Wednesday 20 November 2013

Spooks Exam Question



Discuss the ways in which representation of class and status are constructed through the 4 micro-elements:
-Camerawork
-Editing
-Sound
-Mise-en-scene




Sampson comes across as being evil which is shown to the audience through the camerawork and use of a low angle with the lighting right above him making his eyes look really dark to emphasise his evil image. He claims to be defending the British people by getting rid of other ethnicities. There is a binary opposition (juxtaposition) between Sampson and Spooks as they are presented as being the good people who are there to protect the British people. There is a soundtrack playing at the start which creates the sense of Sampson's evil plans in the opening of the programme. 


   
The mise-en-scene in the opening sequence shows Sampson's confidence which is portrayed through the use of a mirror in order to watch him talking himself into believing what he is doing is the right thing. He gives this horrible stare into the mirror which automatically conveys his anger. His accent is not that of a typical East Londoner, however it is more of a North London accent as he speaks in a sophisticated manner. He is wearing a suit to show his class as being high and he clearly has authority over the audience when he speaks as they shake his hand as he walks in and they cheer him on because they agree with what he is saying. 



Although Harry is on the opposing side, there are many similarities in the way they are represented here. For example, he is also wearing a suit to represent his authority and his high class job and his accent is also a North London one which conveys a well spoken man who must be well educated too. There is also the way in which he spoke to the two different men on the phone, giving them precise orders which he expects them to follow. Harry is also shown as being of the upper class because of the mise-en-scene which shows the car that he travels in which is being driven by a chauffeur. 


The editing of these scenes use cross-cutting and parallel editing in between the speech of Sampson and the estate where everything Sampson is claiming to be is contradictory to that of what is being shown on the estate. The man who introduces Sampson exclaims that they are being called 'a bunch of extremists' in order to refuse that allegation however, it then cuts to the estate which supports the claim made by the people. When they are running around on the estate there is a handheld camera being used which creates a sense of mayhem whereas when Sampson is giving his speech there is a tripod and steady camera soh

On the estate we can see that there is a lot of chaos being caused and threats of danger to the people living there of different ethnic backgrounds. A white woman marks a cross on the door to make the other gang members aware which flat they need to target because a black woman lives there. Standing around at the same time is a crowd of young teenagers wearing tracksuits, don't seem to be startled by the damage being done to this ladies home. This would suggest that they are used to seeing this sort of thing happen so they aren't bothered by it. Surprisingly, this group of kids consisted of different ethnicities which makes us wonder why they haven't been targeted yet. There is a diegetic sound of the people smashing up the woman's personal belongings from the flat. 

In the spooks institution there are mixed cultures however they are still a minority. There is certainly order in the way they live and there is no interruptions or bad behaviour. There is a hierarchy in this institution which is shown by the eyeline match between Harry and the others as well as Harry standing as opposed to his team sitting down. There is also the fact that Harry is only ever shown in the shot by himself and then as the others speak they will be shown alone to be looking up at Harry. They use high and low angles for this. 

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