Disability representation clip practice

Representations of disability

Representations of disability:

We live in a world of challenge and change.

This means we have to see the same challenge and change in front of us. 

What are the different representations of disability? Think of some characters on TV who are disabled…

·         “Ah, aren’t they sweet” patronising sympathy

·         Figures of fun: Elephant Man, The Undatables, XFactor/BGT

·         Admire

·         Interest: “What is wrong with them?”

 

It could be claimed that disability is more about tokenism and voyeurism that being about change, for example:

·         Matt Lucas in Little Britain

 

Challenging representations of disability:

·         Walt Jr, Breaking Bad

 

What to look out for:

·         Is the representation positive or negative?

·         Are they token characters? Is there more to the character than just the disability?

·         What focus is on them? Are they simply there in a supporting capacity?

·         Are they being slightly patronised? Are we made to feel sympathy for them?

 

But most importantly, how are they doing this?

 

Sound and editing

Editing:

Continuity Editing
This is done to create a clear seamless narrative that hides the editing process creating a sense of verisimilitude (the appearence of being true or real)

Types of editing shots:
Shot reverse shot
Action match/ match on action
Eyeline match
Matching the eyeline of who is in the scene
Graphic match
Two successive shots joined so as to create a strong similarity of compositional elements
Jump cut
Jumping from place to place whilst having conversation
Cross cutting
The camera will cut away from one action to another action
A cutaway
The interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else
Insert shot
A shot of part of a scene filmed from a different angle or focal length from the master shot

Transitions:
Dissolve
Wipe

Sound:
Diegetic/ non-diegetic sound

Sound effects:
Synchronous sounds
Sounds which are synchronised or matched with what is viewed
Asynchronous sounds
Not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen

Gender

Superiority and domination
Men are shown in dominant positions and women are physically portrayed as less-dominant or cooperating with men 

Dismemberment

Full body is not usually photographed; usually it is parts of it such as legs or chest

Clowning and exaggeration

Women are portrayed as the less intelligent ones, more emotional and make them seem more foolish where men are presented in positions of reflective thought and intelligence

Male approval

Women usually have to seek for men’s approval for different situations. “Males desire and women are desired.” 

The voice-over authority

There are a higher number of men speaking in voice-overs in commercials than women

Irrelevant sexualisation of women and girls

Women’s products are used to sell products, even if they are not products for women or directed by women

Primeval exam clip:

Women storms off, man walks away from her

Women driving digger, countertype

Man in charge, he notices body and takes action

Women tries to distract animal, potentially saves man’s life

Once recovered, man takes over again, uses belt to go across zip wire, improvising ‘manly’ action

Women shoots gun and saves man’s life

Camera shot of the men walking in a line, women is at the end, shows she is not as important

Other women has a lot of make up on and ‘designer’ clothes, tries to use flattery with power

Other man gets aggressive and angry, pulls out gun, woman panics, and results to giving him the power

Third man walks in and holds a gun up to him; the power is still with the man

Women is angry her coat is messed up and original women asks about the main problem, they are shown as independent

Regional Identity

 

 

Representations

Key questions:
Who or what is  being represented?
How is it being represented?
Within what genre? How does it fit within the genre?
How has the representation been constructed?
Whose ideas are being reflected?
How are the audience positioned?

Protagonist and antagonist:
The director wants the audience to be on the side of the protagonist (the person you are suppose to be following) and hope that the antagonist will fail.
The audience has to identify the protagnist for this to happen, they have to be on their side.
They only have a few hours to make you identify them, so they use a kind of 'shorthand.'

Character typing:
Archetype: a familiar character who has emerged from hundreds of years of storytelling and fairytales.
Stereotype: a character ususally used in advertising and marketing in order to sell a particular product to a certain group of people. They can be used negatively in the media, e.g. 'hoodies.'
Generic: a character familar through use in a particular genre (type) or movie.
Countertype: anything that goes against the stereotype.

The Hyperdermic Needle Model:
Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to mass media.
It is a crude model and suggests that the audiences passively receive the information transmitted via a media text, without any attempt on their part to process or challenge data.

Two-Step Flow theory:
The HNM proved to be too clumsy for media researchers.
The information comes from an 'opinion leader,' thus being influenced not by a direct process, but by a two step flow.
For example: Twitter, following celebritites and listening/acting on what they say.

Blumler and Katz:
Diversion: escape from everyday problems and routine.
Personal relationships: using the media for emotional and other interaction, e.g. substituting soap operas for family life.
Personal identity: finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts.
Surveillance: information which could be useful for living e.g. weather reports, financial news and holiday bargains.

Names in Narrative Theory:
Meaning: Roland Barthes
Structure: Tvzetan Todorov
Character: Vladimir Propp
Conflict and resolution: Claude Levi-Strauss

Lost: remake & The Director's Commentry

Re-make of the opening scene of Lost:

Director's commentry:

Concentrating on Mise En Scene, how does the text construct representations of ethnicity?

Throughout the text there are many representations of ethnicity. The text shows two types of ethnicity; White and Latino, through a variety of ways.

The White ethnicity is shown through scenes such as when the family is sitting around the table. Their home is tidy and homely, therefore suggests that they have more money. It also suggests that they are very family orientated and perhaps judgemental of other families who are not the same as them.

            The Latino ethnicity shows more criminal traits, as they have props such as cigarettes, drugs and knifes. This gives them the reputation of a ‘hard guy’ and as they have resulted to selling drugs, perhaps more poor than the white ethnicity. They also wear religious necklaces around their necks, suggesting they are religious and want something to believe in, therefore not bright. They are more interested in keeping their ‘hard’ reputation strong, rather than being family orientated and homely, like the white ethnicity.

Mise en scene

Mise en Scène: what is put into a scene or frame.

Setting and props
Costume, hair and make up
Facial expressions and body language
Positioning of characters/objects within the frame
Lighting and colour

Setting and props: these are either built from scratch or a great deal of time is spent finding a set which already exists.
For example: sci-fi = space, in another universe
rom-com = major cities e.g. Paris or New York
horror = dark forest, abandoned crooked house

Costume, hair and make up: act as an instant indicator to us of a character's personality, status and job. They also give us an idea of society and culture within the film and certain costumes can signify certain individuals e.g. black cloak = vampire.

Facial expressions and body language: facial expressions provide a clear indicator of how someone is feeling e.g. smiling = happy, smiling = sad. However, you have to be careful as if you add scary music to a smiling facial expression, we get a different feeling. Body language indicates how characters feel towards each other.

Positioning of characters/objects within the frame: this can draw our attention to characters/objects within the frame. The film-maker uses positioning to show characters feelings towards each other, e.g. if two characters were opposite ends of the frame, facing away from each other, we get the feeling they are rivals.

Lighting and colour: highlights important characters or objects within the frame. Also, it can be used to make characters look a certain way, for example by shading sections of the face/body, it makes the character looks mysterious.
Low key lighting is created by using only the key and back lights, for example horror films.
High key lighting uses more filler lights, this makes it look more natural and realistic e.g. rom-coms.

Breaking Bad:


Setting:
Run-down green, graffiti, warehouse, tables outside: dangerous area
Lighting and colour:
Red light: blood, danger
Low key lighting: foreshadowing dangerous events
Costume, hair and make-up:
Leather jackets, bald, gold chains: 'hard men'
Props:
Drugs, knifes, smoking: crime, death
Facial expression and body language:
Straight faces, laughter, punching gestures: seriousness, trying to take him seriously
Positioning in frame:
The bald guy is always to the side of the frame until he meets the drug dealer, then he is in the middle: his confidence grows, he feels like he is an equal match to the drug dealer

Camera movement

Tracking shot: back or forward, usually shot with a dolly or a tracking dolly for a smooth shot, tracking in draws in the audience’s attention, tracking out signifies the end of action.

Crab shot: follows the movement of a character.

Tilt shot: upwards or downwards on an axis. Tilting up is used by the director and makes the character looked heightened or powerful.

Zoom shot: into/away from character, it can stimulate a tracking shot.

Arc shot: full/semi-circle around and object, character or characters, you can see the reaction of a character and it increases intensity.

Crane shot: follow the action in a vertical direction.

Panning shot: on a tripod, left or right, used to follow movement, for example a character searching for something. 

Camera shots

EST: establishing shot - this establishes where the action takes place, sets the scene, usually outside, usually a wide shot (WS)

WS: wide shot - often used as an EST, the point of the shot is to show the subject surroundings and give an insight into the scene

LS: long shot - shot which shows all or most of a large subject, for example a person, usually shows most of the surroundings

MLS: medium long shot - knees to head with some background, allows for action

MS: medium shot - waist to head, commonly used to focus more on a character and their body language

M2S: medium two shot - similar to MS but with two people, helps to show unity but can also be used to show division

MCU: medium close up - head and shoulders to focus on character

CU: close up - shows a characters face, used to show emotion

BCU: big close up - forehead to chin, used to show extreme emotion  

ECU: extreme close up - a very tight shot to focus on specific detail, e.g. someone's eye or a door handle

OTS: over the shoulder - used during a conversation (MCU) and the other person's shoulder/head/back etc. Can show confrontation

OH: over head - camera is directly over actors/objects, used to make people/objects look small and isolated

H/A: high angle - used to make the object/person look weak and powerless

L/A: low angle - used to make the object/person look strong and powerful

DS: deep shot - when something is in the foreground and something else is in the background, allows to show depth

BFI notes

On the 24th of January we went to the BFI in London and had a session on TV drama, here are the notes:

The 7 areas of representation:
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Sexuality
Class and status
Physical ability/ disability
Regional identity

Sub-genres of TV Drama with examples:
Medical drama - Holby City
Fantasy drama - Game of Thrones
Period drama - Downton Abbey
Science fiction drama - Doctor Who
Musical drama - Glee
Teen drama - Waterloo Road
Melodrama - Mr Selfridge
Crime drama - Luther, Broadchurch, Tunnel
Thriller drama - Breaking Bad

Representation theorists:
Levi Strauss - binary oppositions
Richard Dyer - stereotypes legitimise inequality
Propp - 8 character types
Daniel Chandler - representations are constructed
Steve Neale - genre repetition and difference (audience expectations in terms of genre)
Laura Mulvey - male/ female gaze
Stuart Hall - dominant, negotiate/ oppositional readings of representations

TV Drama Course

Section A: Textual analysis and representation (50 marks)
Section B: Institutions and audiences (50 marks)

A:
Camera angle, shot, movement and composition
Mise en scene
Editing
Sound

B:
Contempory insitution process of production
Distribution
Marketing and exchange/ exhibition at a local, national or international level
British audience reception and consumption

In the exam: use examples from TV dramas, not films

TV Drama is a story that is presented in a dramatic way and explores a range of genres

Audience positioning
Interaction between other groups
Cultural ideology