Wednesday 17 November 2010

Looking at camera, sound, editing and mis-en-scene, consider how CLASS is represented in the clip


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After watching the above clip, it can be said that class is represented in many ways through camera angles, editing, sound and mis en scene. At the beginning of the clip, the music featured is very sombre which makes the audience sympathetic towards the boy, as due to him dirty and shabby clothing, it is obvious he is quite poor. His father has a Northern accent juxtaposed to the posh accent of the wealthy characters featured later in the clip. Their accent is a dominating tone of address which established the control they have. In addition, the boy claims that he can read the name on the newspaper given to him, his father states "learning is not for everyone, we do alright without it" showing that he is uneducated himself, and thinks that it is only for people of the upper class. There are point of view shots when the young boy enters the wealthy man's manor home, allowing the audience to see form his point of view as someone of a lower class. When the young boy is found in the wealthy man's house, the camera looks down on the young boy asleep on the floor (implying he had nowhere else to stay), establishing that he is of a lower class and also allows the audience to sympathise for the boy. This is followed by a shot reverse shot between the boy and the man, defining the relationship between the upper class and poor people. The man hires the young boy to work for him, however even though the man is rich, he offers the boy a six pence, when he really wants a shilling, implying that wealthy people are not generous with their money and also puts the man in a position of power. When the man is taking the boy to his office, their is a visible contrast in their clothing, for example his boots look a lot more expensive than the 'new' boots the poor boy got for his birthday. When we see people of the upper class working, the music changes to a happy, folk song, which reflects their wealth. The wealthy families in the clip get driven by horse drawn carriages, which contrasts the young boy having to walk anywhere he went earlier in the clip.

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