Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of gender using the following:
· Camera shots, angle, movement and composition
· Editing
· Sound
· Mise en scene
This extract is split into 4 different parts. The opening sections starts of with a woman storming off from a man, the director uses a mid camera shot where the camera is focusing on the woman however you can see the man standing in front of her. The camera is eye level which connotes that even though the woman is raising her voice and storming off she isn’t any more important then the man and that they’re equal. The man is shown to be a protagonist as he is still in the shot making it clear to the audience that he is important. This makes the audience understand that he is an important character in this extract making them curious about him. The director uses sounds to help make effect of this situation. One effected sound I found was the raw of the engine. The director uses this symbolic sign to tell the audience that the woman is very angry and the raw is symbolic as it signifies that something bad has happened or is about to happened. This could also be an iconic sign as it resembles something bad. This makes the audience intrigued to find out more. the director then uses a shot reverse shot of the car going away which represents to the audience that he does care that the women has gone however implies that he has some important business to do. The location then changes and we see another woman driving a JCB and another man carry sticks looking up to the girl driving the JCB. This represents stereotypical gender in another way. The girl (Abbey) is dressed in a leather jacket and has short hair. This conveys to the audience that Abbey is very masculine which is then emphasised through the down angel camera shot of the man carrying sticks. The camera is looking down which presents the man to be weak compared to Abbey in the JCB however the camera never looks up at Abbey, which normally signifies their power, which implies to the audience that she isn’t that masculine and powerful as first portrayed. Abbey is then shot at an eye level shot which symbolises her to be equal to everyone. Here there is an un-stereotypical look on gender. Abbeys masculinity is then shown again when she shoots the tiger and saves the man. Stereotypically the man should be saving the women. This shows Abbeys strength and masculinity as in reality when shouting a gun it can be powerful but Abbeys shoots the rival with no problem. In section one gender is shown to be more dominating to women. Just before Abbey shoots we see the man climb a ladder. At first it looks as if he is struggling but the editing then shows him to be strong and climbing up the ladder with speed and steadiness. This makes the audience feel hope for him as the director then shows a down view camera shot of the tiger making it look hopeless.
Furthermore in section two Abbey is still portrayed to be very masculine. The tiger jumps over the man as he falls to the ground, the camera shot on him on the group shows his weakness. Sound is then used to simulate danger and that Abbey has come to save the man. This makes the audience feel sympathy for the man as he is seen to be the heroine. More over the director shows his weakness even more as he is being chased by a tiger which is a form of cat. Stereotypically cats are associated with females and are usually resembled to be feminine. This makes the man get across to the audience that, women and men are equal.
Section three you see Abbey is with masculine men yet she fits in because of her sense of style. The directors wants Abbey to look equal and makes the character come across to want to be dominate yet when they all walk away Abbey is positioned far left, at the back and has been marginalized. Also there is a boy that is wearing pink, with hat and scarf. The boy here comes across as very feminine as the colour ‘Pink’ and ‘scarf’ are often associated with femininity. Also the boy has also been marginalised which highlights that he doesn’t have much authority and is very feminine. This is very stereotypical of gender as here the men are very dominating and in charge. The director uses good lightening that focuses and is brighter on the men which also draw the attention of the audience that the men are more in control. Here gender sends the message that women have to lose their femininity to have power.
In the final section we see a change in location and they go to a barn. The woman is trying to be dominated and is having an argument with a man. However the director uses the eye level camera shot which shows them to be equal on the other you could say that because of both of there body language the woman is slightly more dominate. This then changes through a camera effect called panning; you see the camera follow the man round who then picks up a gun. The camera angle still stays at eyelevel however the man then shots the gun. The sound of the gun is very affected and is symbolic and iconic. This makes the audience feel scared because the dogs then start barking which is symbolic for danger. Furthermore the audience knows that the dogs are fighting dogs which then put the woman in a vulnerable position. The man in is very dominate and pushes the women to the floor representing to the audience that he is in control. We then see the women on the floor with the camera looking down on her. This demonstrates the stereotype of gender as the man is shown to be strong and the woman is shown to be weak. The woman’s femininity is also shown through what she is wearing as she is wearing a nice dress and coat and even complains about her coats getting dirty which implies that she is a stereotypical girl. In contrast to this Abbey comes in the save the day playing the masculine role. However she positioned behind the man who connotes to the audience that she is still not completely masculine and will always be referred to as a girl. Yet the boy dressed in pink comes on and picks up a shovel as which implies that he isn’t masculine enough for a gun. Here gender is represented to be seen as the colour pink automatically makes you more feminine. Also that even if a women loses her femininity she will also be seen less masculine and dominate as a male.
Overall from the extract I learnt that women have to lose there femininity to become masculine and equal to men and that men usually dominate women. Through out the extract this is shown through the use of camera angels, sounding, editing and mise en scene. Gender is represented like this because it helps the audience have an understanding about the characters and the stereotypes of gender is used to comfort the audience into understanding everyone’s roles.
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