Representation Of Gender

Mis-en-scene

The first thing that I notice about the mis-en-scene of this scene Is the staircase. It shows a significant difference in height, which could be associated with power. The high platform the man in the suit is standing on represents how he is higher up on the the hierarchy of power than the woman. His clothing shows that he is quite important and looking at the woman's outfit next to him, this couple come across as being relatively wealthy. This wealth gives the man power.

Two men are shown leading the woman into the room either side of her, and both are holding guns. This shows how these men too posses more power than the girl, as the guns protect them and cause them to be less vulnerable. The woman has no weapon here. A gun is also held to two women in maids outfits, and another man. What these two women are wearing is stereotypical to their gender, because work involving cleaning is usually expected to be done by women more than men. On the other hand, the fact that one of the men with guns is holding up a gun to another man who is standing with the maids slightly evens out the power of the genders, as this man is just as vulnerable and holds the same amount of power as the two maids do.

A red light is shown on the man in the suit's face which shows he is the bad guy in this scene, as the colour red could be associated with evil and bad. Usually in films, the bad guy usually possesses most of the power to start. Another man is shown standing in the corner with dirt over his face. This shows that he had probably been involved in a lot of action or conflict before this scene, which relates to the face that men are stereotypically stronger than women. Shortly after this, a women is visible dressed in a low cut, fancy and expensive looking dress standing next to the man in the suit on the platform. She does not take part in any of the speech at this point but just stands there. She is there as an item of the man in the suit, just to look pretty next to him, which is what some people viewed a woman's role to be a few years back. Animated rockets are then shown on a screen to establish just how much power this man holds, and how much more he has control over compared to the woman.

A bit further on in the video when the woman suddenly laughs, the mis-en-scene depicts a reaction shot of the man in the suit, to show that he is puzzled as to why someone with this little power would find the situation funny, and how she has done something which he hasn't ordered her to do. It is at this point that the power slowly begins to shift from one gender to another. A few flashbacks from the woman are then shown, one in which she is walking on a windy night, looking cold and tired. This relates to the stereotype of women being weaker than men, however it also contrasts against this stereotype as it shows her trying her hardest to put the cold aside as she is so determined to reach her destination. 

Another flashback shows her getting a group of people together to try and convince them to join her and help her. This is relates to another stereotype of women which is being good at getting people together for teamwork, and also story-telling. Between these flashbacks a digital countdown is shown, which indicates the time it'll take for the power to completely switch from the man in the suit to the woman and we see that this happens at the end of the clip. When the man in the suit beings to realize this is happening, the mis-en-scene depicts him grabbing onto the rails to hold himself up, as if he cannot hold himself up properly as he is becoming weaker and losing power to the woman. Another reaction shot of the man is shown where his smile completely drops and his eyebrows raise in shock, when he realizes the woman is taking his power.


Near to the end of the clip, the mis-en-scene shows the doctor changing back to his original form which indicates that the man in the suit has lost basically all of his power, which has been taken by the woman. A crowd of people are shown all chanting the same thing. Woman are also stereotypically better at organisation than men, which is shown in this shot as her plans have clearly worked and everyone has got together. At the same time, the woman in the red dress who had not said a word, is now shown going against her man and joining in with the chanting. This shows that this man has now lost so much power, that not even his woman is looking up to him or obeying him anymore. Right in the last seconds of the clip, the man in the suit is shown cowering on the floor, using his hands as a barrier from the doctor. Comparing this from right at the very beginning of the clip when he towered above everyone else, we can clearly see a contrast, and can tell that he now as no power compared to the other male in front of him, who earlier was locked up in a cage and was one of the most vulnerable in the room. 

Editing

Something which involved quite a lot of editing at the beginning of the scene is the old man in the cage, which we later find out is actually the doctor. This is important because usually the doctor would protect the woman, as this is a stereotypical role of the man in most cases, however in this case he cannot protect her, as the editing done makes him look old, vulnerable and small. Shortly after this, editing is used to show masses of rockets which the man in the suit is in control of. The fact that there are a lot of rockets gives the the man more power than if there was just one rocket. This is due to the editing.

A while later in this clip, the woman's flashbacks are shown. They are edited to look more dull than the shots of what is happening in the present. This shows that they are memories of the woman, and stereotypically women are better at remembering things than men. Also, a white flash has been edited between the present and the memories to also make it clear that this is what they are. In one of the flashbacks the woman is shown walking in the cold and wind at night which has been edited to be slow motion. This emphasizes how long the journey was, and makes it clear that it was hard for her as she was a woman who is stereotypically weaker than a man. 

At the end of the clip a lot of editing is used in the transformation of the doctor. He is brightly glowing and ids lifted of the floor so he is hovering. Both of these show the sudden power the doctor has gained, as height can be associated with power. 

Sound

The first sound that can be heard is non-diagetic western music. The beginning of the clip also resembles a traditional fight between two males that you might see in an old western film, however in this case, the twist is that it is between a male and a female. 

To start with, the man in the suit is the only one talking, and he does so very loud and confidently as he knows he possesses a much larger amount of power than the girl. She keeps silent, even when she is asked a question, yet she does what she is told. At one point however, the woman is heard laughing. This is where the power begins to shift from the man to her, as she is building up the confidence to go against his word. To start of the woman talks quite quietly, as she still does not have much power at this point, however gradually she becomes louder and on the same level as the man. This also shows a shift in power. As the woman gains more and more power, and becomes louder and louder, the pitch of the western music becomes higher, as if it was leading up to something. On top of this the digital countdown is heard ticking in the background which causes the same effect.  

During one of the woman's flashbacks, she is heard saying "i love him" when talking about the doctor. This was not necessary in this shot and is there to relate to the value of romantic love that a lot of women have. It also shows she is sensitive, and woman are thought to be more sensitive than men. 

When the doctor begins transforming back to his normal form, the music becomes a lot louder and more triumphant to establish that the woman has become a lot more powerful than she was at the start, and the man in the suit has become a lot weaker, and right at the end of the clip he is screaming and shouting "No! This isn't fair!". This resembles something a child would scream if they didn't get their way, and were lacking power. 

Camera Work

To start with, the woman is shot from a high angle, as if the man is looking down on her, and the man is shot from a low angle, as if the woman is looking up at him. This sums up the amount of power each of these character possess at this point in the scene, as height can be associated with power. The man possesses a lot of power while the woman has barely none. The doctor in the cage is also shot at a very low angle to start with, for the same reason.

When the man in the suit orders the woman to kneel, she does so, and as this happens the camera tilts down as she lowers, to emphasise how low down she now is both physically, and in terms of power. Shortly after this the woman laughs. This shot is filmed as a close up to emphasise how out o place and odd it is in this situation. It is also the starting point for the shift of power from the man to the woman, which is why it is made very clear in the clip. 

Textual Analysis - Greek Yoghurt Ad

The traditional Greek music is the first thing you notice about the advert that identifies where it is set. It is not modern music, so it makes the audience believe this ad is set in the past. Shortly after this the boy shouts out to his mother, however we can tell that he is not speaking English. This also shows the audience that this ad is not set in England. As well as speaking another language, the boy is also shown to be very tanned which also establishes that he is in another, warmer country. He does not seem to be in a very high class, because of the small house he is living in, and the clothes he is wearing.The boy keeps a cow at the front of his house which shows that this is not set in a city area. 

This mis-en-scene is shown near at the beginning of the ad. It depicts an old looking house in a rural area. there are no windows, just shutters. The audience would clearly be able to see that this is not a modern house, and it is certainly not in this country.

This mis-en-scene depicts a man on a horse or donkey which you do not see very often in a modern city. The donkey might also hint that this is ad is set in Greece, as they are common in that area. 

An establishing shot is shown of the village and the mis-en-scene depicts old, rough looking buildings made with stone rather than bricks. None of the buildings have windows, just square holes in the walls. An old lady is shown beating the dust out of her laundry. She also does not speak English. Nowadays we would use a washing machine, so this is another clue that this is not set in the present.

  These two screen shots from the add establish that this is a rural, farming area. The left screen shot depicts what looks like a small farm, and the screenshot on the right depicts a farmer with his sheep. It would not be likely to spot these things in a city area, so we know this is in the countryside. 

At the end of the ad, we see the inside of the boys house. This mis-en-scene depicts a room with no door, not much decoration, and plain walls. This tells us that this family must be working class, and that this is set in the past, as modern houses are a lot different. Also, what the boys mother is wearing also tells us something about the time period this is set, and the class of the family as she is not in fashionable clothes, but a plain top and skirt made from the same material.