Gay Coronation Street 2004-How is gender represented through Mise-en-scene, Cinematography and Sound?

Jason represents the typical ‘bringing home the bacon’ guy as he is kitted out in very masculine clothes, e.g. hat, bagging trousers, this shows the type of man who looks after women. When he arrives into the scene the way that he is standing with his hands on his hips shows that he is trying to take control of the situation and to be the hero coming to his mums rescue. However when Jason leaves the scene when he cannot look at his brother in the eye as he found out he is gay shows the more mascliune type of guy who finds it hard to accept gay people, as he walks away from his brother with a look of disgust on his face.

At the end of the scene Todd is left standing alone in the middle of the street crying this could represent gay people being all alone in there communities as well as being an outcast of there communities. Todd’s facial expression is also very emotional as he is crying this portrays a more feminine side to men and represents gay men as more femine and emotional than ‘normal’ men.

The fact that the majoritiy of the scene is set in the street reflects the storyline of a guy in a sense coming out of the closet in the middle of the street represnts that people who are gay have very rough and open lives. as streets are very dirty, dingy, broke and are out in the open this coud symbols that are gay and are open bout it do not have very happy lives as they are always being talken about. This is shown at the end of the scene when everyone is crowded around Todd staring at him and taking bout him.

A very sterotypical type of women is presented in this scene the young women who is with the old man, is very clearly a type of gold digger. As she is very young and beautiful and the way that she is dressed in high street fashion yet she is marrying this old man who is clearly rich from the expensive looking suit that he is wearing. This portrays the type of female that is very calm and calculating as from her facial expression which has the expression of a little girl who needs to be protected yet she looks like a women of about late 30’s early 40’s. Whilst the old man is portrayed in a sterotypical way of being an old vunerable man who is being taken advantage of by this young and beautiful women.

Cinematography is used to represent gender in a very sterotypical way, close up shots are used between Fred and his young bride; the shot mostly stars Fred in the shot and hardly any of the girl in the shot. Fred dominates the screen portraying the type of sterotypical ale who looks after the women this is further enhanched by the womnem being shown as timid and taking up very little of the shot. When she is in a long shot with Fred she is still shown in a very sterotypical female way of needing to be protected by the man; as she is underneath his arm being protected and when she looks up at him the camera goes into a long shot looking down at her and pkacing him above her. This portrays her as vulnerablle and needing to be protected by the man who is viewed as above her and in a position of power and dominance.

In the middle of the scene al three characters are in the middle of the screen; two women and one man. However the sterotype of men dominating women is broken here as the man takes up very little of the mid shot or long shot portraying him as not siginificant and powerless. While the two women surround him and dominate him taking up most of the shot portraying an image of women being very dominate and powerful when they are needed to be like that.

Near the end of the scene there are 5 chracters in the mid/long shot 3 men and 2 women howver the men are boxed in by the women who are standing at the edge of the men surrounding the men. This shows a not so stero typical view of women dominating and overpowering men and sort of closing them in and controlling them sutibley. On the other hand even though the men are boxed in by the women they take up more space in the shot showing that even when men are physically blocked in by the women they are more dominant and powerful looking than the women in the shot.

Sound is used to represent gender through diagetic sound, Sally and kevin are discussing there daughther going to a better school. The dilouge between them is very nagging and moany a very much sterotypical converstation that you would expect betweeen a married coupe where the women is nagging thr husband and the man is distracted going yes honey, no honey, whatever you want honey. The converstaion between them howeveer isnt very stertypical as the women is saying that she is going to go out and start working to pay for her daughters education as the man isnt bringing in enough money. This challanges the sterotypical image of a family as when we think of a family we think oof the man providing enough for the mother and the children and the women staying home and being a housewife. However the women is teling the man that he doesnt provide enough for them and that she is going to go out into the world andprovide for herslef and children what the man isnt.

How does Mise-en-Scene represent gender in the extract of Doctor Who???

The villain at the start of the clip is portrayed as a typical male as his costume consists of a suit which is typically associated with males who are powerful, dominant and in control. The women at his side contributes to the man looking very dominant as she is just standing at his side in the costume of a red dress looking like she is waiting for him to tell her what to do. This contributes to his image of a dominant character at the start of the clip because he has a women kneeling at his feet at his commandment. By the villain seeming to be in control of women this shows that his character to show the type of man who likes to be in control of the opposite gender. Furthermore at the start of the clip the villain has a lot of close up shots and long shots this makes the man seem like a larger than life character as he dominates the audiences view. However by the end of the clip although he still has long shots and close up he is cowering to the other man this shows the character in a new light and that males are not always tough, as his facial expression at the end was one of worry and fear. This portrays the male gender in a different light that they are like women in that they feel fear; as at the start of the clip the women dressed like a soldier was the one with a worried look on her face. But by swapping the facial expressions of the characters shows that gender is not something that separates us.

The two women in this clip show the different extremes of women as the blond one is dressed very nicely in a red silk dress, when it seems that at the moment that everyone is distressed or scared, she is standing at the man’s side. With her facial expression looking like she is waiting for the man to tell her what to do. This woman portrays the type of female that is very reliant on men as in her camera shot she is in the over-the-shoulder shot only with the man. This shows that her character is very reliant and dependant on the man furthermore that she is not her own women and that she is a possession or a prop if you like of the women. While on the other hand the other women portrays the other extreme type of women who is very self reliant, independent and quite a dominant character. This is shown in her costume which is black and tight and makes her look like a solider; we associate soldiers with the stereotype of a person that is very fiery and fiercely independent.  Her camera shots at the start are close ups as she is kneeling at the women’s feet but then i changes to a long shot as she rises up off the floor by her own command. Her facial expression at the start is very blank this could indicate she is trying to hide her emotions or that she has a secret that she doesn’t want the villain to know, however as the she rises her expression becomes alive and her body language is very defiant. This character is clearly here to represent the defiant type of women.   

By the end of the clip the man and the women are on equal footing this shows that gender is represented as on equal footing and that although women might be underestimated they can be the same as men. Gender is represented in Doctor Who as equal.

Mise-en-Scene

Social Class

The camera shot is a mid shot in this instance it shows that the family are very close, however the way that they are all so close fitted together gives the impression of desperation to the family, like that they are scared that something is going to tear them apart. This could be a teaser to the audience of a possible story line that will revolve around the family.

The older looking lady who we assume is the mum is dressed very roughly, she is wearing what looks to be pyjama bottoms or sweets, this indicates to us that the status is not very high and that they may be having money troubles. This is reinforced by the depressed look on the women’s face and the way that she is clinging desperately to the child that she is clutching. We get the impression that the woman is not from a very high classed background as the children that she is with do not look like that they are 100% related. The child that the woman is holding is mixed raced and the other children are white and ginger haired except for the child at the end who is has dark hair and doesn’t look anything like the mum. Furthermore this tells the audience that the women might get around guys a lot. The setting and lightening of the shot shows that it is significant that the family are outside as it reflects onto the family that they are a natural family as they are out in the street, however on the other hand the fact that they are standing in the middle of the road indicates that the family have no wear to go and are always left out, i.e. on the street.

Sexuality

From this camera shot we get the impression that the guy is gay as he is portrayed to be defensive, scared and vulnerable. The man’s facial expression is more of a puppy dog face type, the prop that he is wearing is a pink sweat band, in our society today we assume that if a guy is wearing pink that he is gay as we only associate pink with females and feminine people, so as he is wearing pink we assume that he is gay. The women strengthens our impression that he is gay as the women facial expression and body language is one we more associate with men, she clearly has a very stern look on her face and her hands seem to be on her hips-this is the type of body language and facial expression that we normally associate more with men.

Disability

This photo portrays disability in a very negative light.  The two women are shown in a role reversal as the older woman is shown as the child while the younger woman is shown in a more maternal role. The older women is presented as the child by her using the prop the  blanket loosely wrapped around her and her body language very childlike. Her body language with her hands wrapped around her legs gives the impression to the audience that she is or was rocking backwards and forwards; much like a child would when they are distressed. Her eyes are staring off in to the distance like she is trying to escape something. However the younger woman looks very stern and serious like she is telling the older women off or like she is mad at her. We can only assume that the two women are related in some way and this indicates that the job of the characters will be to portray the traditional side of disability; of how that the one with the disability is vulnerable (older women) and how they need to be looked after (younger women) by someone else because they can not to it themselves. The fact that the background is very plain can be a further indication as to what it is like with a disability; it is implied that it is very dull, drab and nothing like a normal person. By the background being plain it makes the older women look worse than if she was against a bright stripped background as that would give the impression that having a disability is ok as it is very versatile. However by setting the women against a plain background it makes thee older women look worse than she is.