Throughout this clip representation of gender is portrayed
using editing, camera, sound and Mise en scene.
Through the use of a bird’s eye view in the doctor’s office
whilst the women is having her appointment the women is shown stereo typically
weak and vulnerable. This shot makes her look smaller in comparison to the size
of the room. This shot shows that she has no power over the situation and she
is just someone small in a word much bigger. This portray the female character
as powerless, venerable, and defenceless. The technology use of a hand-held
camera during the shot of the man running across the road after the women is
hit by a car shows the man’s raw feelings.
This use of camera work shows the male character as shaky and emotional
something stereotypical most men don’t want to appear. This shows the man’s
love for his wife and his panic when he realises she is hurt. This portrays the
male character in a positive roe of gender as it shows his sensitive caring
side. The shot when the man is sitting with the women after her accident shows
contrasting shots which alternate between the women looking up at the man and
the man looking down on the women. This is a very stereotypical representation
of gender roles. When the female character is in such an unstable condition she
is shown belittled in a man’s arms looking up at him, the way throughout
history women have been told she should look up to a man. Stereo typically women
are always belittled by the man and even though she is injured this shot does
not give her this satisfaction of being above the man or of being shown importance; however the alternative shot shows
the man looking above the women, this can be seen in two ways the first being that
the man after witnessing his wife hurt and dying is holding her for the last time
this makes him seem kind and loving, the way an audience would expect a man to
react to his wife being hit by a ar. This again shows the male character in a
positive light. However, this shot could also be the male character looking
down on his wife. She is in an unstable emotional position and this clearly
shows her lower than him. Although her condition means she can’t sit up etc.
the camera angle clearly shows him looking down on her giving him a sense of
power over her even though she is already hurt and dying. The close up shot of the male characters
wedding ring shows him twisting it wound his finger whilst his wife is having a
doctor’s appointment. Fidgeting is sometimes associated with nerves this shot
shows how he is thinking about what may be happening in the appointment and
what the outcome may be. The close up again shows his caring side as he appears
to be worried the shot also shows his love for his wife and devotion to their
marriage.
The mise en scene use of setting in the taxi symbolises
moving forward as they are talking about their marriage and starting new. The
use of this setting shows them not staying in one place. This is a positive
representation as it shows them as man and wife, male and female moving together
as one as they start their life as a married couple. This shows them as equal
in a legal partnership with one another. The props of a flower stall as the
female character enters the hospital shows neatly arranged pretty flowers.
Flowers are often used to celebrate and give as a gift seen as a pretty living
thing however later this props meaning significantly changes after the accident
as they are scattered on the ground. The flowers can be used to represent the
female character as being positive and leaves the hospital with bad news. The
flowers can also be used for the audience to foreshadow the female characters up
comings. Flowers are also used a funeral and given to people who are sick.
Flowers also wither and die. Like stereotypical female’s flowers are pretty and
delicate just like the female character in this clip. The contrast of the male
and female characters setting represents the difference between their life
positions. The female in the doctor’s office receiving bad news and the male
sat at a cafe outside on a table smiling. This shows how women are emotional
and the female character is going through a difficult time in her life without
anyone to support her it also shows how male characters are strong and even
when things are happening to those around them they can remain strong and calm
and go about their daily tasks this could be used to foreshadow the events
after the car accident.
The lack of sound after the accident with the shot of the
male character shows his raw emotion and show of what he has witnessed it also
allows the audience take in and think about what has happened. It shows that
even a man who stereo typically should remain strong in the face of a tragedy
can be shocked and surprised and need to take a minuet to absorb what has happened.
It shows that men to have emotions tea me as women. The non-diegetic sound of
the car accident allows the audience to hear what has happened before they see
it. This shows that things happen that you can’t always see and aren’t always
aware of. This shows that feeling and emotions may be concealed the way the
women pretended to her husband she had good new the same as the incident was
covered. This represents both genders how both male and females sometimes have
things they don’t want to share both emotions and physical events.
The continuity editing allows the events to feel more real
to the audience this allows both characters male and female to show their raw
emotion of all events from taxi drive, to hospital appointment, through to
anticipation and the accident and finally the women’s death. It shows the
naturalism of people’s lives no matter what your gender somethings can’t be
edited and sugar-coated away. The slow motion of the bus moving away revealing
the injured women gives the event dramatic effect how when incidents happen to
people their whole world can slow down and their actions and special awareness
may be impaired it allows the audience to feel the male character’s emotion
adding to the realism of the clip.
