Discuss the ways the extract constructs representations of regional identity.

Discuss the ways the extract constructs representations of regional identity.
Consider:

• Camera work/angles/movement
• Sound
• Editing
• Mise-en-scene

The scene opens with an establishing shot, showing two working class men and Doc Martin in the same room. The camera angle shows Doc Martin at the centre of the shot and shows him from a low angle standing above the two sitting labourers. This camera angle represents his superiority over the others, which indicates perhaps the differences in where they originate from- someone from a more formal, wealthy background could be shown as more superior which is the case here. Another indication of their differences in regional identity is their clothing, DM wears a suit whereas the two men wear overalls and appear rather scruffy and dirty. This indicates their from different regions in the UK as in rural areas the stereotype is are farmers or manual jobs which require a lot of outdoor work or with things such as paint which can make a mess whereas more urban areas the stereotype is office jobs in a comfortable working environment sheltered from the outside world. The viewer is provided with an action code, we can see the sink which emphasises what the workers are doing. The younger of the two- assumed to be the son of the other, appears to go against the stereotype (counter type) and could be shown as being ‘trapped’ in the ways of his family or home town, this is shown by his dialogue throughout the first scene. The music at the end of the scene helps to establish a sense of the pace of the accompanying scene. It is used to represent the dominance of DM over the dog- this accompanied with the high angled shot showing DM looking down on the dog is used as a sound bridge to carry over the same representation to the following scene. This shows DM isn’t fond or familiar with dogs this may show where he is from people are less friendly with animals/dogs and tend to be more popular or common in rural areas.

In the next setting where DM is walking the dog, a long shot and a tracking shot is used. This allows the audience to compare clothing of DM compared to rest of village, each outfit portrays the regions each person represents. He then goes into a police station where DM shows commanding nature via body language and dialogue when speaking to policeman, this represents different ways and background. It should be the police man with the authoritative position this may indicate that he feels he is in a superior position. From this scene we can infer that people from a more wealthy, posh, upper class background are portrayed as more in control, commanding position whereas people from more rural areas are stereotyped as being 'backwards'. We then meet a character who is a countertype of the rural area stereotype, the audience senses similarities between herself and DM, she appears upper class, dressed more upper class and comes across posh with a similar accent too. She is also represented as upper class in comparison to the rest of the community, at this point the camera is at a mid shot with a similar angle when both are speaking- this could show they are both in an equal position.

When the audience is shown the woman with the eye patch and DM looking at each other, we sense affection between the two, this represents equality and respect between them which is something which has lacked between him and the rest of the village the entire extract. This scene counters the rest of the extract as before this we always saw DM as more superior and came across as more 'important' because of his upper class nature and job role. He is then interrupted and called over by an older woman to help her moving around boxes of fruit and vegetables this is an action code used to represent the kind of jobs (as well as the sink) that are done around the village, whereas in comparison to DM's job, a doctor, appear rather insignificant to his role in society.

In conclusion, the extract portrays a clear divide between the community and of people from different backgrounds. It portrays the classic stereotypes of a rural community and how DM doesn't really fit into their society but has a more significant role in their society than many others so is considered more important or superior to rest. However, we do certain characters go against the stereotype, for example the younger of the two men working on the sink or the woman asking about a prescription as they come across more intelligent and don't fit into the rural community as well as DM.

Representation of Regional Identity

Representation of Regional Identity 
Regional Identity refers to the part of the United Kingdom someone is from. It could refer to a general area such a “north” or “south”, a country such as “English” or “Scottish” or specific towns such as “London” or “Manchester.” There are several regional stereotypes widely seen on television: 

•Scottish – often shown as being money obsessed, won’t pay for anything, drinks a lot of alcohol, loves the outdoors, wears kilts, eats haggis, quite aggressive and violent 

•Welsh –Often shown as living in the middle of the countryside, less intelligent, good at singing (Male voice choirs),with people making jokes about them “shagging sheep” 

• Irish – often shown as living in the countryside, working in rural areas such as farms, being very religious, being good at dancing and singing (love a good craic), very friendly but less intelligent 

• English – often shown as being racist (think St George cross on houses or cars), obsessed with beer and football living in London. Sometimes the stereotype goes in the opposite direction of showing English people as very rich, posh, happy, living in castles and being very “royal.” 

•London – There are two main stereotypes of Londoners. One is that they are often shown as being rich, posh, snobby, upper class, Hugh Grant types from central or west london. The other is that they often shown as being from north, east or south London, poor, common, lower class, criminalistic, violent “Kidulthood” style 

•Manchester / Newcastle / Liverpool – Often shown as being “chavs”, wearing fake designer labels, or tracksuits, drinking a lot, being aggressive, uneducated, criminals 

• Essex – often shown as being glamorous but cheap, footballer’s wives, lots of partying, being quite stupid 

•Yorkshire – Often shown as living in rural countryside, with rolling hills and cobbled streets, being quite old fashioned (despite Yorkshire being the biggest county and containing large cities such as: Leeds, York and Sheffield) 

•Cornwall / Somerset – Often shown as being “backwards”, living in rural areas, working on farms 

•South England – often shown as being the centre of culture, modern, classy, clever, sunny, richer, doing middle class jobs where one dresses smartly 

•North England – often shown as being poorer, bad weather, lower class, aggressive, less culture, less clever, doing working class jobs such as builders etc.

Examples were TV Dramas have used these Stereotypes

Ripper Street

This drama  is set in the East End of London and represents  poor, common, lower class, criminalistic, violent community. 

Downtown Abbey

This TV drama is set is the South of England, this regions identity is described as often shown as being the centre of culture, modern, classy, clever, sunny, richer, doing middle class jobs where one dresses smartly. 

Top Boy

This drama perfectly represents the regional identity: from north, east or south London, poor, common, lower class, criminalistic, violent “Kidulthood” style.

Rebus

This is a Scottish TV drama- often shown as being money obsessed, won’t pay for anything, drinks a lot of alcohol, loves the outdoors, wears kilts, eats haggis, quite aggressive and violent.

Quirke

 Irish – often shown as living in the countryside, working in rural areas such as farms, being very religious, being good at dancing and singing (love a good craic), very friendly but less intelligent 

Representation of Class and Status

Representation of Class and Status

Upper Class

The social group that has the highest status in society, especially the aristocracy.

Stereotypes:

• Rich
• Well dressed
• Superior
• Intellectual
• Snobby
• Posh
• Well spoken
• Land owners
• High end properties 

Middle Class

The middle class is a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy. The social group between the upper and working classes, including professional and business people and their families.
Stereotypes:

• White collar
• Managerial
• Owns their home
• Well educated
• Well off
• Affluent
• Suburbia
• Nice car

Working Class

The social group consisting of people who are employed for wages, especially in manual or industrial work.

Stereotypes:

• Blue collar
• Factory workers
• Little savings
• Inner city
• Rented properties
• Work for others
• State schools
• Manual work

Examples of class and status in UK/US TV dramas:

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of ethnicity using the following:

• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• Editing 
• Sound 
• Mise en scene

Sound:
During the clip, there are a number of different types of sound used, for example at the start a non-diegetic sound plays in the first office scene. This creates atmosphere and tension and then peaks towards the point of which the man and women engage in conversation. In this first office scene the white women is meeting the ethnicity stereotype of being pitied and the black man can be seen as dangerous as he ignores the women and quickly storms out of the room when he finds out his mistress has committed a crime. Their professional status is used to represent the black mans power and dominance over the women, which is then emphasized by how he ignores her. The scene is thencut to a house and the man is getting out of his car, non diegetic sound of music starts to build up. This helps to build tension and forces the audience to speculate about what the build up is going to lead to. By the music building up to the black mans arrival and entrance is conforms to the ethnic stereotype of being dangerous. The audience then hears the door bell ring which is a synchronous sound and adds to the curiosity of what's about to unfold. To support the growth of tension in the back mans voice non diegetic music starts to play which slowly deepens. As the aggressive non diegetic sound music build up this makes the audience feel sympathy and conforms to the white female stereotype of being pitied. The scene then moves on to a car setting, the non-diegetic sound when the arrested woman says 'your wife will know about us', this is used to represent the emotion of the black male proving his love for his family. In this scene the stereotypical roles and binary opposites are reversed and it is the white women that has all the power as she is manipulating the black man and being presented as emotionally and psychologically dangerous. With the use of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound the man conforms to the ethic stereotype of being pitied.

Representation of Ethnicity:

South Asian:

Lost: Jin-Soo Kwon
Are the representations stereotypical or not?
Yes.

How and why is this the case?
In this extract this representation could be considered stereotypical as it shows an American introducing beer to a Korean man, Koreans are not thought of for drinking beer and the fact it's the first time introduced to it represents their difference in culture.

East Asian:



Skins: Anwar/Anwar's Dad
Are the representations stereotypical or not?

No.

How and why is this the case?

This extract shows the opinion if a east Asian Muslim man accepting homosexuality, whereas when his son had not accepted him. It is a stereotype that Islam does not accept homosexuality unlike what's shown in this extract.

Black:

Skins: Thomas

Are the representations stereotypical or not?
Yes.

How and why is this the case?
The rap/hip-hop music genre is very African-American orientated and this clip represents that by showing the three black males performing this type of music and everybody enjoying it.

White:



Are the representations stereotypical or not?
No.

How and why is this the case?

This extract represents white males as Neo-Nazis, this could be stereotypical as Neo-Nazis do havce to be white (Aryan) however are in a very small minority so can not be considered a stereotype.

Representation of Disability

Representation of Disability 

The stereotypes: In his 1991 study, Paul Hunt found that there are 10 stereotypes of disabled people, used in the media: 

The disabled person as pitiable or pathetic

An object of curiosity or violence

Sinister or evil

The super cripple

As atmosphere 




The Inbetweeners: Disabled girl at the park

In this scene of The Inbetweeners the disabled character is used to create the atmosphere when Will hit her in the head. It creates awkwardness and perhaps tension due to Will hitting her in the head which makes the viewer laugh.
Laughable 




Little Britain: Andy
Andy's character is used as part of a comedy sketch which emphasizes his disability to make the programme funnier. 

His/her own worst enemy 



Prison break: T-Bag

T-Bag often got frustrated his his missing hand, he often found himself feeling embarrassed or less efficient than people that are the 'norm'.

As a burden 

As Non-sexual 

Skins: Tony

Tony is unable to have sex after an accident, embarrassing himself and the girl he's with. She wishes we could be 'normal' again.

Being unable to participate in daily life

Sound

Sound

Diegetic sound- Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film

Non-diegetic sound- Non-diegetic sounds are sounds that have been added in, this can include things like music, a narration and sound effects. Non-diegetic sounds are often used to add drama to moments that would be silent without it.

Synchronous sound- Sound that is matched to certain movements occurring in the scene e.g when footsteps correspond to feet walking. 

Asynchronous sound-  Asynchronous sound is sound that is not synchronised with what's on the extract.

Sound effects- A sound other than speech or music made artificially for use in a play, film, or other broadcast production.

Sound motif- A recurring or dominant theme/sound.

Sound bridge- Common transitions in the continuity editing style, one that stresses the connection between both scenes since their mood (suggested by the music) is still the same.

Dialogue- A conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or film.

Voiceover- A piece of narration in a film or broadcast, not accompanied by an image of the speaker.

Direct address- The name of the person (normally) who is being directly spoken to. It is always a proper noun. It does not have any grammatical relationship to any part of the sentence. It is set off by commas.

Sound perspective- The apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch. This type of editing is most common in how the audience hears film characters’ speech.