Hotel Babylon - Ethnicity EXAM PRACTICE

Discuss the ways in which representation of ethnicity are constructed. 

Camera Shots, Editing, Sound, Mise-en-scene.

Immigration Officers. Immigrants. Staff at the hotel. 

The man concerned.  The IMOF entering in a formation of three reinforces him being important in the middle. The steady camera work is quite static. The tracking to the woman looks suspicious.  The reverse shot which positions the audience to see everything from her perspective. The composition of the shot. The IMOF knows the code. 

The camera tracking following him. The camera goes from steady to rushed and quick. Causes the audience to feel sympathetic to the immigrants. The fact the hotel staff want to protect them highlights a lot.  A lot of camera movement. Focus on the handle highlighting them being caged trapped. Straight cuts to give a sample of the crowd and the staffs. Ibrahim is defined by his job him cleaning. A strong black male character defined by the camera tilted showing him in his cleaner outfit. The hoover defines him. The camera tracks backwards but will not go any further because it is highlighting the feeling of being trapped. The locks and keys. Close ups and medium shots emphasise how trapped they are. (MISE EN SCENE) feeling of claustrophobia is highlighted. The eyeline matches connect the relationship between the immigrant who helped the diabetic lady and the main staff worker. She has typical assumption of a western person to assume that the cleaner was putting jam in the womans mouth. This heightens our sympathy for them as he says 'I was not only a cleaner'. Clearly this person is medically trained - this is a reminded that pride is thrown away and they are okay with settling with any job. The non digetic sounds highlight the tension. The IMOF saying 'the rules of the game' highlight how cold hearted he is.

The mood pace and soundtrack completely changed - orchestral is very sad increases sympathy. Mise en scene of the uniform of the worker who was caught. Highlights that behind every immigrant there is a story. a long side tracking presenting scenes of different ethnic groups who gather together. The audience is reminded that he is dominant when telling the girl to wait before eating. The hotel staff are binary opposites of the IMOF which reinforces that the female staff is very heroic as she is trying to protect the immigrants - because she is so sympathetic to them this could suggest that she could of been a immigrant once. Lots of emotion close ups to show this. 


In this sequence the audience is presented with different ethnicities. The Immigration Officers whom are of a white ethnicity and the Immigrants whom are of a variety of ethnicites. The audience also see the multicultural staff.

Spooks - Status and power/ethnicity

Sampson - white, educated, racist member of the British Way. He represents the audience and he claims to be representing them. He claims no other British Party is representing their views.

The camera work is very crucial here, this is because Sampson is placed on the stage to where a low angle shot is used here. This gives him a higher status. Also there is a over the shoulder shot where the viewer is shown the audiences reactions and applauding that are being given to Sampson.

The mise-en-scene contributes to the viewers opinion of him as his costume is a suit which shows that he is a well dressed and signifies importance. His facial expressions reveal his determination that he is serious and he is dedicated to be the voice of this audience. The low angle lighting is projected onto Sampson which also reinforces his status in this Rally. It also allows the viewer to understand and determine that Sampson upholds a extreme importance to this audience from the Estate to which Sampson is claiming he 'condemns' the violence on the estate.

The sound used is very important as through his speech he persuades the audience to believe in him - the viewers are positioned to distrust him and to believe he is evil. He is perceived to be brain washing - he tells the audience that he is representing the British way which reinforces him being an extremist.

The editing through cross cutting shows the situations occurring in the meeting 'Rally' and on the estate to which gang violence is taking place. This editing reveals that Sampson may have some involvement within this violence. The viewers are positioned to not like him and to feel that he is not trustworthy, it does not make us sympathise with him.

The Spooks have a lot of status we look up to them - they are the ones that protect us. We are positioned to trust them, they are represented in a positive light because they are seen as the heroes that protect us. Binary opposites of the British Way - Good Vs Evil. The Spooks are the heroes of the story - because we see them as the good guys the viewers are positioned to like them, route them and support them. It makes the audience feel protected and safe because of them. They uphold a lot of status because they are the key people of the series.

At the beginning of the scene the man in the car helps to construct that he is important. This is because he is on the phone appearing very concerned. He is chauffeured to where the camera then tracks him when entering a meeting room. The camera is then in reverse shot to where it positions the audience to realise that there is a incident occurring and that Spooks sat at the table are looking to the man for advice and for instructions. This reinforces his status and that they look up to him as the camera angle also shows this. The audience in the Rally are very supportive of Sampson. They appear to the viewer as normal people as middle class. The producers are playing with stereotypes and playing with it. Unexpectedly they are made of all of the people women, elderly "normal" people. They are disadvantaged in society and probably uphold fear and insecurities. They are easily persuaded. The viewers are positioned in a way to want to hate them but because they appear "normal" the viewers feel that they are just merely being brainwashed - the viewers are shown that this is an Islamaphobic rally.

The victims of the violence on the estate are the ethnic minorities. The audience in the Rally are constantly being manipulated by Sampson by the camera movements and the over the shoulder shots. It highlights how the audience are being manipulated. The viewers suspect that Sampson and the other guy work together. The focus is on the other guy first and then the camera focuses on Sampson. This shows that he shadows Sampson and the viewers suspect that he is the shadowing character of the dirty work. He appears to have a lot of power but Sampson upholds the status. The straight cuts of the medium shots allows the viewers to see a sample of the people that Sampson is representing (elderly and women).

Ethnic minorities are represented as victims - the least status and power. They are not given a voice the viewers are not given their point of view. They are seen as helpless and victimized. The dragging of the black woman in the car and the chasing of the indian boy. There was a high angle shot of the woman being dragged from the car which portrays her to be very vulnerable. The viewers sympathise with them because they are being attacked by thugs because of their ethnicity. The cornering of the boy makes us feel sympathetic because he is isolated and a young boy.

The way in which it was filmed highlights the entire situation. The camera is never still. The camera is handheld the entire way through. The violence scenes are shot with a handheld camera which position the viewers to feel highly uncomfortable and to be a part of the violence - the raw footage allows them to understand to what extent the violence is. It creates similitude for the viewers - a realistic feel. The lighting is raw, real, grey and dull which is highly contrasted with the lighting inside the Rally. This is exposing the distress of the estate - the grimness of the estate and reflecting the rawness of the estate life. The non-diegetic sounds highlights the drama and makes viewers feel very uneasy and tense. It gives them jumpy responses.

Skins Series 3 Episode 1

Freddie is a risk taker and does not take into consideration of any the public - he is closely associated with smoking weed and drinking - grundge movement. Smoking weed is a sign of rebellion it is something teenagers do. His clothing are very grundge and he belongs into a sub culture. His behaviour is reprehensible from an adults perspective he is someone who is behaving very badly. However he is not as helpless as Cook as he actually wants to go to college.

The binory opposite is the law seen through the policeman who is portrayed as ridiculous and stupid and incompetent. His misfortune creates humour and he appears to be a comedy factor. Therefore we cannot feel sympathetic towards him because he is portrayed as a fool - there is no way of the audience to look up to him. Our sympathies lie with the youngsters rather with the adults.

The woman in the food hut is represented and condoning drinking beer in the morning. They are breaking the law to smoke a 'spliff' and drink beer before college. She is breaking the law aswell as they are and this does not allow the audience to sympathise with them.

Represenation In Skins.

 

     1. What can you deduce about the setting (and specifically the house) from the mise-en-scene?

At the beginning of the scene the shots are of the boy character in his bed. His bedroom is very neat and clean and looks like he is living in a middle class home – the shot of the girl walking home establishes the area in which it is set. The long shot of the girl shows the street and that this is a middle class family and area. The further shots of the boys bedroom gives an insight to the audience of his room again which appears a non typical teenage boys bedroom as his bedroom is unusually neat and tidy – he is very precise in the way in which his bedroom is presented and also he seems very organised. – the contradicts the usual stereotype of teenage boys being messy and untidy.

Further on the long shot high angle shot of the girl coming up the stairs shows the type of house they are living in. It gives the appearance that the house looks quite modern and a nice middle class home. The shot of the outside of the house reveals a lot about the setting – showing that they are living in a terrace house which resembles most middle class people.  The red door represents the idea of the teenagers being rebellious and naughty. The colour red is used as a seductive and sexual colour – thus the door being red represents the teenagers and their attitude, especially the girl teenager because she is out all night and dressed in a way that she is showing herself to be a rebel and a cheeky kind.

The kitchen is fairly small but enough to have the four members of the family – The shots with the mother typically in the kitchen cooking. Her clothing is her nightwear and they show that she appears to be a housewife typically cooking for her children on a school day. The kitchen is well organised and very clean and tidy which could show that this is where the son receives his tidiness. 

 2.  What do you think Tony's representation is? Think about the camera shots and his behaviour. Are stereotypes or and countertypes used?

Tony is an intriguing character who enjoys conflict with his father however he is a countertype because he is tidy and clean and well educated reading a philosophy book. Certain camera shots of him portray him to have power - such as the shot with his father - Tony is in the foreground and the father is looking down at him - however Tony still upholds the power. Tony's behaviour is rebellious and cheeky toward his father. When the sister returns in the morning after a night out herself and Tony have a strong sibling bond to which Tony creates a diversion for his sister to sneak back in. His diversion/distraction was putting really loud music on which he is aware will agitate his father. One shot shows the door which shows that Tony is aware his father is going to storm in and begin to rant at him. Tony's behaviour by making him wait for him to leave the bathroom therefore Tony is taking advantage of his father being laid back.

Social Class

How do the two extracts construct representations of social class? Refer to the micro-elements

Outnumbered - Middle Class
Eastenders - Predominantly working class

4 points of contrast:

 - The house in Outnumbered is a terrace house in a suburban area which most conversations occur in the kitchen - In Eastenders however majority of conversations take place mostly in the streets, pub, laundrette and cafe.
- Eastenders is focused mainly on relationships and the ideas of breaking up and making up - whereas in Outnumbered the relationships are centered within family.
- The characters in Eastenders do not use standard English and use more slang. Whereas in Outnumbered they use well spoken English.
- The children in Eastenders are shown to be more interested in life and relationships. Whereas in Outnumbered the children are more involved with school.


In Eastenders the location is extremely important as it is where majority of situations occur. The characters in Eastenders appear to be quite enclosed within this secluded location - they appear to be trapped. In Outnumbered however they appear to be trapped because everything takes place within the house in the kitchen. However it can be argued that they are comfortable this way.