Essay

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.