Firstly, consider your grade in light of the mark scheme and your target grade.
You need an introductory paragraph defining representation and class and status.
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Terms such as 'higher class' / 'lower class' were used but
not explained. What do you mean by these terms?
Avoid generalisations.
Note taking skills
Now make notes as we go through the extract together.
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I am going to go through the extract and
add to your notes to draw out key points that you may have missed.
Modelling
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Denotation / Signifier (Denote an aspect of
mise-en-scene)
Connotation / Signified (explain what it means - What are the connotations of
each aspect of mise-en-scene?)
What is wrong with this description?
‘The old woman is wearing a red jacket,
normal top and her hair is scruffy. She is represented as elderly and out of
fashion…’
It could read;
‘Status is represented through aspects of
mise-en-scene such as costume in this extract.
A retired woman is shopping for an outfit to her daughter’s
wedding. The audience empathise with
this character as she is looking for something special to celebrate a key
day. Her frailty is made clear through
her posture and request for assistance. Her costume indicates status as she has
little need for fashion as she is dressed in unfashionable but functional
clothing. The representation of the shop
assistant is therefore problematic for an audience as his reaction to this
sympathetic character is appalling and highlights societies unbalanced moral
values. This man judges the status of people on their wealth or the clothes
that they wear. He is therefore shallow
and pretentious and representative of the twisted values of capitalist society. He is almost two dimensional in his
representation and his gullibility and worship of wealth as meaning status
allows him to be drawn into the hustle by someone representing a wealthy character. He is duped due to his
own prejudices and the audience have no sympathy as this is a despicable trait.
He demeans and patronises the shopper
through his choice of language….’
Her hairstyle connotes…
Her choice of clothing connotes…
The mode of address she uses when
addressing the shopkeeper shows…
Her body language connotes..
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Likewise, identify the type of shot and then what bit
shows
In this 'two shot' the woman is looking up to
the shop assistant, indicating positions of power. The camera does this elsewhere placing
the person in power in a higher position than the other. The shopkeeper looks down upon the female
shopper but looks up to the rich client.
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Explain why representation is important and
worth studying.
The makers have a short amount of time in
this TV drama to indicate character. It
plays on pre-conceived ideas of class and status based on representation. The
hustlers manipulate their prey by constructing representations which will
appeal to his pretension, prejudices and aspiration. He judges people by their looks and clothes
so the drama uses mise en scene to create representations which will seduce the
shop assistant and prey on his vanity. The message is, don’t judge people by
first appearances. In the words of the
novelist Kurt Vonnegut. 'we are what we pretend to be so we must be careful what
we pretend to be.’
Representations are paramount and allow us
to understand characters in a short amount of time, driving the narrative
forward. They are carefully constructed
to allow us to read the signals quickly and gain an understanding of the
story. The hustlers in this scene are
all playing a part. They are
constructing a representative character that will play upon the prejudices and
expectations of the shopkeeper who thinks status is indicated by wealth. They disabuse him of this ideas and shame him
by exploiting this character trait as a weakness. The audience have no sympathy
for the shop-keeper as he is representative of a shallow character and a person with
a high opinion of themselves. It also highlights the values of our society and
the importance placed on wealth before such qualities as manners. We are asked to challenge pre-conceived ideas
about wealth and status and question perceptions of class.
Distinctions of class are more obscure in
this clip and shown in the scene with them two men. Costume is used once again to indicate class
as the younger man wears jeans and the older man wears a suit…
Accents are also
used to indicate working class characters and those who are middle class or who
are aspiring to or affecting a middle class persona such as the shopkeeper…
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- Try to explain why the clip is a rich text
I think this is a good clip as it shows how
we can be taken in by constructed representations of clsaa or status. The hustler acts in role as someone who has
money and therefore status in the eyes of the shop-keeper. It shows how we value money as a society,
perhaps over more valuable traits such as being well mannered.
- If there is not much editing explain how
continuity editing is important in a TV drama.
- Maintain the quality to the end.
- Point – evidence – explanation
Task - Responding to feedback
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Reflect upon your response in a
paragraph.
What would you do differently?
What have you learned?
What have you gained from feedback?
What have you gained from a analysing the
clip as a a group?
How has the mock exam helped you to improve
your mark/ understanding?
What do you need to work on ?
What help do you need?
Make a comment about achievement compared
to your target grade.
