Class and Status homework

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of class & status using the following:

• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

The first shot that we see is of two ladies to what we perceive as very upper class and well off money wise this shot is known as a establishing shot.. The establishing shot also shows us the setting of the room and the environment around them, this will give the audience a first impression of the two ladies and where they are sat in the room and what is going on around them. The establishing shot also shows the lady on the right with a strong posture which the audience may present her as powerful and well brought up into the family. Furthermore, the audience will assume the setting is like a living room and it looks very upper class which then reflects on the two female characters that the audience see.  A mid shot is used for the audience to witness both of the ladies from the hip upwards which allows the audience to see the representations of both female characters and whether they have class and status or not. The audience will straight away presume that the two female characters have a high class and status due to the clothing that the audience can see. The first female character is wearing a expensive, well crafted violet hat which indicates to the audience that she is upper class, furthermore she is wearing a cream colour cardigan which also shows that she is classy. The first female character is also wearing a rich violet dress which also presents the upper class of her lifestyle. The second female character that we see from the hip upwards is also wearing a rose pink dress that looks very elegant and designed to each point so the audience also immediately presume that she is of an upper class as well.

A dolly zoom is  used to zoom into the third female characters face so that we have a close up shot, the dolly zoom is used to portray the characters appearance and then show her facial expressions as it zooms in on her facial expressions. The audience can clearly see that the third female character is portrayed as a maid or a servant due to her clothing as she is wearing black which is presented a lower class and compared to the other characters the audience can clearly see that the third female character is at a lower class to the other characters. The audience can also see her facial expressions which portray her as not being happy in her work place and has clearly had enough of working for others that are a higher class than herself. A shallow focus is then used on the bright pink flowers that may also be used to reflect the high class of the character that is blurred out in the background. The flowers are then blurred out and the audience get to see the character in a substantial setting, we can see that the male character is being presented in a higher class setting as we can see the gold candle sticks and pillars which indicates to the audience that he is working in a high class office and is using his power and authority.

A over the shoulder shot is used when the female character is looking down on the male character which may represent that the female character is a higher class due to her looking down on the male character which shows he is using his authority to control her. A Long shot is used to show the house, the audience will perceive this as the people to be very wealthy and upper class.A mid shot is used so the audience see many male characters that are wearing shirts and ties which the audience assume that they are higher class due to the stereotype of a shirt and tie being smart. A low angle shot is used to look up at the male character which reflects that he might be upper class as the shot is looking up towards him. The character is also wearing a shirt and tie which indicates that he is the upper class. A hand held camera is used in the fighting scene to emphasise the fight, it is used to build the tension and show the audience that the fight is intense.

• Editing-

• Sound-

 Throughout the clip digetic sounds is presented to the audience to signify the characters conversation with one another and how they talk to each other, this is the upper class family talking to the servants and maids badly and not showing them respect as they are seen to have no power over the family members of the house.

• Mise en scene -

We see the ladies wearing very wealthy clothing to show that they are a upper class family. The clothing also represents how old this programme is and when it was set. We see the lady who walks into the room is wearing black clothing which shows she is a servant and a maid of the house. She is wearing black to show she has to comply with a uniform as the other two lady's are wearing brighter clothing. The room is set out very clean and tidy and they have furniture that is worth lots of money, the room is organised so everything matches which shows they are upper class. We see the man who is sitting and working in a suit and his hair is perfectly put in place which shows eh has a very high class job or occupation. We see him looking down his nose at the lady who is dressed in her servant uniform. We see the lady is wearing a hat even though she is in the bath and she orders the maid who is dressed in black to pick up her soap. We see a shot of the house which shows the audiences how big the house is and how wealthy the family actually are as they can afford to keep the place in good condition. We also see the abbey around it and the grounds which are all very neat and tidy and this shows they employ people to do there dirty work for them. We see the head of the maids is a man and he is also wearing black so this could symbolises that the job the maids are doing id depressing and dirty. We see the next shot of all the maids and assistants sitting in their working room in which it is dirty and dark which shows that there lifestyle is dirt and also dark.

50 marks

EAA: Explanation, analysis, argument-20 marks

EG: Use of example-20 marks

T: Terminology-10 marks