Class and Status Essay

Discuss the ways in which this extract constructs the representation of class and status using the following:

Camera

Mise En Scene

Editing

Sound

At the beginning of the extract the director chose to use a long establishing shot of the inside of the castle. This shot shows the grand lifestyle of the upper-class people who live there. The shot could have also been used first to represent how, in society, people who are upper-class come before those who are of a lower class. Also near the beginning of the clip there is a close-up shot of the princess’s table which has lots of nice things on it such as Jewellery and a nice looking mirror. This close up was used to display that being upper class means that a person can afford nicer things than the poor, this is also suggested by the use of costume. When Merlin (the main character) is leaving the castle there is a high angle shot of him walking down a set of steps. The high angle shot represents how Merlin, who is lower class, is looked down on by society. Despite the extract being from a lower-class person’s perspective and the target audience being sided with Merlin this is a very poignant shot in displaying the divide in society. When the princess enters the room with Merlin there is a close up of her in the mirror which reveals that she is an ugly looking elderly woman instead of a beautiful princess. A close up shot is used here because this is a key shot which plays on the stereotype that all upper class people are beautiful on the exterior but wicked on the interior. This shot could have also been used to show that life isn’t as easy as people might think for upper class people and they do have some hidden problems.

This extract is set in a castle, this was most probable selected as the setting in the production stages by the director as there are a variety of classes which live and which work within castles to make them run efficiently. The castle has rooms for the lower class and rooms for the upper class which are very different. At the beginning of the extract the princess’ room is displayed which is extremely well decelerated and glamorous however at the end of the clip the lower class room is shown, which is probably shared by two people, it is very dark, damp and gloomy. The director chose to use these different rooms for this clip to show how vast these differences are between upper and lower classes. It enforces the representation that poor people live is bad conditions and that rich people live in beautiful conditions. After Merlin leaves the castle is begins talking to a man who is upper class, possibly a prince, who is wearing pieces of shining metal armour. The director chose the prince to be wearing armour as a metaphor to construct the representation that people who are upper-class are protected by there status. Also, because the man’s armour is shiny this displays the man is extremely high class. At the end of the fight scene the upper class man in the armour uses a broom stick to hit Merlin over ending the fight. The use of the prop which was a broomstick is used to give the representation that people who are lower class get let down by there own jobs because it’s the upper class people who control them. This upper class man hitting the lower class represents the control the upper class has.

In the beginning half of the clip during the conversation between the princess and Merlin, the princess gets a lot more screen time. The lack of screen time for Merlin represents that lower-class people are less privileged than upper-class people. The fact the princess gets more screen time could also represent that the people who are upper-class get more attention, this is evident in terms of media with celebrities and wealthy people being in the limelight most of the time. The shot reverse shot between the man and the woman is used the highlight the differences between the as characters. The main acts to be awkward and quirky whereas the princess is more normal than anything else despite being beautiful and having nice things. This constructs the representation that lower class people are unusual compared the upper-class people. The fast cuts which are used in the fight scene the add tension as the fight escalated, is used to display how people who are lower class live in a fight for survival and have a hard time. The clip is displayed from Merlin’s point of view which shows that the audience is allied with his. This technique could be used because the audience of this programme would probably be middle or upper class people and therefore the director wanted the audience to have a life in a poor person’s shoes. This is why the extracts show the stereotypes of lower classes.

The quotation “I didn’t realise you were deaf as well as daft” is said to merlin after he leaves the castle by the prince in Armour. This quote constructs the representation that people who are upper-class are ignorant and rude by playing on the stereotype that rich people are mean and snobby. During the fight scene Merlin uses magic to move objects, before the objects move there is a twinkling diegetic sound which suggests the magic is moving over to the objects and is moving them. The use of this sound matches the odds things which occur visually as Merlin uses magic and is used to construct the representation that people who are lower class are abnormal playing on the stereotype that poor people are ‘weird’. During the fight scene the diegetic music is contrapuntal as there is what appears to be a serious fight going on however the music is cheerful and jolly. This also plays on the representation that poor people are weird as the poor person is in control for this part of the scene where in the other parts he has no control or power. The quotation from Merlin to the prince states “what are you going to do, set daddies men in me?” constructs the implication that people who are upper-class don’t earn their status but are instrumented with it. This is stereotypical as it is how a lot of people have their power in the world today.