Representation of Class and Status - Downton Abbey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IscFlwFNB6I

In the Downton Abbey clip, class and status is portrayed through many features that the audience watch.

The audience are firstly introduced to a young boy riding a bike through extremely large acres of open space. The camera follows his movement; this is called a dolly shot. As the camera stops, an enormous mansion comes into view which suggests that those inside are extremely wealthy. Dramatic music was inserted throughout this scene, which made the audience feel suspense and curiosity as to where the boy was heading. This music slowly grew calmer as a shot of a young girl in her bedroom wiping her eyes was shown.

This young girl hears a bell from outside which sounds similar to a bell on a bike. She gets up to have a look out of her window and looks down to see the young boy riding past her window.

The audience can then see outside from her point of view, where the young boy continues his bike ride. This use of camera work demonstrates the difference in their class, as the girl is looking down at the boy which suggests that she is from a higher class than him. The camera the moves with the girl as she presses something that rings bells in the dining room below. 

During this, the soothing music switches into a more powerful rhythm which exhales the impression of a tense atmosphere amongst the characters now on screen. The girl ringing the bells made it almost look like she was calling the slaves, portraying her dominance through being a member of the upper class.

The main man is seated at the top of the table where a group of people are sat down for breakfast. His position represents his high status, therefore during this scene he holds the most status than anyone else in the room. 

As soon as the bells rung, a variety of different camera shots are then used during the scene of tidying up which illustrates the mayhem occuring in the dining room. A maid is the first to arise from the table and stop eating as she has duties that she needs to attend. The maids are dressed in dresses and aprons with their hair tied back underneath maid hats. The man at the top of the table has two women on either side of him who are dressed in black; different clothing to the other females. The man is clothed in a black suit with a tie and vest beneath his blazer along with slick styled hair. The difference in costume emphasises the difference in class.These three characters also remain calm and seated whilst they continue to eat their breakfast. The fact that they continue to enjoy their food demonstrates that they come from a higher class, as they're relaxing whilst others are rushing around.

A shot of outside the back is then shown. It looks untidy and cluttered. A woman is scrubbing away at dishes and the boy on the bike appears a third time, delivering papers to those from inside the mansion. This area seems to be filled with mainly the lower class characters who have the unsatisfying jobs.

A man from inside comes out to collect the newspaper, his first words being "you're late" which are directed towards the paper boy. This type of greeting indicates that the older man holds no respect for the boy, as any sign of lateness would clearly bother him even if the boy had a reasonable explanation. This is because the upper class characters look down upon the lower class, and this scene expresses that effectively.

Newspapers here are being ironed, "The Times" being asked by the main man to be done first as this is what's read at breakfast. The type of newspaper that's read is a contributer to the upper class reputation that's being portrayed throughout this clip; The Times is a newspaper stereotypically designed for the more sophisticated.

The scene of the maids is then shown back on screen where they continure tidying up the dining room, rushing around to complete daily tasks. Dialogue is also different as the men seem to talk with a more clearer and posh tone whereas the maids on screen talk with your every day accent. The younger maid (dressed in baby pink) then asks why the newspapers are ironed, and this is because they "wouldn't want the lordships hands to be as black as yours" a woman from the upper class replies. This comment pinpoints the fact that the maid works extremely hard everyday to produce black hands, but the men from the upperclass cannot even dare to become filthy just through holding a newspaper. The upper class characters receive the finer things in life, such as ironed newspapers.

As one of the maid goes "nothing in life is sure" emotional music begins to play as a shot of the a man then appears, him walking slowly down a set of stairs with a dog by his side. The dog walks at the same pace alongside him which illustrates that he is trained and behaves, and also relies on his master (the man). The stairs he walks down are covered in red carpet, which is usually associated with royalty. Therefore the decor suggests their upper class lifestyle also. He's greeted with "good morning m'lord" as he walks into a room where the main man is present. They discuss with eachother a "tragedy". The 180 degree rule is kept consistent throughout their conversation, both discussing the sunken Titanic ship through posh, clear and sophisticated dialogue. 

The man sits down and looks through the paper that was delivered, educating him on information covering the Titanic's sinking. One of his daughters greet him with "morning papa" which is polite and also portrays their upper class status. The three girls have their hair either tied back or styled into an ellegant updo, along with being clothed in pretty dresses while two of them decide to make the tea. Then "papa" is given a telegram, where he reads something awful that causes the music to be introduced with a dramatic entrance of loud beats.

The three women look at him expectantly. This portrays the man's higher status in ratio to the women's. The atmosphere is now also tense for the audience, leaving the question "what has he read?" running through their minds. He goes to find "m'ladyship", knocks on her door asking "may I come in?" but enters anyway. These posh and polite greetings are simple contributions to the appearance of their upper class, and these were consistent throughout the whole video. 

In the room where "m'ladyship" is laying in bed, a servant provides her with food and tea on a tray. Rather than her going downstairs in search for her own food and beverages, she has a servant who collects her goods for her. This could be seen as lazy to most audiences, but mainly it just highlights the fact that "m'ladyship" has the most authority and is therefore waited on due to her upper class lifestyle. This also demonstrates the difference in class as one's being given food whilst the other is serving it; two completely opposite roles in this video.

Representation of Age

Waterloo Road

At the very beginning of this video a close up shot of two feet dressed in an old fashioned style of shoe walk past a crowd of chair legs. Then the audience are welcomed to two young boys who are supposedly from a secondary school, as the setting is what makes this theory evident. The reason that the audience would gather this impression is because they are both wearing the same uniform in a scruffy manner, situated in a room which looks like an assembly hall. They're attempting to hide a broken video camera which portrays them to be the typical teenage boy; mischevious and badly behaved, but then the camera flips back to the moving feet. These feet seem to belong to Grantly (the older male character) who comes onto screen and talks to the boys as though they're under his rules, suggesting that he's one of their teachers. Age is defined here already through the characters appearances. The two boys have younger looking facial features while Granty has older ones. He's also dressed in a different suit. Grantly's body language portrays his power over the two boys, with his chin slightly raised after asking "And where were you two when the rest of us were suffering through the screening?". One of the boys replies with "Well I was sick sir". "Sir" has been used in this sentence. This instantly implies that Grantly is a teacher. It also seems like a scene where two boys are about to get told off. Therefore, it's visible that the two boys are a lot younger than Grantly as he is clearly the character with the most control as he's their teacher, which suggests more maturity with older age.

Grantly discovers the damaged video camera and repeatedly tuts before going "oh dear oh dear" whilst holding it in a careless fashion like I have demonstrated below. He clearly shows no sympathy for the boys as he's finding enjoyment out of being able to punish them. As Grantly lifted this video camera higher, the camera moved with it so that the audience could always see the culprit behind the boys misfortune. 

Mss Chaudry enters dressed in formal clothing with a dissappointed expression painted on her face. Grantly referred to her as being a "miss" and is therefore another teacher who is of an older age than the young boys. She says sharply "do you have any idea how much this thing costs?" and Grantly discretely laughs. Their different actions define their maturity. Grantly is clearly physically older, however is a lot less mature than Miss Chaudry. However his knowledge is evident when he asks if she'd taken out insurance for the cameras. Obviously this teacher being a younger female meant that she probably doesn't know as much as Grantly does, and therefore did not take out an insurance.

The audience are then welcomed to these two characters below; another teacher and student relationship. He convinces Kyle (the boy) to finish an essay and goes "no buts". His determination at helping Kyle aim high and complete his work demonstrates how the man has already been through school and knows how important completing work can be for a successful future. His older age comes with a lot of wisdom and positive judgement. 

During their conversation, the 180 degree rule was fuflfilled successfully.

This screenshot beenath portrays an immature boy with a "silly little school crush" on a fellow female class student. Her disgusted look on her face magnify's how she dissapproves of this boy turning around from his desk and looking at her. As they're in the same class, they're both either the same age or around the same age but this does not define their maturity levels. However it is evident that they are of the same age 

This establishing shot beneath of a class room filled with students and a teacher signify's their age range. As these students are all in the same class, it is evident how they are the same age. The man at the front, behind his own desk with a smartboard behind him, dressed in a suit, conveys his older reputation and his job as being a teacher. He's also setting his class a task, implying his teaching role.

Lauren runs into Mr Clarkson's class and relies on him to help a situation that she's ecountered. This separates their age as she's ran to an older person for help. Usually when there's trouble at school, a student asks a teacher for guidance rather than a student because a teacher has more control and capability of dealing with a situation more professionally as they are older and therefore more experienced.

Their heads are facing the right direction during their conversation, with Lauren on the left and Mr Clarkson on the right. When Lauren reveals that there's been an indicent with two school pupils, background music starts playing. It's a quick beat that repeats until this scene below is evident on screen, which is when the music begins to play behind the raised voice of Amy who's verbally attacking and intimidating another student. This music emphasises the situation occuring on screen. The boy seems a lot more vulnerable and weaker compared to Amy. This screenshot of her with her hands on her hips portrays confidence and boldness. This could be interpreted as her being older than the boy because she isn't afraid to stand up for herself.

Another way in which age is defined is through the scene that develops from 4:00. Chalky (the male) dresses up in "gangsta" clothing and the girl who's awaiting his new look becomes overly excited by it, portraying how she is perhaps a "big kid".

Two girls then begin to laugh and then the audience can see what Chalky really looks like in this type of clothing; ridiculous. In this shot the audience are able to see the disapproved look on Janeece's face towards the girls laughter, Chalky's full body and the side of one of the laughing girls faces. These variety of clips flow perfectly together.

The twins make jokes towards Chalky's appearance. Their amusement by this demonstrates how they're young and find many things funny, especially if it's to do with one of their teachers. Janeece comments "Yea well what do kids know about fashion." The word "kids" emphasises how Janeece is older than those twins as otherwise she'd be offending herself with that statement. 

Chalky remains in his ridiculous gansta clothing and follows Miss Chaudry down the school corridor which is accompanied by fellow students. As soon as she notices what it is that he's wearing, she actually gives him an honest opinion; which is the type of reaction that Janeece should have had when seeing him.

It's evident that Miss Chaudry is extremely mature and doesn't share much laughter with anyone as she's a woman with a strong opinion, as she states with ease to Chalky, "You look, ridiculous." The age difference between her and Janeece is ilustrated here. Younger characters find a lot more things amusing than older characters do, hence Janeeces face being as excited as a puppy's when witnessing Chalky's new fashion, and Miss Chaudry's being one resembling a wet fish. 

The character who before previously spoke to Kyle gives Chalky some adive to "bin that immediately". The differences between youth and the older generation is crazy. Age is definitely defined in this five minute video.

Analysis of sound

Dialogue can be used during conversation; old people may talk differently compered to young people.

Speech patterns.

Volume - level, low or high pitched.

Background music - helps set the mood for the movie, the era and the regional identity. Emphasises the feel of the scene.

Jingle Bells would indicated Christmas. 

Diegetic is what the actors can hear on the set.

Non-diegetic is what the actors can't hear on the set. 

Synchronous is where the sound source is on screen.

Asynchronous is where the sound source is not on screen. (Ambulance outside when film is being filmed from inside)

Sound effects can be enhanced and this gives the expression of foley sound (everyday sound) - footsteps for example. 

Analysis on mis en scene

Setting

Gives information on genre, timescale, if it's in past, present or future, rural/urban, characters being rich or poor.

Props (short for properties)

- Going to give the audience some clues about some things. 

Characters might be holding a knife/gun, so the audience are aware that they're about to commit a crime.

If they're holding an empty drink bottle it portrays that they may be an alcoholic or love their alcohol.

If they're holding a bag with golf clubs it means they like to golf and could also mean that they are from the middle class. 

They might have a car and it may be a black BMW which means that they're wealthy. 

Props give an indication of wealth, interests and occupation. 

Lighting

High key lighting is very soft, a sort of shadowless lighting, quite a feminine type of lighting; often used in conduction with light skinned people, light hair and light clothing. It's soft and romantic. 

Dark lighting is a bit aggressive and macho. It's quite unsettling and mysterious.

Costume

It can reveal era and wealth. Modern/metalic/silvery clothing against old clothing suggesting different time periods. 

Overalls and dungarees would suggest a coal miner.

A black dress and white apron would suggest a waitress.

If a man's wearing tight black leather trousers and his shirt open to his waist, it can reveal his sexuality as perhaps gay. 

Analysis of Camera Work

List of shots and what they show and how it helps me with my analysis:

Establishing shot - The setting/scene.
Often the first shot you see in a TV programme.

Helicopter shot - Portrays a high production value in the film.

Master shot -  Reveals where the action is occurring.

Long shot - A person from head to feet, demonstrating their body language, appearance, and the location they're in. 

Medium shot - From the waist up.
Often used when there's more than one person in a shot. 

Close up - A shot of their face, indicating their emotion and reaction to something that's just happened.

Extreme close up - Would focus on them doing something; pouring a drink or having a drink when it's got poison in, pulling the trigger of a gun when they're about to shoot somebody. 
It brings the audiences attention to focus on what the producers of the film/programme wanted to do. 

Camera movement (any movement of the camera)

1) Pan/Panning - A panorama clip. 
A way to show information regarding location.

2) Tilt - A pan shot in a vertical formation, usually used to scan the body of an attractive female; more common than scanning the body of a man. 

3) Dolly shot - Where the camera tripod is put on wheels and then moved smoothly along. It shows you something outside of the frame.

4) Steady cam - When it's obvious that the camera is moving but not in a controlled "dolly way" - where the camera is put on something steady and balanced in the middle.

Camera angles

1) High - Going to look down on something/someone and make the character in shot more vulnerable and weaker. 

2) Low - Going to look up to something/someone and make them seem more powerful and stronger. 

3) Cantered angle - where the camera is at an angle itself; not straight, on a diagonal.