Representation of Gender In 'Rome'

I have watched a clip from a Periodic TV Drama called 'Rome'. In this clip i can see how 'Gender' is represented through the use of Camerawork. The clip is shown below:

At the beginning of the clip, there is a scene of a man and a woman having a conversation. The first shot of the male character is a long shot with a low angle, this connotes that the man has a powerful presence in the scene. Whereas, the shot then changes to a high angle midshot of the female character which would represent her to be playing a more vulnerable role. As this is a period Tv Drama the stereotype that men are more powerful than women is seen as an archetype of the time period, but in modern times this is a representation of a stereotype which can be seen as sexist. During the conversation between the two characters a close up of the females face is used to emphasis her emotion in her facial expression. This can also lead to the stereotype many males have of believing that females are very emotional human beings in comparison to males, which isn't necessarily a negative representation but is seen as a inaccurate one. As the conversation becomes more heated the male character moves closer to the female which is shown by a series of close ups between characters which are played at a quick pace which could represent a males inability to control their emotions in this case: anger. The camera shots that follow are close ups/over shoulder shots to show the conversation between the characters while emphasising the emotion between the two, as they get closer the camera shots hold a lot more tension and the characters eventually kiss. After the male character leaves and another female enters, they are again conveyed with low angled shots.

The next scene in the clip is of two male characters having a conversation around a fire. This is mainly represent with two shots/close ups/ midshots with no angle. During this the camera shots focus is usually selective, which generally means it will focus on the main subject of the frame. During this scene the focus is always on the character speaking which means that both males have equal power in the shot.

The following scene is of a female character and a male character exchanging dialogue. This is mainly represented through the use of over shoulder shots. In this scene there is a close of the male character saying "you know what i want" to the female character which he is implying that he wants sex, which is representative of a male character of having shallow characteristics therefore having a negative representation of the stereotype that males only want sex, which is contradicting the love of the man to the mother of his child in the first scene. This is followed by the female character slapping him to show that she is more than just a mere sex object and she is not happy about the way he just spoke to her, this is represented through the close up of her face and the unimpressed facial expression she had. The conversation then continues to her saying he will be 'properly rewarded' if the job is done to her satisfaction. The scene ends on the male character touching the females breasts via a two shot, which is representative that females are only there for sex, which is a inaccurate and negative stereotype of females.

This clip is full of negative and inaccurate stereotypes which are demeaning of the genders. Therefore this clip is not a fair representation of society as a whole, but as it is a period Tv Drama it could be seen as partially accurate in the time period that it is based in.

Representation of Ethnicity on 'Freak'

I have watched the first 3 episodes of 'Freak', which is an online TV drama. I have analysed the representation of ethnicity in these episodes. Throughout the episode there is a majority of characters in the TVdrama which are white, and online one black/mixed race girl. This absence of a variety of ethnicities in this show is not an archetype representation of London, as London has a variety of races in society, which is clearly visible to people in real life. The 'Freak' the lack of a variety of ethnicities for the characters shows that there is an inaccurate representation of society in the area.

Also the fact that the main character is mistreated and you could even say bullied by some of the other characters, and in relation to the fact that she is a different race to the rest of them could represent some of the white characters of being racist towards black people. This is a negative and inaccurate representation of caucasian ethnicities.

The white characters are stereotypically represented as going out a lot and partying. This is represented by their presence at the party in episode 1, and how they are out at the cinema the next day, and also in the park during the same day or the one after. This re-enforces the stereotype that white people are always out, especially teenagers.

The stereotype of a black girl usually being out a lot and being a 'typical' teenager being interested in sex, drugs and alcohol is broken by the fact that she is actually represented as a female gamer, which isn't obsessed with her own appearance. Also black girls are stereotyped to have a very strong and rude attitude towards people which has also been contradicted by the fact that the main character take trouble from the other characters and walks away sensibly, ignoring the comments unlike a stereotyped female black character which would have caused an argument etc. This small stereotypes have been disapproved of by this TV drama by making her a very unique and different character, which makes allows her to breakdown any negative and untrue stereotypes about black women/girls.

The absence of asian characters in this TV drama could mean that this program is mainly targeted at a white audience and some black, but not at asians as it does not appeal to their ethnicity in any way.

To conclude, i would say that the white characters in this TV drama are represented negatively and inaccurately as they could be seen as bullies due to racism. The black character is represented to be very different from common stereotypes, which abolishes the possibility of the stereotypes of black ethnicities to be true.

Analysis of Gender in 'Skins'

This clip of Skins represents Gender very well through the use of editing.

The clip begins with a shot of a character, presumably male by the denotation of trainers and a skateboard which would be stereotypically related to be male. The clip initially begins as a black screen with the sound playing from what is happening, which creates a sense of suspense for the audience as it makes them eager to know what's happening. The fast paced shot of the character on the skateboard is a close-up of the feet from the side, to also create more suspense towards seeing the face of the character, and then a motivated cut takes it to a low angle which tilts upwards to focus on the skateboarder once again, which connotes the character is in a powerful position, which could represent the person to be a brave, reckless and daring character. These personality traits are usually related to be male ones from a stereotypical point of view, which is a way in which gender is represented in this clip. When the skateboarder comes to a stop we can see some minor special effects used, at the back end of the skateboard there are slight sparks coming out to represent the speed and which he was going at, this could have also been used to increase verisimilitude of the skateboarding. The close-ups of this male character skateboarding of his feet also connotes that he is very good at it, and is showing off when doing it, this show-off characteristic can also be related towards a 'typical' male character.

The next part of the clip focuses on the skater, going down the rest of the road using very fast paced editing which seems as if it based on continuity editing, therefore trying to keep the fluidity of the shots going. We can tell this as it changes from different angles of the skater, from behind to suddenly in front of him till he collides with a policeman's bike and then round to the back once again. This fast paced editing is usually used for fast paced scenes, to keep the action going.

The next scene of the clip is when the skateboarder and his two friends are sitting at the table having a conversation. During this scene the 180 Degree rule is followed and at all times the camera shots are filmed from one side of the 180 Degree line. As the conversation ends when the car crashes, the 180 degree rule is then broken and the camera goes behind the characters to show their point of view of the focus point which is the car and the driver of it. This shot is a Reaction shot as it faces the car which is the bit which is emphasised in the shot. As this part of the scene continues and the middle-aged man is talking to the elderly woman, the 180 degree rule is formed again to bring some orientation to the scene after the car crash.

To conclude, this clip has a clear representation of the male gender throughout with editing. Different types of editing are used to do this, for example the special effects and the matched cuts throughout the clip. The long take at the beginning of the clip created a strong sense of suspense to be followed by the fast paced editing throughout the middle of the clip and then again the long takes near the end lead to a sense of speed during the male characters part of the clips, representing them to be fast paced.