How
is gender represented through camera, editing, sound and mise en scene in the
clip Primeval?
When we are introduced to the first female in the
extract, and it is clear that she challenges that the typical female stereotype
as females are typically expected to be dressed in formal dresses, blouses and
skirts whereas Abi is dressed wearing black combat trousers, black boots and a
black leather jacket. Moreover, females are associated with wearing more pastel
colours whereas Abi is wearing an all-black outfit which enhances the fact that
she goes against the typical female stereotype. All of Abi’s items of clothing
are signified to hard working males who tend to have jobs including manual
labour. In addition to this, Abi has a short styled haircut which is shown
against the stereotype of females because short hair is typically associated
with the male gender and longer hair is considered to be a more feminine look.
This presents that Abi does not want to be seen as more feminine, she would
rather be seen in more masculine way and she portrays this through her image
and her clothing. In the first scene we see Abi; she is on a bright yellow
digger, mostly associated as a more masculine object. However, Abi seems to be
skilfully manoeuvring the machinery like she has had a lot of experience with
the machine. This also challenged the female stereotype because it is unlikely
that most women would know how to work and manoeuvre such a heavy piece of
machinery so confidently. In the latter part of the scene, Abi takes a lead to
fighting the tiger and decides to take control of the situation whereas when
Nick hears the sound of the tiger, it goes against the stereotype of males
being supposedly strong and heroic, Nick jumps into a trench to avoid danger.
However, whilst Abi is manoeuvring the machinery back and forth to distract the
tiger, Nick steps up and tries to exhibit a more masculine approach and
distracts the tiger his way to help Abi get away from danger. This presents
that men always end up saving and helping the woman when in a dangerous
situation. Abi is seen running with a shot gun and shooting extremely
accurately at the tiger from a distance. This opposes how woman are
stereotypically known to be fragile. This action is similarly shown earlier on
in the scene where Abi seems to have a lot of experience with more masculine
objects which reinforces how masculine Abi portrays herself. Role reversal of
who is more dominant is constantly switching back and forth between the two
characters in this scene which suggests that both characters are in competition
with each other.
The males in this clip are presented as more
feminine characters through their clothing. Particularly Connor as he is presented
wearing more pastel colours and distinctly a pink top. This is not a
stereotypical way for a male to be presented because pastel colours are more
associated as a female colour. Connor’s femininity is enhanced at the end of
the clip when he is the only one not holding a gun when the rest of the
characters are. Connor is positioned left and is set back from the rest of the
characters and he also picks up a shovel instead of holding a gun. This shows
that Connor is not a masculine character and that he does not match up to the
typical stereotype of how a male is presented. Lastly, we are presented with
another female character in the final scene. Instantly, she contrasts with the
other female characters shown through her clothing. She is wearing a black
velvet dress and black tights which contrast with her surroundings of being on
a farm. She presents herself as a very sophisticated character, heavily shown
through her makeup and clothing. Her red lipstick connotes passion and is also
seen as a very provocative character. Her dress is also low cut and the velvet
texture also emphasizes her sexual manner. This implies that she fits how
females are stereotypically presented; weak and vulnerable and her sexuality
enhanced. However this is not shown at the beginning of the scene where she
tries to exhibit a more dominant role trying to blackmail and accuse another
male. This quickly changed when yet another male took control of the situation
and pointed a gun at her face. This reflects how the clip has been flowing; a
woman would try to take control of a situation but would always be pushed back
down and taken over by a male figure. We see a close up of her face, showing
her shocked and scared expression.
In the extract, a lot of low and high angle shots
have been used to show reversing power and control between the two genders. A
wide angle shot is used to when Abi is in the digger, manoeuvring the
machinery. This establishes the location where Abi seems to look incredibly
comfortable with. When Nick jumps down into the trench to protect himself from
the tiger, low angle shots were used to make Nick look vulnerable and weak.
This goes against the stereotype of males as they are not normally viewed in
such vulnerable positions. High angle shots were used to make the tiger seem
intimidating and controlling of the situation. When Abi is distracting the
tiger with the machinery, fast pace panning is used to enhance the excitement
and also tension in the scene. The pan shots are also very fast which can give
the audience a sense of confusion as they can’t clearly see what is going on
which makes the seen incredibly tense. There are a few canted angles of the
tiger which reinforces its power it has over the two characters. A tilt shot is
used when Nick is on the zip wire; this gives an audience a view of distortion
as it makes Nick look in an abnormal position. It also presents to the audience
that there is danger beneath Nick which makes the audience feel tense. There
are quick cutting shots of Abi running with the gun flipping between when Nick
is face on with the tiger which build up the tension and makes the audience
think the worst. Abi comes to the rescue in this seen which contrasts with the
stereotype for a woman because normally it is the man who always saves a woman
in dangerous situations. Abi constantly challenges the male stereotype
throughout the clip. In the last scene, when the woman is thrown onto the
ground a high angle shot is used to presents her vulnerability and weakness to
the audience. The high angle represents her emotion in this scene; a slow
emotion close up show is used to emphasize her fear towards the situation. Her
attempted dominance in this scene did not last long as a male always ends up
taking control of the situation, they command taking charge. Although Connor is
presented in a feminine way through mise en scene, he is always shot at eye
level and never shot with high angles which would be more suited to his
character. This connotes that he is of the same importance of the rest of the
male and females in this clip. Majority of the males in this clip are given
angles that reinforce their position of power such as canted angles. This
establishes a hierarchy of power and dominance at the end of this clip.
Diegetic and non-diegetic sound used in this extract
makes an audience build up emotion towards certain characters. At the beginning
of the clip, the non-diegetic sound of the violins is ominous and creates a
tense atmosphere. It also gives the audience an impression that something
danger is coming. The violin music gets quieter as we approach the seen with
Abi in the digger. The diegetic sound of the digger almost makes an audience
feel more calm compared to the non-diegetic sound of the violins at the
beginning. The diegetic sound makes an audience feel more involved in this
scene and with what Abi is doing. A non-diegetic sound of beating drums is used
in the background when Nick discovers an arm soiled into the mud, this portrays
to an audience that this is of importance and that Nick has come to a
realisation. There is a brief moment of non-diegetic of the tiger as we cannot
see the animal as the moment in time, this suddenly makes the scene very tense
and makes the audience think that danger is ahead. The snapping and crunching
of twigs emphasizes the danger lurking around and it shows that the animal is
near and approaching. At one point, the diegetic sound of the machine arises
when the tiger appears. The roaring and growling of the tiger along with the
machine and non-diegetic music create an increasingly amount of tension. The
tension increases when Nick starts to run away to distract the tiger as the
music becomes louder and louder throughout this scene. The music is almost
building to a crescendo as it is such an exciting and fast paced piece of
music. The sound bridge between the previous scenes of all the characters
together to when we meet Jenny in the barn with a male character the music
becomes softer and less tense. This suggests that Jenny does not realise the
danger that she is in due to her feeling confident and dominant, she feels that
she has control of the situation. The softer music also highlights that Jenny
is unaware of oncoming danger which represents the idea that women are a little
too reckless and do not think before they approach situations. The diegetic
sound of the farmer shooting his gun in the air multiple times presents that he
wants to enforce power and masculinity in throughout this scene.
When Nick climbs the ladder to the zip wire, a jump
cut to him taking his belt off and tying the belt to the zip wire. This makes
the scene feel tenser and it also gives the audience a sense of urgency. When
Abi shoots the tiger, a slow motion edit is used. This is an effective edit as
it is just after the fast pace cutting of Nick on the zip wire as it shows that
all the excitement and action has come to a stop.
