Sunday 16 March 2014

Shameless Mock Exam

This clip shows the representation of social class through different characters and whether they reinforce or challenge stereotypes. At the beginning of the clip, the father comes downstairs presumably drunken because of the beaten down and dirty costume that he is wearing. This reinforces the stereotype that the underclass suffer from drug and alcohol abuse. The camera is handheld and erratic to match his state of mind. The father holds up his shoes, which further adds to us questioning his state of mind. His clothes look worn and dirty, his hair looks greasy. These all come under costumes which creates the stereotype that this character is in underclass. The location is set in the families home, which shows a cramped living/dining room where the family converse. The beginning of the scene starts of with shot reverse shots that create conflict between the family which reinforces the stereotype of the underclass family being a broken family. The camera switches between characters and zooms in on a character to show more conflict between the father and the rest of the family. The father is seen from a low angle to make his seem more powerful, however is argued against, especially by his son, who gets up from their cramped dining table to confront them. The confrontation between the father and son is seen through over the shoulder views and it edited in shot reverse shots. This adds to the conflict that the father and son has and creates the stereotype of a broken family in the under class. The next shot is of the father's daughter, who is holding a baby, presumably hers, due the stereotypes of the underclass. She is feeding the baby milk from a bottle which reminds us that the father has a family to feed. This makes us feel sympathetic because the baby is the symbol for his families innocent in the situation. There is a close up of the fathers face which shows his facial slurring but it also show the intensity on his face. The next shots are of the father, and it shows him becoming angry and crazy. The editing shows the shots as fast and quick, which adds to the drama. The camera also gets more erratic. These shots reinforce the underclass as being dangerous because it makes us afraid of the character and the safety of his family. More shots show close-up's of the father and the shots zoom further to increase suspense and to show his shocked expression. The camera gets less erratic as the father's angry mood fades. The camera zooms in and out between the characters as they talk. The view makes it seem like the audience is there with the underclass family, which makes us sympathise more with them. 

The next shot is an establishing shot of the family's caravan. The camera pans quickly to the family standing outside, which shows the family as united as the composition shows that they are close together. The next shot is of a tortoise, viewed at eye-level rather than a high angle, at which the family would be looking from. This shows us the the tortoise is significant if it is being treated the same way a human would be shot. The camera then cuts back to the family and their conversation. The tortoise is seen again being crushed by the caravan's wheels. The editing then cuts back to the family so we don't actually see the gore of the tortoise death but a squishing sound is shown as non-diagetic sound. This adds to the effect of the death because we know that it's definitely happened, which makes us sympathise for the family. We sympathise more when the daughter goes to mourn over the tortoise pitifully. The rest of the family crowd over the tortoise and one asks "Do you think she was trying to find her way home?". As the tortoise was shown to be significant, I feel it could represent the underclass and how they are perceived in society. A man in a suit comes up to the family and says that he has found a buyer, the shot shows the juxtaposition between them and the man in the suit. The shot shows that man in the suit would presumably be in the middle class because of his costume, dialogue and profession is compared to the family who are quite poorly dressed, has poor dialogue and no professions in the underclass. The man tells the family that the price that the caravan sold for is £40, the father is shocked and questions the figure. This leads the rest of the family to laugh about the figure. Which shows how the underclass family doesn't care about possessions more than other higher classes in society. This challenges the stereotype of the underclass as society would think they would need any money they can get, even if that involves criminal activity, such as drug dealing, theft and human trafficking. However, the family laughs off the price-drop which leads to the next shot of the family seen from a birds-eye view. The view shows the man in the suit walk through the family, the family separates to let the man through. this challenges the stereotypes of classes in society because the underclass family is separating themselves from the higher classes rather than the other way round. This ends the clip which reinforces and challenges the stereotypes of the underclass family in comparison to society. Overall, the family is seen on a positive view in the end, however certain characters such as the father is seen negatively at times due to stereotypes of the underclass in society.

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