Representation of Gender - Dr. Who Scene

Representation of Gender - Dr. Who Scene

In this clip from Dr.Who, different camera, editing and prop techniques are used in order to give the viewer a strong sense of the ways in which gender is represented. Firstly, camera techniques are used very effective to give us this idea of gender representation. The first time we can see the main female character entering the scene, depth of field is used in order to create an image of her being blurred behind the male character whom the camera is focussing on. Already this gives us the sense that the male is of more importance and is more dominant than the female, as he is in focus and she is not - almost as if she is not worthy. After this, when we see the female for the first time in focus, the camera slowly zooms out as she walks towards us (the camera) through the room. The way in which this is done almost gives us the sense that she is continuing to come towards us whilst we are trying to move away from her. In my opinion, this implies to us already that that as an audience we are made to try and shy away from taking a liking to the female in the scene. Next, we notice that throughout the sequence whilst she talks to the man at the top of the stairs, high-angled shots are used frequently. This gives us the impression that we are looking down upon her, as if she is small and insignificant. In contrast however, low-angled shots are used when the main male character is filmed. This gives us a sense that he possesses more power than the female, as he appears to be above her and is being looked up to. Another example of where the female is portrayed to appear less powerful than the male due to the use of camera technique is when he commands her to kneel. Immediately after he says this she follows his instructions and does this. When she does this the camera tilts down with her and follows this movement. By doing this, it exaggerates hugely that the female is being submissive to the male. Following shortly after this clip, a close up shot is used when she female begins to laugh as he tells her to bow her head. The use of this close up shot means that the director wants the audience to notice the reaction of the woman. The way she laughs in this situation is unexpected, and this marks the pivotal point when the female becomes seen as the less dominant, submissive character. At 4:35, we see the male character who was dominant in the scene, become more insignificant as a new male (the Dr) arrives. As he appears, he levitates above him and extremely high-angle shots are used, making the power that he had at the start less significant. The Doctor that appears conforms to the stereotype that the male is usually the hero, as he comes and 'saves the day'.

Sound is also used effectively to impact our opinions on the representation of gender in the clip. Immediately the scene is introduced, we hear a western style music piece begin to play (non-diagetic). This gives us the idea that there is going to be a face-off/duel between the male and female character. This music fades as the male begins to speak, and changes to a softer more minor vocal track as she kneels. This makes us feel sympathetic towards her and this emphasises that she is being submissive. In terms of speech, the male actors tend to speak much more assertively and aggressively in relation to the calm and collected voice of the female. As well as this the male tends to be speaking a lot, leaving the woman little time to speak. Both of these factors indicate to us that the male considers himself to be in a position of power whereas the female tends to be much more modest - conforming to general male/female stereotypes. Finally, around 3:20 the music becomes much more uplifting and inspiring as the female begins to gain power over the male. This music continues until the end of the scene and emphasises the victory that she has made, helping to set the general tone of the clip.

After this, the miss-en-scene of the clip can also tell us much about the representation of gender. The first thing that i noticed was the way in which the characters are dressed. The majority of the males tend to be dressed in military uniform whereas the females in the scene (in the majority) are dressed as maids. I feel that the way the director has chosen to dress the characters in this way conforms to the stereotypes that males usually have higher or better occupations than females.To further reinforce this conforming to stereotypes, the females tend to be wearing make-up giving them a very made-up appearance, but in contrast the males look less groomed. The character with the scars on his face is an example of this. Also, the woman at the top of the stairs is wearing a red dress. Once again, this is very stereotypical clothing that would usually be associated with a feminine woman. Not only this, but i feel that this woman acts as a symbol of the male's power, as she stands there almost acting like a possession of his. Following this, we see the appearance of weaponry frequently in this scene. Firstly, many of the soldiers are carrying large machine-style guns, and also the main character at the top of the stairs appears to have a weapon also. Interestingly, all of the characters that possess a weapon happen to be males. I think that this is because stereotypically, males tend to see weapons as symbols of masculinity and historically, women tended not to be as 'violent'. The main male character points his weapon at the female throughout the first part of the scene, making him come across dominant and patronising. However, as the woman begins to laugh, he retracts his weapon. This symbolises that he is becoming submissive to her.

Finally, the editing in the clip also gives us an idea about how gender is represented. The main part that sticks out to me where editing is significant is at 2:38. Where a flashback is used. Throughout this whole flashback sequence, the female is made to look extremely vulnerable. Firstly, the use of low-key lightning and the dark surroundings generally have the implications of negativity and vulnerability. Furthermore, the use of cross dissolve transitions between the two main shots of the woman walking in the dark emphasise the time that she has spent doing so. Once again, this gives us the idea that the female is less capable than the male.

Greek Yoghurt Advert - Regional Identity Task

Greek Yoghurt Advert Evaluation The first thing that I noticed instantly the advert began was the choice of music used in the background of the advert. The music used is very stereotypically Greek-style, with the Bouzouki instrument being ¬prominent. Immediately, this starts to sets the scene for the viewer and starts to culturally prepare them for the remaining video sequence.

After the music is introduced, we get a look at the main character in the sequence. We can see that he is likely to not be very wealthy, due to his tatty clothes and generally poorly maintained appearance, giving us an idea of his cultural background. Shortly after this, we see the boy turn to a cow and lead it into a field – which we assume to be a farm owned by his family for agricultural purposes. This also sets the scene well for us as a viewer, as it enables us to experience the rural background that he lives in.

The next thing that I noticed was the filter that has been placed over the sequence. The overall frame is very unsaturated, grainy, there is little contrast and the colours are slightly duller than what they would be in a typical advert. This once again gives the viewer the impression that it has been filmed either in the past (before modern film technology) or in a less developed society.

Following this, we see lots of establishing shots, giving us a good idea of location. Furthermore, we almost get a confirmation of the area that the boy is from when he shouts ‘Mama!’ and proceeds to speak in Greek (assumably). Once again, this is sets the scene well for the viewer and helps us to establish the regional identity of the characters – and therefore the culture behind the production of the yoghurt. Not only this, but we often get many other cultural references throughout the sequence that would differ from our own western society. For example we see a shot of a man dressed in black ringing a bell, a woman using traditional methods to wash/dry clothes and a man riding a horse through a field. Many of these people seem to be communicating with the boy, this gives us a strong idea that there is a huge sense of community between the people as normally there wouldn’t be much personal informal interaction with neighbours. This is probably due to the culture of the area that they are from and the fact that he’s from a small rural village.

At the end of the advert, the Boy’s mother’s phone rings. I believe that this is almost ironic, as we go through the whole advert believing that it was set in the past when technology was not so readily available, however the woman’s phone ringing tells us that maybe this is not the case, and that it is in fact set in recent times, but just in another part of the world.