Question:
Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of
gender using the following:
- Camera
shots, angles, movement and composition
- Editing
- Sound
- Mise
en scène
Camera Shots:
The camera tends to be above looking down on the female for
the majority of the extract. This makes the woman look smaller, in comparison
to the male. It also gives the audience an aspect that the woman is less than
the male/ the male is more powerful. The camera moves, to track the characters.
It tends to be zoomed on the female’s face where as it isn’t as zoomed into the
male. This makes the female seem a little more powerful. The camera focuses on
the aspects of the characters, Luther is a strong male that stands tall and
speaks with power, Alice also speaks powerfully, but is smaller and weaker. The
camera zooms into both characters eyes to highlight the sexual gaze, then pans
out to break the tension.
The extract is edited to signify power, the female starts
off lower, but as the dialog continues and she regains that power through
speech, the camera angle is lowered, and the shot is in her favour. The shot
seemingly zooms when the conversation turns to sex, as if to show the sexual
tension, between the two as they stare into each other’s eyes. The shot is then
zoomed out to break the tension, this signifies the male regaining power in the
scene. The scene is edited as a battle, the camera being fixed on the male,
then the female as each fire at their opponent with words.
The sound is quiet for most of the scene, it starts with
background noise from the London streets, it then turns silent as they are in
the Female’s house. As their voices are the most important. Music then comes in
as they discuss the black hole, a track representing Evil, a dark, mysterious
noise. As they talk more about evil this intensifies and gets louder. Then dims
away again, to signify the tension being broken. It then intensifies again
towards the end. As Luther leaves.
The Mise en scene is set to show the power rotation between
the two. It’s lighten to bring out the colour of the females lipstick and
house. She has very pale skin/makeup with really red lipstick to show her
connotations. The lighting and camera shot brings the red out more than
anything else. Her house is filled with abstract decoration like the telescope
and globe.
