is all about a group of friends. setting is particularly important as people watch the program for the image of LA and California. where as Skins is more edgy not so much about the settings and the opening is all about flicking images and dark settings. where as the first two are more bright and vibrant and happy settings with smiling happy people. it is more of a fantasy image rather than a real life image with their mansions and hot beaches and huge parties that they attend all the time. Skins is more edgy and real life in average houses and cold wet England that we are used to. the characters are all of the teenage age in Skins but in the other two they also include the parents in the dramas that occur whereas in Skins they only rely on themselves for support it doesn't show their parents getting involved in any of their troubles. this is another unconventional thing and a thing that is linked with the stereotypical wealth of the characters that they are normally not looked after as much and get themselves into trouble whereas on the other side the other two dramas are completely opposite as they get their drama from their parents at work all the time, so a convention of the teenage drama is issues of the parent not being there but in the unconventional drama it is for a different reason that the parents arn't there, it's for nor reason at all they either have troubles or just don't care bout their child, where as the wealthier parents miss quality time with their children for the wellness of them by providing them with everything they wanted.



Monday, 3 October 2011

waterloo road clip
Character Representation
this clip shows from the very beginning shows the characters representations. It opens with the teacher who is refereeing who uses a very sarcastic tone in her speech and backs away from the situation, so she does not give the team the full support they need by the scary opposition. Whereas the coach of the team has a good look at the opposition before saying his strong speech to the students. Then one of the male students runs onto the pitch purposely after the other ones so the reaction of the other boys is shown on camera. Two boys react as the 'hard' boys and hsout their opinion and say 'why is he here' suggesting that they are more important than him as they are on the rugby team and he should not have the right to be on there. then the coach quiets they boys quickly which shows that he has authority over them. Even though they have big mouths and the other students are scared of them, they are still scared of the teacher as he has the right to take them off the rugby team where they clearly want to be. The two boys seem to be friends but one is more aggressive to another team player and says how he never wants his sister to be touched, then his 'friend' turns around and winks at his sister suggesting that something is going on so therefore he is a sly character lying to his friend. And is a woman's man. Whereas his friend  wants to keep his image as the scary image and wants no one to be above him as he feels he will be in control. The boy who also came on late also looked behind to his girlfriend to show he had more of a heart and a kind person with a smile rather than a solid stern face. 

Thursday, 22 September 2011

Name of Television Drama: Waterloo Road
Broadcaster/Scheduling Details: Every Wednesday 7.30pm - BBC1
Creator: Ann McManus and Maureen Chadwick
Director: Various directors
Writer: Various directors
Characters: 
Michael Byrne

                  Janeece Bryant
                  Harley Taylor
                  Phoenix Taylor
Narrative: the scene opens when the head teacher was brutally attacked in his past school by a pupil by the reaction on his face you can tell that he is still scared to this day y his attack and there is a story behind this. the scene then skips to him at work where his secretary where she offers him some refreshments in a bubbly accent. But straight away that he is a stern man by his reaction to her kind nature. Then the scene skips once more to two boys getting ready for school and  you can tell immediately that they are caring for themselves which shows that the program is not about the rich but the 'common' society. 
Mise en scene: the 3 scenes have all different mise-en-scenes:
1. a clean cut flat with the modern necessities. there is no speech involved just dramatical music in the background followed by the alarm clock sounding and the actors diegetic sound walking to the bathroom. dim lighting.
2. again a clean cut office but this time showing he is no longer scared but in control of this environment and is standing strong in his large office. his outfit was also looking expensive and chic. natural lighting.
3. a messy old fashioned house where the boys are both dressed scruffily and saying they are late for school showing that they are very unorganised a very different routine to the head teacher. bright lighting.
Sound: starts off with non-diegetic sound when the headteacher is in his dream then when he awakes it changes to diegetic. But throughout the two minutes there tends to be a trend of non-diegetic sound in the background. Along with speech after the first minute.

Industry: adverts in BBC 1, played weekly on wednesday night at 7.30pm but is not sponsered by anything. 

Audiences: Target audiences is middle aged females with the secondary audience as teenage females. As both these audiences can relate to the program as there is a wide age range of the cast in the program. It involves both parental and teenage views within the show so can help them understand different eras of growing up.  
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b014thjt/Waterloo_Road_Series_7_Episode_11/