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.