DENOTATION

& CONNOTATION(S)

glossary:

A denotation is what the thing actually IS.

A connotation is what the thing REPRESENTS,SYMBOLISES, SUGGESTS, SHOWS, INDICATES

Mise-en-scene

Location - Fitting with dominant or submissive character?

Costume - How does it reflect the power balance? Dominant character's costume show strength?

Colours - How do they show feelings of characters?

Props - Do they provide insight into the strong and weak characters

Lighting (High/Low Key) - Is one character negated to the shadows? What does this say?

Performance - Is does one character's performance show more power?

Hair & Make-up - How does it reflect the personalities/strength of characters? e.g. a pale faced character might imply weakness

Remember! These can change throughout an extract!

Cinematography

Camera angles (High angle/low angle/dutch angle) - How does it reflect the power/personality/mind of the characters?

Shot size (CU/ECU/LS/ELS/MS) - How does the shot size display the character? Does it make them large or small in the frame?

Camera Movement - How does it reflect the emotions or personalities of the characters?

Framing - How has the character been framed in relation to other characters and their surroundings?

Depth of field - Which characters are in/out of focus? How does this reflect the power?

Non-diegetic sounds are sounds that the actors cannot hear.

Narration - Whose perspective is this coming from? Soundtrack music - Whose personality is it reflecting?

Diegetic sounds are those from inside the world of the text (that the characters can hear). Diegetic Music - How does this demonstrate the character's personalities Dialogue (Loud/Soft) - How does this represent the character?

Remember! Silence can say a lot about a character's position with in an extract!

Remember! The pace of the editing and the amount of time a character is given between cuts is extremely significant!

P.S. Does the pace of edit match the sound?

Stereotype:A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals.

Stereotypes are simplified thoughts on groups/individuals based on prior assumptions.

Blondes are....

Muslims are....

White skinheads are....

Common Stereotypes

Age

Gender

RegionalIdentity

Ability/Disability

Ethnicity

Sexuality

Class/Status

White-British

Arab/Muslim

Repressed

Racist

Terrorists

Devout

Middle-Aged

Elderly

Depressed

Grumpy

Wise

HeteroHomo

Bi

Complete this mind map!

Class and Status

Class and Status

BritishAfro-Caribbean

AsianArab/Muslim

Age

Sexuality

Slideshare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLB4IJk5ZFI

Revision:Watch lots of Bri.sh TV dramas. As many as you can, of dierent sub-genres. Don't passively watch them, ac#vely look for stereotypes. Create a checklist of the groups you may be asked to write about; remember, they are:

Gender: male and female Age: young and old Ethnicity: white, black, Asian, or any other racial stereotype Sexuality: straight or gay, bisexual? Class and status: upper, middle, or working class Physical ability/disability: characters who may be deaf, blind, physically or mentally disabled. Regional iden+ty: northerners, southerners, Scots, Welsh, Irish. Locals vs foreigners etc

See how many are shown in the programme you are watching. For each one, it is the simplest ques=on in the world: is this character being shown as a stereotype?

Test Your Vocabulary/Terminology!

"In this clip from Dr Who gender is represented along mostly very stereotypical lines, despite there being one or two moments where the expected power rela

"In this clip from Dr Who gender is represented along mostly very stereotypical lines, despite there being one or two moments where the expected power rela

The main conict between Martha Jones and the Master is very much that of dominant male vs subordinate female.

characters clearly introduced - BY NAME!

EAA, Binary opposition evident through gender, and dominant/subordinate character types (vs.)

Conflict highlighted with a clear example, allows the introduction of binary opposition

?

In fact, all the female characters in the scene - whether they are 'evil' like the Master's wife on the balcony or 'good' like Martha's mother - are largely passive.

confident but cautious (not b/w)

Focusing on one gender to back up "subordinate female" point in previous sentence

Simple binary opposition! With appropriate example (EG)

When the

In all, then, this clip conrms males as gures of power, and females, at best, as suppor

The use of high and low angle shots for different characters are used frequently in the sequence to demonstrate representations of class and status...

An example of this during the duel with Merlin and the royal character where the camera shoots each character from different angles to show their position in the duel, in terms of who is winning. A final low angle shot is used of the royal character as he knocks Merlin to the ground, thus winning the duel.

This usage of low angle shots gives the royal character clear superiority to Merlin, who is repeatedly shot with a high angle shot to reinforce his inferiority.

LINKING SENTENCETO NEXT PARA

This usage of camera angles is important in juxtaposing the two characters and their two clearly different statuses. However throughout the duration of the sequence this power balance often shifts to portray Merlin as the superior one.

The use of the editing technique shot reverse shot is used to display this juxtaposing character representation as it enables us to see clear differences in the positioning and status of the two characters, as it switches back and forth. This technique also emphasises the shift in representation and positioning as one character gains status towards another.

These conflicts are usually shown through binary oppositions (BINARY = two things).

So ask yourself:

"Which characters in the extract seem to be the main participants in this conflict?""What are the binary opposites in the area of representation in the question?"

"There can be no Drama without conflict!"

Remember! The conflict of power will often shift throughout the extract or at least show a range of representations

with the same area.

The DoctorMartha

The Master's Wife

The Master

Remember this example!

Lastly...Cinematography is great for representing power and status in an extract, but Mise-en-scene is the easiest

way to show stereotypical representations!

Remember to think about how the following can reflect the character's class/age/gender/sexuality/ethnicity/regional identity and ability/disability;

Location - council estates could reflect class or ethnicity or region Costume - e.g. trackies could reflect class, age, ethnicity or regional

identity Props - e.g. a briefcase could reflect class, ethnicity, age or regional

identity Hair & Make-up - e.g. fake tan/heavy foundation could reflect class,

ethnicity or regional identity Performance - e.g. an aggressive performance could reflect class/age,

gender, sexuality, ethnicity or regional identity Colours - e.g. Pinks could reflect gender or sexuality Lighting - e.g. use of shadows could represent a submissive character or

a minority within any of the areas