Exam

Compare the way two TV dramas construct representation of gender.

All TV dramas have different characters shown to the audience in different ways, whether they are a humorous character or where just an evil manipulative character, the characters personality and how they are represented to the audience can vary very much in TV dramas to create the scene. The two TV dramas I will be looking at are Hustle and The killing. Both show large differences but again similarities to show the representation of the gender in the TV drama.

Camera shot play a key part of any type of TV to show the audience who is being watched and maybe why. In the TV drama Hustle the drama begins with a medium close up of the man Dexter, showing the glorious gold surrounding him in his large office. A stereotypical women ‘Blonde and blue eyes’ struts in but only to be able to hear her footsteps to but the camera is still on Dexter. This shows that the her as a stereotypical woman in heels, ready for business, but won’t show her as it leave the audience in suspense in who is making their way to the desk. A cut in extreme close up of the business card saying ‘Gold Hard Cash’ is shown for about 3 seconds, then the camera slowly makes its way up to the ‘sexy blonde’s’ face. The slow movement of the character represents the sexual attraction Dexter has towards women that come to his office as he pays a lot of interest towards her and delicately looks up the top half of her body and finally her face is revealed. Once the woman’s face is revealed the camera is automatically put back on Dexter, a medium close up with his wide eyes showing, as the camera hovers backwards and forwards/ zooming in and out. This represents almost a cartoon figure of a man finding an attractive lady very appealing. As If eyes are about to fall out. The camera then being put back on the women as she knows Dexter is attracted to her, she using her looks at her potential and raising her eye brows, the camera is on a medium close up. This is to show the audience how attractive she really is so they can understand the reaction of Dexter. He then goes into a fantasy dream where the camera shot is a point of view shot, this is as if Dexter is watching over her as she rolls around in the ruffled silky gold fabric. This shot represents the how men are supposedly higher up than women but is as the images of her are repeated next to each other with her smiling at the camera, it shows that the attractive women has taken Dexter’s gold and won her status over his. Her smiling represents she knows how easily she can get Dexter wrapped round her little finger. The scene ends in a medium close up shot of both characters separately, and then a mid-shot of the other women. This represents the power of the stereo typical beautiful women can use their looks to overcome other women’s status’ to get where they want in life. As the other woman chucks her pen down it shows she has no competition against her purely because she has no way of beating her.

However in the other TV drama I looked at similar/ or the same camera shots were used but in very different ways. In The Killing the camera view begins with a point of view shot, this is used almost the whole way through the clip. Unlike Hustle which point of view shot was used as a man fantasying over the women and the women taking charge knowing her looks are at her advantage to win her job. The Killing’s point of view shot is to set the eerie atmosphere, that someone or something is watching her; leading tension the whole way through the clip. The beginning of the clips begins with a mid-shot point of view as the women looks very confused in what exactly is going to happen. The camera slowly moves backwards as she walks. The slow movements of the camera represent the danger she is letting herself in for. The next shot is a wide shot this but the camera is angle on the floor looking up at her through the hanging meat. This represents that trouble is on its way, as something is looking through dead meat in a point of view shot, but her not looking over at the camera, therefore she is unable to see the person. This shows the advantage the other person has compared to the woman. Almost as if she should be crying out for help by this point. The angle being focused below her represents her being higher up and fierce in what is going to happen next. As the shot moves to a behind shoulder shot, of the trolley being shoved at her, this shows the strength of the other person has as she was almost knocked over it. But then again as she pushing the trolley aside and with even more strength, show the anger of her at this point. She behind shoulder shot is used whilst running as the camera shakes from side to side to create the effect to the audience that they are running behind, almost part of the chase. The clear shot of the man dressed in all black and showing that she cannot catch up with him shows that men are dominating and she is struggling as a woman. As they make their way into the club a point of view shot is done to show the panic of the search to find this man. But the extreme close up of other people’s faces in the club represent the loosing of the women. But as she continues and a mid-shot of the mysterious man dressed in black shows that she is catching up and winning her higher dependence over the man. As she continues to run a what looks like an abandoned part of the club and wide shot of the women down a corridor is shown. The shot emphasises the how long the corridor actually is and this represents the emphasis of the chance of her winning over the man. However the extreme close up cut in of the black door handle, as she find a door to go through, creates the tension of the scene. Creating the audience to think ‘has she finally found him’. The camera is on the handle for about 3-5 seconds, this creates tensions to what could be lurking behind the door. The shot represents how long she may have long to live, or how long she has until she has caught the hooded man. The shot with wide shot with both characters in show the man in standing higher up than the women. As he hits her round the head, the camera hasn’t moved, and she falls to the ground. The camera shot again doesn’t move. This shows that the man has won the chase, and he is more dominant than the women. It represents no matter what’s reinforced earlier on men will always have high ground/ be more dominant than women in society.

Something else that is important in TV dramas is mise en scene. This includes the characters, what they wear, what makeup etc. In the hustle Dexter the man is shown as a typical cockney business man. His fake cockney accent represents he has tried hard to get where he is today. Maybe suggesting when he was younger he was not a typical ‘ladies’ man’ and wasn’t accepted by the people he knew. So now he is a ‘try hard’ putting on a strong cockney accent to fit his business character, which he thinks would be more appealing for women. He wears a purple Shirt with gold tie, with quite a few gold accessories on him e.g. earring, ring, watch.  This represents his wealth, however the clashing in colours of purple and gold represent the clashing of his cheap looking (covered in cheap looking gold jewellery e.g. watch, ring, earring.) to what his business actually is, he earns a lot of money but what he wear clashes being he looks cheap (identity and business clashes). He is also bald which doesn’t seem very appealing to women at all; this could show the ageing of himself. With a grey/black beard on his chin. His shows he’s not as young as he makes out by going after younger women. He has no respect for women really, as he hasn’t even spoke to the attractive women Emma. Yet he pays a lot of interest for her. However with the other women in office he doesn’t even look at her when he asks for a cup of tea. Is demanding and rude.  

 

Ciara Singleton, Unfinished.