MightyMedia; Mr Wroe Homework.

SOCIAL CLASS- 

This is the video clip that I got off youtube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsFgUnqkPxA

 

In this extract of Cranford, it opens with a young boy. We can immediately see that this boy is of lower class. This is because of his dress code, he is wearing black cut off ragged trousers with holes in, a cap and a brown shirt. Everything about his appearance is messy, especially the fact that he has mud all over his legs and he has no shoes on. The ‘mise on scene’ of this scene is the fact that we see all this, we see his Victorian style clothes but there are many more factors. For example from the fact he is walking in a woods tells us that his family don’t have to money to live in the city, they must live in a rural place.

Also in this extract of Cranford close up’s are used quite frequently. For example there is a close up of the young boy when he sees his father and if given a gift. These close ups are used to show the emotions on the characters faces, for example the boys face when he sees ‘dadda’ is delighted, he has a massive grin on his face. This is telling the audience that the boy is pleased to see his father without him having to say it himself.

 

Long shots have been used in this extract, for example at the beginning of the clip there is a young boy walking through the woods carrying something. This shot is used so that the audience can see the setting and realize that it’s only this boy in the woods and he isn’t being chased. Medium shots are also used, for example when the Dad is talking to the boy about the new baby and the son’s new boots. This medium shot is used so that the audience can see the character close enough to establish what type of mood the father is in. For example he starts of normal and contempt but when the boy talks about learning he says “don’t you do dallying around with that! Learning isn’t for everyone, we do alright without! Go and do the rabbit traps!” so the close up shows his mood changing without the need of hearing his lines. Over the shoulder shots are used, when the man of the posh house is speaking to the young boy, giving him jobs to do. We see the man over the left shoulder of the boy. This is used so that you can see that the boy is listening to what the man is saying.

 

Another shot used frequently in this scene is shot reverse shot, flicking between the two characters that are speaking, following the dialog. Shot reverse shot is a staple of editing in dialogue sequences. It utilizes the 180 degree rule, the eye line match, and rule of change among others. First things first, a definition of what shot/reverse shot is: the characters are shown facing in opposite directions; the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. Shot reverse shot is a feature of the "classical" Hollywood style of continuity editing, which deemphasizes transitions between shots such that the spectator perceives one continuous action that develops linearly, chronologically, and logically. It is an example of an eye line match.

 

Throughout this extract of Cranford, there is a dialogue between the characters. This dialogue helps the audience to understand what is going on in the scenes. The dialog in the extract where we met the man of the house is that is straight away obvious that the man is in charge and also by what he is saying and his tone of voice you can tell that the man is telling the boy off. This helps to emphasize the fact that the boy must have done something wrong to get told off. This changes when they enter the office, the boy starts to feel faint and the man’s tone lowers and gets softer, showing sympathy. The changing of different levels of score allows the audience to realize that something might happen, it creates more tension for the audience as they watch.

 

Sounds are used often in this extract, for example the loud noise of the opening and closing of the office door and also the slamming down of the cane/stick on the writing desk. Also soundtrack, at the beginning the music is very periodic, and also birds are chirping as the boy travels through the woods, this makes the audience feel how eerie the scene may be. Also the music is fast paced, matching the way the boy is walking.

 

Another moment in the extract is when the boy is say in the office feeling giddy, and he starts to lick the palms of his hands to gain salt. The man then goes behind the boy and gets him bread and water. We know this because the boy is sat on the right of the screen in focus and you can see the man’s hands pouring water and braking off bread. Even though this image is unfocused and remained unfocused, we are still able to see what the man is doing. This technique is called fixed focus.

 

In Cranford I have realised that there was a small grubby family at the beginning of the TV drama that we see. Their house (which was a very small shack) denotes their social class as a working class. The boy became similar to a servant in a house which looked like a mansion; the owners of the house we see are wealthy and come from an upper class.

When the boy receives a grubby pair of second hand boots for his 10^th birthday he is very happy and excited by them, which denoted his social class. From a long shot of the camera we saw another servant who was washing/hanging clothes up on the hangers. When the two working classes were talking the cat jumped up on the table and started drinking the butter milk which they had poured on to the lace to keep it white as possible.

When we see the women inside the carriage we see the sound changes into prestigious music which shows that they are of a high class. The camera angles are full body or medium shots to show the clothes that the women were wearing, expensive outfits, very Victorian. This lighting was very light, when we see the ‘rich community’ compared the damp dark shack of the village family.

The dialogue of Cranford is quite articulate in a very knowledgeable tone. A very long shot is used to show us their social class and their costumes- dressed very upper class. Their sense of costume was a long brown Jacket with smart hats to suggest they were upper class and the camera angles suggesting they were the important characters of the shot. (man&woman)