How is gender portrayed in the extract of Hustle through:
Camera work
Mise-en-scene
Sound
&
Editing?
In the extract of Hustle the theories of Mulvey (1975),
Mackillon (2002) and Gauntlett (2002) are both supported and distrupted through
the media language present in the clip. I will now explore this in more detail
with reference to how; camera work, mise-en-scene, sound and editing
contributes to constructions of gender representation.
Clothes shop scene
The opening shot is a low angle medium close up of middle
aged male wearing an expensive suit. The camera angle gives him masculine
status as it makes him powerful which could fit Gauntlet’s 2002 theory however,
the way he is standing is not a masculine pose which means his character also
fits Mackillon’s theory as he is looking more feminine. In the background there
is a younger female character shown coming up the stairs to the clothing shop,
the positioning seems to support traditional gender roles as she appears lower
down, and therefore less important, than the lead male character. The opening
scene is accompanied by non-diegetic music that changes when the women comes
into shot, it is quite feminine and it contributes to sexualising the female
character in a way that fits Mulvey’s 1975 theory. Furthermore, it contributes
to de-masculinising the male character to a point where he almost appears camp
which also fits with the dress shop setting and his job. The shots are linked
together with a sound bridge and continuity editing is used to not distract the
viewer.
The next
shot is an over the shoulder shot, high angle close up of the male character
and a female character. The female character appears to be of a lower
status to the shop worker and this is in supports Gauntlet’s 2002 theory of a
male being more powerful then a female, however it could also suggest the
female being weak. Also when the shot is focused on the clip of the women in
red, the non-diegetic has stopped as they are currently focused on a less
important character. When the camera does 1-2 shot, a type of editing, it still
shows the Mulvey (1975) character of a sexualised character in the back ground
even though the focus is on the women and the man in the fore ground.
