Sunday 14 December 2014

Sherlock, textual analysis of class and status

Watson meets Sherlock's 'arch enemy'
The main camera shot used in this clip is close-ups of the two characters face at equal height to show that they have equal status at the start of the clip. Both of them try to gain power by asking questions/answering with one word word answers and this is shown also by the steady change of shots both focused on their faces at equal height. This first set of shots is only interrupted with something new when Watson gets a text from Sherlock where the shot changes to a long shot and the words of the text appear on the screen. This first shows the audience the relationship between the two men and show how they are stood at a distance, showing they are not friends and directly facing each other to show that there is a confrontation of power. When Watson asks if they are done to try and show his status that he can leave when/if he wants but the man replies with "you tell me" which clearly isn't what Watson expected as there is a slight pan across his face as he decides whether or not to answer question or to just leave. As Watson walks away shallow focus is used to show him in focus but the man unfocused in the background. This could mean that Watson has the power and therefore higher status as this point as he is choosing to walk away and not answer any more questions. As Watson turns round both characters become in focus again showing the status is once again level, this switches to a long shot as Watson shows his hand and the man moves towards him. An extreme close up is used to show the change in tension as Watson says "don't" to touching his hand and shows how he is afraid of what he is going to do. The extreme close up of Sherlock's enemy when he  raises eyebrows to show he does not need to explain is used to show that he has higher status as he gets Watson to do what he wants. Over the shoulder shots of Watson are used to show that he is always under the power of the man as he is standing over him and in charge of him. A two shot is used as it zooms out to show Watson steadying his hand and shows once again the relationship between the two men and how it has changed as he had moved closer and clearly unsettled Watson. The close-ups of Watson's face show that he does not make eye contact with the man, clearly showing he does not trust him and that he believes he could be dangerous. As the man walks away the camera tracks across to follow him and show him playing with his umbrella showing that he is not at all unsettled by the conversation and, unlike Watson, his status has remained unchanged. Shallow focus is used again to show Watson's face as he thinks over the man's offer but to show the woman approaching behind him and then the focus pulls as it changes to show her as she asks him his address. Another long shot is used to show Watson receive another text which this time he applies to. The clip ends on a tilt shot to show what Watson is looking at as it moves from his hand up to his face showing that he was thinking over what the man had said to him and that it has unsettled him which leaves the audience believing that Watson's status is lower than Sherlock's enemy's at the end compared to the start where they were equal.
The editing used in this shot is used to highlight the status of both characters and to highlight important areas. When Watson receives a text in this clip the writing of it appears on the screen to show the audience what it says and to show the hold that Sherlock has over Watson and his higher status. The texts are demanding of Watson as at first Sherlock asks him to come but then it changes to "if inconvenient come anyway" to show that he wasn't really asking him but rather, telling him. Shot reverse shot is used as an editing technique to make the conversation appear continuous and to show how they are both equal. Both characters try to keep their status and neither backs down which is shown through shot reverse shot as they are quick changes of the same shot, known as graphic match. Eye line match is also used as every time the shot switches it shows the other character but in the view of the other making them both appear equal. The editing used in this clip is fast paced as they both use one word answers and phrases to try and keep their status which means the editing is made up of short takes to show the struggle of power between the characters as both try to remain on top. The track used across Watson's face is used as expansion of time to try and make it seem like his thought process lasted longer than natural as he considers Sherlock's enemy's question and what to do next.
The man who calls himself Sherlock's enemy has an accent that highlights him to be of a higher class than Watson, he appears to be well spoken and contains his temper well unlike Watson. His voice and accent makes him appear calm and of a higher status than Watson who often sounds uneasy about the questions he is being asked and makes him seem as though he has done this before. The lines used in this clip show how the change in status is a constant battle as neither character wants to back down but how Sherlock's enemy has a natural edge as he not only was able to get Watson to come and meet him but knows a lot about him when he doesn't even tell Watson his name. The man first says to Watson  "I worry about him...constantly" which is referring to Sherlock and how he is not an enemy in the way that he wants to hurt him or beat him but he is worried about the trouble he will get into. The man also tells Watson that "You're very loyal..very quickly" which the audience could see to be used as a technique to make Watson doubt Sherlock and could convince him to be on his side. Watson, however, does not give in and tries to show his status as he says "are we done?" but the man does not give in and instead replies "you tell me" which appears to unsettle Watson so he leaves. But as he does the man tells him "I  can see from your left hand that's not going to happen" which intrigues Watson and so he turns back to the man. Watson quite sternly says to the man "dont" when he suggest to hold his hand to feel the tremor, this could be because he does not trust him and is unsure on what he is going to do or because Watson wants to keep his status and not give in to what he wants. Sherlock's enemy says "you walk with Sherlock Holmes you see the battle field" to which Watson replies "what's wrong with my hand", ignoring what he has just said and demanding to know why he wanted him to hold out his hand. This shows the audience that at this point in the clip the man has power over Watson and Watson is starting to doubt himself and letting his status slip which is shown when he says "who the hell are you" but then "how do you know that" when he realises he may have spoken out of turn. Sherlock's enemy says "welcome back" to Watson to imply that him siding with Sherlock is the adventure he needed like the war to stop the tremor in his hand that, he suggested, was down to him missing being apart of the war. When Anthea asks Watson his address he replies "bakers street, erm 221B bakers street" which shows that he is unsettled and is no longer thinking about what he is saying or is interested in giving himself a higher status.
Music is used throughout this clip in a discrete way as it remains quiet through the majority of it only getting louder slightly to create tension in parts of the clip where the conversation has stopped. This is used to make the audience feel like something bad is about to happen and also highlight the silence of the conversation.
This clip is quite dull and the colours are kept to a minimum as most objects in the clip are a dark blue or black aside from the faint yellow in the background of the setting. The lighting is dark and there is no natural light that appears to be used in this clip only lights above the character's heads which makes the setting of the empty warehouse seem more realistic. Sherlock's enemy's costume is a suit with tie which, similarly to his accent, makes him appear of a higher class and smarter to Watson who is dressed in a shirt and trousers but with a zipped up jacket. Alongside this, Watson is leant on his walking stick throughout most of the clip which gives him a slumped posture unlike the man. Although the man uses his umbrella similarly to how Watson uses his walking stick his umbrella appears much taller allowing him to keep his straight posture adding to his higher class. His umbrella is also used a prop to show how is calmer than Watson as often throughout the clip he moves it around and plays with it to show his freedom to be there unlike Watson. The man also brings out a book at one point in this clip which he claims has information about Watson in it "trust issues, it says here" but even then he has his umbrella hung on his other arm rather than putting it down. This also implies to the audience that the man may do something with the umbrella that would put Watson in his place if need be. At the end of the clip as he walks away he swings the umbrella around to show his attitude to the situation and how he is still in control and does what he wants. Anthea, who the audience sees in an earlier clip on the way to warehouse, has a phone which she always appears to be texting on to show that either she is too important to talk to Watson or to take an interest in what is going on or that she has been instructed not to get involved and so distracts her attention this way. Sherlock's enemy uses his facial expressions to project his status rather than explaining himself; for example when Watson says "don't" he simply raises his eyebrows and Watson conforms. Watson has a very stern expression through most of the clip that remains unchanged and does not show much change of emotion to what the other man is saying.

Thursday 20 November 2014

Representation of class and status-Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey clip

Camera shots/movement
The clip starts with a panning shot of the man on the bike which leads up to the establishing shot of Downton Abbey to set the scene for the audience. This leads up to a crab shot of the high class woman who looks down onto the servant who rides past below. This shows the class difference as the man outside is filmed from a high angle to show that she has more power over him. The staff are filmed with a master shot as all characters are in shot and then it moves to close-ups as the characters begin to work. At 0.57 the character who appears to be in charge of the other staff are filmed from low angle to show that he is higher and so although they are all staff there is still a status difference as he is in charge as he is telling him what to do. As Lord Grantham walks down the stairs the camera zooms in to him and his whole journey is filmed to slow it down and to show that he has heard the bad news and he does not want to face it. A point of view shot is used to show Lord Grantham reading the newspaper and it shows the audience what he can see and what the news is he is talking about. At 3.00 it is shot in shallow focus as the women walking towards the room is not in focus whereas the people already in the room are to show that she is less significant as she does not know what has happened or who is hurt. As Lord Grantham leaves the room the other characters are filmed at a long shot to show that they are all confused about what has just happened and they are all left unaware. He is then followed using a tracking shot to show that he needs to go and speak to his wife and tell her what he has found out which is clearly important. At 3.49 focus pulls is used to switch focus between Lord Grantham and his wife and during the conversation every time the camera switches to Lady Grantham it gets closer to show how the news is sinking in and she finally realises what has just happened.

Sound:
At the start of the clip music is played, as non-diegetic sound, to make the bike ride smoother and the transition towards the house appear more elegant and to introduce what is to come acting like a sound bridge. These are placed with sound effects of the natural, diegetic sound of the man riding along the road on his bike and then as they enter the room the sound of the fire. The first line the audience hears is from the staff who says "and they're off" which shows his status and how he does not like having to cater for the family and he is fed up of it. Within the staff there are different levels of power and respect, this is seen through certain things different people say within the staff. For example, one woman asks the others for help and another replies with "I've got her ladyships to carry" which makes her seem more important than the others as she gets to personally deliver the ladyships breakfast whereas the other members of staff have to carry the various plates to the main room where they are dining. The downstairs breakfast room is accompanied with synchronous sound of pots being moved around as other members of staff carry them in/out to the family. Also, further in the clip the Charles Carlson, a butler, appears to take control over the other man who is ironing the newspapers. He tells him to "do the times first" and then to only do the others later if required which shows him to have power over the other and gives him a higher status than the other servants who look to him for guidance. When the man who is delivering the newspapers arrives he is late and when he is asked for an explanation he says "But...you'll see" showing he is going to explain it but then decides it would be better for them to read the news rather than finding out from him. One of the staff clearly shows the difference in status as when they are asked "why are the papers ironed?" she says that the lordships should not be as black as hers. This shows the audience that the staff are there to provide for the family and do the jobs that the family would not get their hands dirty doing. The transition between the busy staff downstairs and the lordship is shown through music which highlights to the audience the change of status and how it is suddenly calmer as he does not have those things to worry about. When the butler says most of the ladies had been saved from the ship the lord corrects him by saying "you mean the ladies and first class", showing how he believes they are more important than the lower class people. This is also shown when her ladyship says "surely they were picked up" to the news that her friends may have been on the ship and not saved.

Editing:
Parallel editing is used in this clip to show the difference between the higher class family and the working class staff. For instance, during the start of the clip where the servant on the bike and the women in the family waking up are edited in parallel to show they are happening at the same time but to show the different types of mornings. This is also shown in cross cutting as when she goes to the window the shot changes to him cycling past to show how they are happening in time.

Action match is used similarly when she rings her bell and the shot changes to the clip downstairs where the first bell rings to show it is in sequence.
Continuity editing is also used to show how the morning goes and although some clips are edited alongside each other it runs in time order and the events happen after each other as the characters find out the news.

Shot-reverse-shot is used during the breakfast scene downstairs to show how chaotic it is once the family are awake and how unlike it is like the families morning. It is used with short takes to show how the conversations are quick and show the fast pace of the work downstairs with lower class.
Eye line match is used during the breakfast scene when the Lord is looking at the newspaper and the news of the Titanic but then the camera shot changes to view the newspaper and the picture of the ship to show the audience what he is referring to.

This could also be seen as a motivated cut as the audience wants to see what the news is about and what the Lord is reading in the news.

Mise en scene:
The first two frames from this clip show the difference in status immediately as there is a member of staff who had to get up early to go and collect the papers for the family and the women who had woken up inside the house who looks down to him. The man is shown darker than the background in the first frame whereas the woman is in more light than the background which shows the difference in status.

Her position of status is also shown through her costume which appears to be silk and, unlike the staff shown later in the clip, white showing how her clothing can be more delicate as they can be looked after or replaced unlike the members of staff which may only have a few different outfits they have to wear over and over. The staff's costume is basic with dark clothing, dresses for the women and suits for the men, with an apron over the top to protect their outfit from stains that they will undoubtedly encounter as they complete their daily chores.
The hair also signifies the difference in class as the family have their hair in different intricate designs once they are awake and it looks like it took some time to produce. The staff however have there’s slick back so it does not get in the way of their chores and they probably didn’t have as much time to do anything fancy with it.
The difference is status is also highlighted through the different breakfast scenes where the staff has to dine at once and do not have an option of different meals. Furthermore when the family ring to say they are ready for breakfast the staff have to go and cater to them whether they have finished their breakfast or not whereas the family would not have to do this. The family arrive at different stages during breakfast to show they have a greater freedom of choice compared to the staff who work for them.