Monday 5 January 2015

Representation of Ethnicity - Spooks



Ethnicity is represented in TV drama through a variety of different stereotypes for both black and white roles. These are presented to the audience via camera shots/angles as well as editing, sound and mise-en-scene. These stereotypes link in to the 1987 theory of ethnicity by Alvarado. 

The clip starts with a close up of a white male on a mobile phone, the lighting behind this male is bright and shining through, behind him, this could be representative of his success and position in society. Jump cuts are also used throughout this part of the clip to show how the characters are reacting to each other, for example when something is said by the woman on the phone, the clip cuts to the back m,ale in the other place. 

The second part of the clip opens with an out of focus close up type shot, this has got darkened lighting, both of these aspects (the out of focus clip and the dark lighting) could be a representation of the stereotype that black people are largely 'out of focus' in society and the darker lighting could represent 'dark' activities, referring to the context of the scene.
The sound in this clip (non-diegetic) is silent. This could be representative of the fact that he is disallowed from contributing to the situation. Also an interesting effect is how the lighting situation contrasts between the two races.
The entire scene is also filmed with a camera using the 'hand held' effect, this could be used in order to achieve a certain degree of tension in the situation. This passes on to the audience, which allows them to pick up on the fact that there is conflict between the black and white characters. This technique is therefore used to accentuate another effect or story point in the clip.

Also worth noting is that when the woman is shown to have a gun pointing at her, the male holding said gun is higher than her, which could indicate that he has more power in this situation than her. I can't correctly see wether she is black or white but if she is black it is hugely representative of the racial stereotype that white people are generally in favourable positions, if however, she is white it could be representative of same-race discrimination. 

There is a close up on the gun which could have been used to emphasise the fact that the white character in the situation has most of if not all of the power, it also tells the audience he is the person who will be ultimately responsible for the deaths of these characters. However, when the gun is shaking and he is unable to hold it in a still position, the viewers get an insight into the fact that his consciousness may be kicking in. This may represent that he has got in to a situation that he would rather not be in. But can't exit it. This could indicate  that white people can sometimes feel as though they have excessive power and thus, they feel immense pressure to carry things out that society perceives that they should be able to do.
After and during Danny's death the shots are blurry, this could be representative that to these men, it means nothing and just blurs in with all the other times, this representation contrasts the earlier idea of pressure upon them [white people].
In the same scene there is a kind of slow motion effect, which is used primarily to accent the moment and make it more hitting to the audience. 



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I am a Yr12 Media Studies Student at Lutterworth College, I will be posting my work throughout the year.

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