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Discuss the way in which the extract constructs the representation ofgenderusing the following:

- Camera shots, angles, movement and composition- Editing

- Sound- Mise en scene

(50 marks)

The extract opens with an establishing shot of a male and a femalecharacter in the midst of an argument, and the tone of the femalecharacters voice, angry and harsh, indicates to the audience that themale character is in the wrong here, and that there is a strong sense ofinitial tension between gender roles in the story line, andforeshadowing that the coming extract will be tense and based arounda central theme of conflict.

This scene is soon forgotten, however, as the scene cuts to a shot ofa heavy-duty digger & non-diegetic music is introduced at a relativelyfast tempo, giving us a further sense of tension and also emphasisingthe actions and giving them a sense of purpose. Further mid-shots ofthe digger reveal to the audience that it is in fact being operated by awoman who is rather formally and smartly dressed, which instantlycauses the audience to think of the stereotypical idea of a builderwhich is that of a large masculine type of man and this representationof the female character Abbie in the digger gives us the initial

impression that she may in fact, be more of an assertive ortomboyish personality, an idea which is in part backed up by theleather jacket the audience are now able to see that she is wearing.The camera does however then cut to a mid-shot of a male figuredigging in a trench with his bare hands and dressed in dirty clothing,which brings us back to the original stereotype of the male figure beingmore accustomed to manual work. The extract then cuts to a close-upshot of a hand protruding from the earth and the male character yellsthe command for everyone else to stop, showing that he holdsauthority over the other female worker. All of the non-diegetic soundmusic is suddenly cut out here in unison with the diegetic sound and

quick reaction-shot close-ups of the characters faces show us that theatmosphere is once again very tense between the characters, the malebeing silent and anticipating danger whilst the female is unaware ofwhat is happening and so wears a corresponding look of worry. Theloud roar of an animal breaks the silence here and non-diegetic musicis simultaneously once again introduced, however this time at a muchfaster tempo to show the danger. A fast side-to-side whip-pan of thetrees in the style of someone frantically looking around indicates panicand as the tiger is introduced to the scene all of the camera work andcutting from here on become much faster, with a heavy use of jump-cuts to close-ups of both the main characters faces. The camera thenuses a long shot of the male figure and the tiger in the frame togetherin a comparison which shows the human figure as being much smaller

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than the animal and the male figure is here as a result stripped of hismasculinity in the eyes of the audience completely, as he is forced tocower within the trench in which he was working. This is thenemphasised further in a reversal of roles as the female character in thedigger proceeds to attack the tiger in order to protect the male,

confirming the audiences earlier suspicion of Abbie as being a moretomboyish and courageous character. This is reinforced by a fastsuccession of jump cuts to various close-ups of the digger and thetiger, the close-up shots serving to make the movements of the twoseem faster and more panicked, which shows Abbies control in thetense situation as opposed to the males panic. The male character issoon back on his feet however and in a single act of bravery/stupidityhas reasserted his masculine stereotype by attempting to draw thetiger away unarmed by using himself as live bait.

After the scene with the tiger has come to an end and the actionand tension has been relieved the non-diegetic sound slows downagain and a close up of the male characters face shows his look ofrelief and gratitude towards Abbie who has just saved him from thetiger once again, showing how the balance of power and authority canquickly change backward and forth between the stereotypical malecharacter and the less typical female character and does not simplystay with the male as you might think.

A further representation of gender is that of one of the othercharacters who is introduced in the following scene. This character isanother male however is of a smaller build than the first and is dressedin clean, fancy clothing including a pink top, waistcoat and scarf, which

leads the audience to believe that he may in fact be less masculinethan the other character and more of an intellectual and as suchsubverting the stereotypical view of masculine in this extract whichhas been built up so far.

The final scene shown in the extract also constructs a very differentrepresentation of gender and opens with a mid-shot of a woman and aman inside a dimly-lit barn. Mid to close-up shots are used allthroughout this scene to show the focus on the particular characterwho is speaking at the time. At first the audience is aware from thetone of voice of the woman that she is currently in control of thesituation and blackmailing the male character. She is also dressed in

fine expensive clothing including a dress and a long light coloured coatwhereas the male character is dressed in typical dirtied farming gearand in plainer colours than the female and this reinforces theimpression that she is in charge. This balance of power is son, andsuddenly switched completely as the man, known to the audience asWest, picks up a shotgun and thus conforms to the negative stereotypeof male figures being more violent and having to resort to this to gaincontrol. This superiority is then further asserted by the use of thecommand Get in! by West as he throws her into the barn and to theground and aims the gun at her. As he prepares to shoot her theextract cuts dramatically to slow-motion to emphasise the fear on herface at the sudden loss of control and threatening tone of West.

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In conclusion this extract both conforms to and subvertsstereotypical views of gender through the use of various differentcamera angles, editing techniques and sound.

AO1: 16/10AO2:16/10AO3: 7/10

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