Disability

Jessica Evans (1998) drawing on the works of Freud and other psychoanalysts, states:

“Disabled people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as ‘other’ and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. Thus popular images and rhetoric of disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, unattractive, disgusting, shitty, dribbling,” (Evans, 1998).

Cumberbatch & Negrine (1992), Barnes (1992), and Longmore (1987) point out studies of the representation show that disabled people are screened out of television fiction or else occur in a limited number of roles.

As Jordanova (1989) stated; “The idea of otherness is complicated, but certain themes are common: the treatment of others as more like an object, something to be managed and possessed, and as dangerous, wild, threatening. At the same time, the other becomes an entity whose very separateness inspires curiosity, invites inquiring knowledge.”

Medhurst argued in terms of power relations and the constructions of stereotypes, “ they are awful because they are not like us,” (Medhurst, 1997)

According to Evans (1998): “Old people in our culture are also segregated and treated as though they are waiting to die. There are close associations between dependency, illness, dying, and death. It seems that increasingly in our culture there are pressures that encourage a reversion to infantile feelings which have to be madly defended against.”










In the extract of Secret Diary of a Call Girl there are clear representations of Evans and Mulveys theories. These theories are further supported somewhat by camera work, mise-en-scene, sound, and editing.



The opening scene of the extract shows a medium-long shot of a below middle aged woman in a dress opening a door. There is non-diegetic music that helps sexualise the female character that dies off when the door is opened and reveals the disabled character. The female characters appearance with the accompaniment of the non-diegetic music supports Mulveys theory of the media over sexualising women. Due to the sexualised music ending when the disabled character enters it can be inferred as supporting Evans' 1998 theory where they believe disabled people are shown as unattractive in the media. The camera also tilts down from an eye-level view of the female character to accommodate for the disabled character, this can be seen as making the viewer look down on the disabled character which also supports Evans' theory as the disabled character is being shown as imperfect and helpless due to them being 'looked down on'.



The next shot is a close up of the female characters face in a close up from an eye-level view. This shot further supports Mulveys theory as she is being sexualised further by her appearance and use of cosmetics. There is diegetic dialogue in this shot where the female character unsurely asks a question to the other characters. Her speech is slow and contains filler in the form of a long "er". This adds to Evans theory again as it makes the scene more awkward and further creates the image of this disabled character being unattractive.


Near the middle of the extract there is a scene with the father of the disabled character and himself where the disabled character is placed on a large bed that has a sexualised theme to it. This could be seen as a juxtaposition due to Evans' theory of the disabled appearing as unattractive. There is no non-diegetic sound in this scene and there is no dialogue or diegetic music, this silence makes the scene slow down. As this is accompanied by the female character looking expectantly at the father, this makes the disabled character appear weaker as he is the only character not directly involved in the interaction which somewhat supports both Evans and Jordanovas theories as the disabled character is being made to feel helpless and is being objectified by the other characters lack of involvement with him. The fact that the female character has to ask the father to leave implies that the disabled character does not have the capacity to tell the father to leave which further supports Evans' theory of disabled people being helpless.


Near the end of the extract there is a scene where the disabled character is on the same bed with the female character but without the father.

Youth

• Criminals
• Addicts
• Drains on society
• Violent
• Lazy
• Arrogant
• Uneducated

In 1904 Stanley Hall wrote Adolescence in 2 volumes in 1904, in this text he puts forward a theory known as the ‘Storm & Stress Model;

1. The common mood of teenagers is a state of depression.
2. Criminal activity increases between the ages of 12 & 24.
3. Young people are extreme and need excitement; “Youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in; sex, drink or drugs.”

Bill Osgerby argues that; “The portrayal of youth is not entirely pessimistic,” and used the terms coined by Dick Hebdige (1988); “Youth as fun,” and “Youth as trouble maker.”

In the extract of Skins, the theories of Stanley Hall and Bill Osgerby are both supported and disrupted through the media language present in the clip. I will now explore this in more detail with reference to how; camera work, mise-en-scene, sound, and editing contribute to constructions of representations of youth.

The opening shot of the extract is an extreme close up of a young male character from a birds eye view. The character has one side of their face in darkness and one side not, which could have religious connotations and be representative of Osgerby’s theory of youth being both fun and trouble making, as represented by the light and dark sides of his face respectively. There is also a diegetic sound effect of church bells, which could relate to this imagery and add connotations of religion. Under the sound of church bells is the diegetic sound of an alarm clock. The fact that the character is awake before their alarm shows a disruption of the generic stereotype of youth being unruly and unprepared.

The next few shots are quickly cut together and show the male character performing a work out. The first shot of the sequence is a birds eye view shot which can be compared to the opening shot where it was the same angle but shows the character in a different position. It then shifts to an over the shoulder shot and continues on to show the male character looking at himself in a mirror. This shot is also over the shoulder and somewhat adheres to Halls theory of young people being prone to sexual activity, and drugs. Throughout all of the previous shots have a diegetic music track that sound bridges between shots and also somewhat supports Halls theory once again. 

Sexuality

Theorist ANDY MEDHURST (1998) claims that sexuality disrupt representation claims, like those made by Dyer (“How we are seen determines in part how we are treated; how we treat others on how we see them; such seeing comes from representation” Dyer, 1993), because in the REAL world you cannot ‘see’ sexuality. Unless someone tells you they are homosexual you have no way of knowing.

In the media, stereotypes are used to explore ideological positions about sexuality. “Films and television comedies are full of images of gay men as effeminate screaming queens…It chooses that aspect of gay male behaviour (SELECTION), inflates it into the defining male characteristic of male homosexuality (MAGNIFICATION), then establish it as the most easily recognizable image (REDUCTION).”

Medhurst argued this is done to make heterosexual viewers feel safe in the believe that there way of living is the only ‘natural one’. So, stereotyping for the ‘straight’ viewer makes them feel safe and superior. In addition, the embedded social norm of straight sexuality is reinforced.

“This is why stereotypes of sexuality strive so vigorously to create two, polarized sexualities, hetro and straight, and to insist with such obsessive reductiveness that people who belong to those poles are easily identifiable – hence the recurring presence across media texts of the screaming queen and his female equivalent the butch dyke.”


In the clip of EastEnders, Medhursts theory on sexuality is both  

Gender Essay Practise

How is gender portrayed in the extract of Hustle through:

Camera work

Mise-en-scene

Sound

& Editing?

Theory

Link to Question (gender)

In the extract of Hustle the theories of Mulvey (1975), Mackillon (2002) and Gauntlett (2002) are both supported and disrupted through the media language present in the clip. I will now explore this in more detail with reference to how; camera work, mise-en-scene, sound and editing contribute to constructions of gender representation.

The opening shot is a low angle medium close up of a middle aged male wearing an expensive suit. The camera angle gives him masculine status as it makes him powerful which could fit Gauntlett’s 2002 theory however, the way he is standing is not a masculine pose which means his character also fits Mackillon’s theory as he is looking more feminine. In the background there is a younger female character shown coming up the stairs to the clothing shop, the positioning seems to support traditional gender roles as she appears lower down, and therefore less important, than the lead male character. The opening scene is accompanied by non-diegetic music that changes when the women comes into shot, it is quite feminine and it contributes to sexualising the female character in a way that fits Mulvey’s 1975 theory. Furthermore, it contributes to de-masculinising the male character to a point where he almost appears camp, which also fits with the dress shop setting and his job. The shots are linked together with a sound bridge and continuity editing is used to not distract the viewer.

As the scene continues the shot progresses to a high-angle close-up of the male lead and a secondary female character, this shot also poses as a medium shot for the younger female character, which has been posed in a sexualised manner. The high-angle serves to embolden the male leads dominance over the situation, which supports Gauntlett’s 2002 theory, and simultaneously make the secondary female character seem more timid. The secondary female character disrupts Mulvey’s 1975 theory as she is shown as a much more modest character, in appearance, by wearing a long, red raincoat which juxtaposes from the other two characters rich appearances. This scene also has the non-diegetic music from before yet it slows in pace to accommodate for the secondary female character as she breaks Mulvey’s theory which was somewhat supported by the music and so to show that break, the music changes. Diegetic dialogue is also present in the scene which serves to advance the story but also shows to support Gauntlett’s theory as the male lead continues to be dominant in the scene by speaking in very short sentences that make the secondary female character appear inferior in status.

Gender Theories

How is gender portrayed in the extract of Hustle through:

• Camera Work
• Sound
• Editing
• Mise-en-Scene

Laura Mulvey 1975

"As erotic objects of desire for the characters within the story, and as erotic objects of desire for the spectator." (Mulvey, 1975)




David Gauntlett 2002
"Images of the conventionally rugged, super-independent, extra-strong, macho man, still circulate in popular culture," (Gauntlett 2002)




Mackillon 2002
In 2002, Macmillan said males are now used in the similar way as women, in so far as they are being presented as sex objects and are shown as more image conscious and sensitive. (Mackillon 2002)

Stereotypes

Men

• Heroic
• Attractive
• Strong
• Dumb
• Violent
• Brave
• Powerful
• Muscles

Women

• Powerless
• Over-Sexualised
• 'Kitchen'
• Weak
• Skinny
• Victim
• Emotional

Sound

Diegetic Sound and Non-Diegetic Sound

Diegetic sound is 'realistic sound' where the source is visible on screen or where the source is implied to be present in the action even if the sound source is out of shot (e.g. a door slamming in another room or sirens in the distance) common examples of diegetic sound include: 

- Dialogue (characters voices)

- Sounds made by objects 

- music coming from instruments shown on screen

- ambient sound (background noise that would be present)

N.B. this links to what we discussed last week in terms of TV Drama's needing to create a realistic believable 'diegetic' world for the viewer - sound is part of the verisimilitude.

Non-diegetic sound is sound where the source is not present in the action nor looks like it is meant to be; common examples include:

- Mood music

- Dramatic sound effects that do not match the sound anything on screen would make.

- Narrators commentary.

Sound Terminology

Inside these two categories there are a number of specific terms for different types of sounds that you must be able to use in the examination when you analysis, make note on and write about the extract in terms of representation they are as follows:

Non-diegetic

Title music: theme tunes (connote genre/represent TV drama).

Score/incidental music: orchestral music used to connote tone/atmosphere.

Sound motifs: sounds associated with certain character (often a villain like the shark in Jaws) that connote something good/bad is about to happen.

Sound effects: used to connote atmosphere.

Voice over: often used to give the viewer an insight into the thoughts of a character (creating a bond between the audience and character), set the scene or progress the narrative.  

Diegetic

Synchronous sound: sounds that match what you see on screen.

Sound effects: realistic sounds that match the action on screen creating realism and/or connoting atmosphere e.g. gun shots, door opening/closing.

Dialogue: characters speaking (dialogue progresses the narrative and reveals the character's personality/views to the viewer). 

Ambient sound: natural background noise you would hear if the scene on screen were real - this is vital when creating realism. 

Editing

Continuity Editing:
           Where an action is continued through multiple shots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu9NQCfurDY
Parallel Editing:  
           Shows two shots that occur in the same time frame, at the same time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts1x6uADFtM
Cross Cutting:
        Where on shot cuts to another, usually implies the two are in the same time frame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuRBZNECaFU
Eye-Line Match:
           Where the camera shows an actor looking off-screen and then reveals what they             were looking at.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6p7HJZkl4k
Match-Cut:
           Where two shots blend by showing  similar or the same action in two different shots.
           Also a type of Continuity Editing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCmwPeEGjtE
Graphic Match:
           Two shots of similar objects, visually, that blend together to show representation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI3s5fA7Zhk
Shot Reverse Shot:
       Common in conversations, similar to Eye-Line Match, shows an actor speaking in
           one direction and then shows another speaking in the opposite direction.
https://youtu.be/h0xiCIMIwLY?t=1m21s
Slow Motion:
       Where a shot is slowed down to make it clearer to the audience what is happening.
https://youtu.be/tfLB7OZNGAQ?t=1m55s
Fast Motion:
       Where a shot is sped up to show an action that may be deemed important yet boring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKG0V67eGFc
Fade To Black/Fade From Black:
       A common transition that shows a change in scene, setting, or time passing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0_2ZFdB6Hk

CGI:
       Computer Generated Images are used commonly in Sci-Fi and can be anything from
           a prop, to a character, to a location. It simply made on a computer as opposed to
           having to be filmed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgixhKfH1w4
Sound Bridge:
       Where sound from one scene continues to another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6reTz6rV0A
https://youtu.be/oIkpD2Nr5yI
Long Take:
       A scene that was filmed in one go. There would be no cuts or edits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN5-a3zqqCc
Iris In/Iris Out:
       The gradual appearance of something through an expanding circle / vice versa.
https://youtu.be/IqDhAW3TDR8?t=1m28s
Movement Match:
       Somewhat common with Long Takes, where an object is tracked and then another
           object, moving at the same speed, is then made the centre of focus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyNbqOgH87g
Jump Cuts:
       Where multiple scenes and shots are put together without a transition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-guVyvdc4FU