EV2 - How does your media product represent particular social

How does your media product represent particular social

groups?

By Myles Egan

Camera - Jay

• In the opening scene with Jay waking up on a sofa in a lounge, an master shot was not used to set the scene and instead I used a variety of smaller shots to directly hint at parts of the mise-en-scene of the room. For example the two opening shots display an alarm clock surrounded by alcohol, an ash tray and cigarettes, and a crumpled up pile of clothes.

• These types of camera sizes carried on throughout this scene and were used for displaying his class and status and costume in some shots. For example the shot of him kicking away the rubbish distinctly showed his socks with holes in them.

Camera - Leah

• Opening shots of Leah were always close-ups and just focused on the action she was doing rather than anything about her appearance; the use of close-ups and costume were used to hide Leah’s identity for the reason of introducing her only at the end and reacting in a way of disappointment, this was to show she doesn’t hold much importance in Jay’s life and it only shows her doing things which are irritating Jay.

• At the end, Leah’s appearance is then introduced with a look of disappointment and a sigh, as she looked at her phone, got off the bench and walked past the camera - the camera didn’t follow as this was also hinting that wherever she’s going isn’t important to Jay or the audience.

Camera – Hand-held

• Hand-held camera movement was used during Jay’s dialogue, Jay’s point of view and Leah’s point of view, this is because the effect it creates is a sense of intimacy with the audience and I felt that this would enhance the situation they were in, in that;

– Leah’s POV shows kids playing football and then as she walks on she throws her cigarette on the floor, looks up and two girls are staring at her from a swing set, I felt that using hand-held camera movement here made clear that it was a POV and that you could begin to see and feel the atmosphere from her eyes.

– Jay’s only dialogue of “Yeah… Alright! I’m coming… Stop nagging me!” was filmed with hand-held camera movement, this was used to enhance the intensity of the situation and highlight the ferocity in his speech and body language.

– Jay also had a POV shot of where he looked at the betting odds in the betting shop window and the reason I did this hand-held is because I wanted to use a slightly shaky effect to show his emotion of being addicted to it and needing to go in there to bet, almost displaying withdrawal symptoms.

Camera – Location

• Inside camera shots never really got any bigger than a medium shot, this was because I didn’t want to focus on the location as it wasn’t a permanent location and I wanted to make that clear, especially as Jay wanted to escape there and that atmosphere as quickly as possible. Therefore smaller shots were used more often to focus on the smaller details inside the room like the alcohol bottles, the cigarettes and the rubbish on the floor.

• Outside camera shots ranged from close-ups to extreme long shots, I used extreme long shots when introducing new situations with Jay like the first outside shot of him crossing the road and then the next extreme long shot was of him stopping outside the betting shop, introducing these areas became vital in order to show where he was and for the fact that he could naturally adapt in this place showed he was from a place similar to this one. Close-ups were often used outside for dialogue with Jay or the use of hiding Leah’s identity.

Sound - Dialouge

In my film I used little amount of speech and this was because I wanted to portray my character as quite ignorant and only speaks when he truly has to. His only line is “I’m coming, stop nagging me!” this was to show when he finally response to the phones calls that he feels he hasn’t done anything wrong and is therefore mad with the other character which also shows signs of ignorance.

Sound - Diegetic

At the start of my film a radio is playing loud music and plays a part in the waking up of Jay, the song was made in order to seem like a mainstream song which would naturally be on the radio which is why I used instruments in the song such as drums, bass and vocals etc.

Throughout the interior scenes at the start with Jay there is a muffled sound of arguing heard in the background coming from another room this was to show the type of atmosphere he is in and the reason for him wanting to escape so quickly without letting anything distract him – like the constant phone calls.

A natural and quite sound of cars and an urban atmospheric nature is used in almost everyone of my outside shots, this was to show the type of place he is in and due to his natural ability to conform with the surrounding it shows he is also from a place similar to this.

Sound – Non-Diegetic

In my intro I made an electro-based piece of music with a continuing loop of the same sort of instruments in the same rhythm, this was mostly looped at the start of the intro when he was inside; I did this to show that with the continuity of the beat this was to hint at the situation he is in is one which is very recurrent in his every day life. Towards the end, I decided to start changing certain parts by taking out certain bits of the instruments and replacing them with others which expressed more of the mood at that point in time. For example, I added in high pitched piano towards the end when both of the characters were making vital decisions to the storyline to enhance the mood in making it tenser.

Mise-en-scene - AgeAge’s of my main characters are pre-adolescences and the average age of them are 18 years old; the reason for using young people is because in films like Fish Tank and Adulthood, both contain these ages in a low economical situation and are often generalized for being quick-tempered, aggressive and highly influenced by others. Jay’s friends from the pub are all 25-40 years old, I felt this would work well for an 18 year old boy who was addicted to gambling and regularly smokes and gets drunk as this lifestyle also contains similar characteristics of those from Adulthood with the constant alcohol abuse and is a problem which you can see regularly recurring in today’s society. Also, I thought that Jay being a lot younger than the rest of his friends will obviously take a lot of influence from them and will tie in with the easily influenced by other characteristic. Therefore the ages I used represent the characteristics of my character from a generalized society. I showed my characters age through the use of their costume being very unprofessional and very casual and by the way that they constantly use technology to communicate, which is what the normal teenager does and by the way that they react to problems quick-temperedly and see missing a few texts/calls a big deal.

Mise-en-scene - Costume

Throughout the interior scene you can pick up hints of the contrasting mise-en-scene of Jay’s costume compared to the rooms interior and this is clear that they don’t match and can therefore be assumed that this isn't his house.

Before we see Jay in his primary costume, he originally wakes up in shorts, a basketball jersey and holey socks which is considered urban fashion and hints to the audience his class and status. Then he changes into jeans, a hoodie, a hat and trainers, this solidifies the idea of him being from an urban background.

Leah wears jeans, trainers, a thick fleece and a bandana, this is also classed as urban fashion and shows the audience her class and status, which creates a personal link between Jay and Leah on a class and status level.

Mise-en-scene – Settings and PropsThe mise-en-scene surrounding Jay shows that the rubbish surrounds him and where he slept compared to the other areas you see of the room which aren’t as littered and this shows direct characteristics of him rather than the location. Other props used are the constant use of alcohol cans and bottles and cigarettes; these were mostly used in the opening interior scene and then cigarettes were bought by Leah in another shot. The recurrent use of these props were to hint at their class and status and their addictive nature - also to show that they’re alcohol and drug abusers.

Mise-en-scene – Settings and Props

Jay has a wallet as a prop in the betting shop scene and opens this containing only a few coins and two scratch cards these were also more props to show that he wasn’t very wealthy and for the little money he had, he was willing to risk it for a bet. Also the scratch cards are another hint towards his gambling addiction and that he gambles a lot.

Mise-en-scene – Settings and PropsIn the opening scene, a radio clock is on the side and shows the time to be 13:43 this shows that its mid-day and that Jay is still asleep, he wakes up to the sound of this radio clock playing music showing that not only has he slept through till this late, but he’s also slept through the sound of the radio, this highlights the fact that this isn’t just a one of and that he does this so often he is used to it - resulting in slob-like behavior. Also with the radio still left on, it hints at the sort of activities he was doing the night before.

Mise-en-scene – Settings and Props

The first setting is dark with one source of light being the lamp, although you can see that its day-time by the lighting outside seeping through the blinds and by the direct hint at the time on the radio clock in the first shot. The dark lighting creates a feeling of unease and danger, which fits well with the emotion of Jay in this scene as he wants to leave that place quickly; with these two factors co-existing, the audience can tell that there is something strange about the place Jay has woken up and can assume that where he is he shouldn’t be and that he is unfamiliar with the place.

Jay’s outside scenes provide a directly urban approach with the excessive use of traffic and cars in the background, the gritty shops and broken uneven pavements.

Mise-en-scene – Settings and Props

The outside setting in Leah’s scenes show a bus stop, a corner shop and a park, these are all places you would expect to find in a low economical area and therefore the audience can begin to gather an idea of where these two characters are from.

Mise-en-scene – Lighting and Colour

Throughout my intro the lighting is very natural and uncontrolled, the only part I controlled the lighting in were the interior scenes as I wanted the room quite dark; therefore I turned all the lights off in the room, drew the curtains and only used a lamp as the main source of light which created an orange tinge which is a colour close to red and creates quite a negative dangerous atmosphere. Also, when filming I wanted my character to wake up to a ray of light through a gap in the curtains which would hurt his eyes and highlight the fact he was in an unwanted place and to ensure that the audience knew that it was day-time, I therefore had to wait until the sun shone strong enough against the window in order to reflect the window markings onto the curtains and over-exposing them to show how light it was outside and reflecting that it was mid-day.

Mise-en-scene – Facial Expression and Body Language

Jay was often directed to be quite straight faced and stern, not really bothered by anything; this can be seen throughout with his recurrent facial expression and body language. His not-bothered attitude is shown most specifically through his reaction and body language when he crosses the road and a car comes around the corner and beeps at him, he shows no signs of emotion and completely blanks the situation, he doesn’t apologies nor does he complain and carries on as if nothing happened. This is unusual behavior and becomes clear to the audience that Jay is quite ignorant in this scene as well as the constant ignoring Leah’s texts and calls, and they can start to understand certain characteristics of Jay.

Jay begins to show emotion when answering a call to Leah and shouts down the phone whilst expressing violent body language, this is the first time he really shows a different emotion and the audience can tell from this that whoever has been trying to get hold of him must be someone who has known him for a while, as he uses dialogue specific to a certain group of people, as the word ‘nagging’ is only used by some people in some areas and not everyone; also with the type of tone in his voice you can tell that he is somehow used to this and is a recurrent thing, he is sympathetic although angry too.

Mise-en-scene – Facial Expression and Body Language

Leah has one scene were the audience can see her facial expression and body language properly, this is her last scene on the bench; she is sat down with her arms crossed and stares blankly at nothing, she looks disappointedly at her phone for a few seconds before aggressively getting up whilst sighing and walking off. This shows the audience that once again she is waiting for Jay and by her disappointed body language she knows what's going to happen as she is used to this situation. She looks at her phone one last time before giving up to see if he has made an effort to contact her, she see’s the time on her phone clock and is unhesitant in getting up off of the bench to leave. By her sighing when getting up, they know that she knows what he’s really doing and why he’s late and she walks off in disappointment not willing to try anymore as she understands her place in Jay’s life. The audience understands that Leah is used to this behavior from Jay although is still hurt by the continuity of it.

Mise-en-scene – Positioning of Characters/ Objects within the frame

In the first scene of Jay’s when introducing him waking up, purposely there was a fragment of the curtains left slightly open this was to let a ray of light in which would reflect over Jays eyes and would cause him discomfort when waking up, this was to symbolize that he is in a place where he is unwanted.

The car which beeps at Jay as Jay ignorantly crosses the road was used to show that Jay doesn’t care about crossing the road, the car will wait for him and he doesn’t need to care about anyone else and only himself; the car was used to let the audience know about Jay’s characteristics in being ignorant, care free and selfish. It also shows that in what he does throughout his life he gambles constantly, although that time a more drastic example as his life was on the line.

The last scene contains a young girl with a elder adult (assuming they’re mother and daughter) I purposely planned for them to walk into the frame with a balloon as Jay started to walk into the betting shop, the reason for this was that the young girl holding the balloon was symbolic for Jay not being able to let go of his addiction or escape his addiction to gambling, this was placed just as he had made up his mind and walked towards the betting shop door.

Editing

My intro was cut quite quickly and wasn’t very languorous, shots often ranged from 3-8 seconds and changed quickly, it was fast-paced to set the mood of Jay when getting changed and the longest clip I used was 13 seconds long and shortest was 1.1 seconds long - with quick editing like this it gives an intensity to the intro.

Using short clips rather than languorous ones was a main aim as it allowed me to show the audience into more detail of what was happening as I could take them to different locations, I could highlight specific mise-en-scene I wanted them to see briefly enabling them to decode it and it would allow me to create a continuingly flowing intro that could equally share micro and macro elements.

I also used parallel editing throughout, this is effective for my product as it introduces them both to the audience effectively and creates a situation were you can see both of their points of views; it also allowed me skip time without causing confusion for the audience.