Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs representation of gender using the following:
Camera shots, angles, movement & composition
Editing
Sound
Mise en scene
The beginning of the sequence shows a mid shot of a caged Doctor, which along with the ambient music gives off a loss of hope in the narrative and it also emphasises the powerlessness of our main protagonist. The small and caged doctor goes against the conventions of the majority of Doctor Who episodes where he is always the dominant male; this shot would have been used to bring fear to the audiences as the positions are reversed as the male antagonist is very much in control at the beginning of the narrative. The male antagonist is shown to have dominance through the part of the narrative as he makes the female protagonist kneel down to him. The long shot of the protagonist Martha kneeling to ‘the master’ with her family highlights how powerless she is and that there is nothing she can do to help them and vice versa. The submissive worker costumes that her family wear are a contrast to her military like costume creating a hierarchy between the family themselves showing their journeys had been different.
The setting of the studio creates a hierarchy through the decks which is highlighted in the birds eye shot where we see all the characters in the room. This gives the antagonist the conventional male dominance but it also highlights the woman in the red dress on the top deck. Although in the sequence she doesn’t speak it is subtly represented that she may have power even over the male antagonist as she is the only character wearing colour, also red suggests danger which insinuating she is a secret threat. The shot is also framed so that the audience could be in the room also, this increases the intensity of the narrative as there isn’t a clue to what will happen next increasing the hopelessness of the situation.
The male antagonist is made to be the most powerful because of the low angles places against him making him appear more powerful this is highlighted especially in the editing with the match cut which changes from the male antagonist and the female protagonist especially since it’s a high angle shot of her showing her weakness compared to him. The dialogue in the first part of the sequence is mainly by the antagonist showing his power and how submissive everyone else in the room are compared to him. The cutaway shot to show his digitalised army shows his power and his plan, the shot then showing the timer signifies the importance of time in the narrative. The high technology setting and the use of artificial lighting reflects how the antagonist is in control of everything. This is juxtaposed to the light that the Doctor generates when he becomes young again, the antagonist was angry because he wasn’t able to control the situation. The folly in the countdown is the point where the power shifts as the female protagonist begins to have more dialogue which goes against the high angle close-up shot as she is meant to be weak and the emotions shown are meant to be one of fear rather than one of confidence. The antagonist interjecting when the protagonist speaks is his way of trying to get the power balance back.
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