Tuesday 27 March 2012

Narrative and representation of skins

1. What can you deduced about the setting from the mise- en- scene?
At the opening scene we are able to establish Tony's characteristics through the mise-en-scene, for example, Tony's room is very tidy and clean. This indicates to the audience that he is a very organised teenager. Moreover, through the use of the bed sheets which represent two naked people tells the audience that Tony is very sexual.

2. What do you think Tony's representation is?

Outnumbered and Eastenders: How do the 2 extracts construct representations of social class?

Throughout this extract in 'Outnumbered' and 'Eastenders' we are shown a very stereotypical view of relationship between individuals within working class and middle class for example; middle class parents have a lot of work, therefore, find it hard to manage time with their children incomparison to upper class. Constantly, throughout the extract representation of social class are illustrated through various elements such as mise-en-scene and editing.; however overall it is conveyed that in 'Outnumbered' the middle class society are very close knit whereas in a working class stereotypically they are always 'on the run' and working.

At the opening scene of 'Outnumbered' two male characters (father and son) are represented playing the wii. The teenage boy is wearing school uniform whereas the father is wearing stereotypical costumes for example, jeans and jumper. This illustrates automatically to the audience that these two characters are middle class through the use of costumes and props such as the wii. At this point the audience can clearly gasp the idea that these two characters of middle class are close. However, the opening scene in "Esastenders" starts of with three characters, whereby both male and female characters are caught by an 'ex' girlfriend. The costumes of each gender are very stereotypical for example, one of the female character is wearing hoodies, jeans, and big hoops whereas another female character is dressed very revealing. Furthermore, the fact that one character is dressed very revealing incomparison to the other make the audience feel sympethetic to the character that is not. Also, the male character is dressed very casual; jeans and a jumper, the fact that all three characters are not wearing any branded clothing or suits clearly enables the audience to identify what class they belong to, which is working class. The audience are able to gasp the idea that these working class characters are not as close as we think. Moreover, the location of where the characters are situated looks like a 'shed'. This also helps the audience establish what social class they belong too, as a result, the middle class audience are left to feel sympathetic towards the working class. Moreover, in 'outnumbered' the house itself through props looks like a typical middle class house for example, there's painting on the wall, they have a sofa, and the kitchen is looks big. This makes the audience feel connected towards these characters as they are middle class themselves. Therefore, through the representation of costumes and location, the audience are left to feel sypathetic for the working class people in 'Eastenders' however,  close towards the middle class family.

Representation of social class have been clearly illustrate throughout editing. For example, in "Eastenders' when the female character walks out upset a continuety shot takes place. This makes the audience in this particular extract feel sympathy toward that characters, and because the audience know she has no where to go to, it builds tension, making them want to watch how this character resolves this situation. Also, representation of gender is also portrayed very stereotypical throughout both extracts, as the males are represented to have expressive roles whereas the women are illustrated to have instrumental roles, for example, in 'Eastenders' the asian female character is ioning her brothers clothes whilst the brother is sitting down watching t.v. In comparison, in 'Outnumbered' the female characters; mother and daughter are situated in the kitchen whereas the males are represented in the living room playing games. This makes both extract look very realistic which makes the audience are connected towards the extract.






Camera angles are used to represent counterative of gender for example, in 'Eastenders' a high angle is used to represent that the male character is inferior in comparison to the girl. This makes the audience feel good for the female character as they are more connected towards her because she caught him cheating.
 However, women are portrayed to be inferior for example, the camera angle is eye level. This enables the audience to identify who has the dominant power.

This image represents a female character, the camera angle is a close up low angle which makes the audience feel very sympathetic towards this character. Also, the audience are are to grasp that this female character has the main power when she catches her boyfriend cheating on her which therefore, makes the audience feel relieved for her. 

Representation of gender in viewed to be very stereotypical in 'Outnumbered' through camera angles however, they also represent that the family is equal for example, at the opening scene, when the two male characters are playing the wii, the camera angle is a long shot low angle. This enables the audience to view stereotypically who has the dominant power. However, when the females are firstly represented in the kitchen they camera angle is eye line. As a result, the audience through camera angles can identify who has the dominant power in terms of gender. Moreover, throughout this extract the camera represents eye level for each character at one point. This is to emphasis that each character is equal and illustrate how close knit of a family they are.

To conclude, as a result throughout 'Eastenders' gender is represented to be counteractive however, 'Outnumber' represents gender in a very stereotypical aspect.