Representation of Gender – Prime evil

Mise en Scene:

At the start we clearly see a fragile woman who is deeply saddened by something and feels strongly against it. This is common with women as they get attached to things easily. The men say ‘just let her go’ which suggests they make no big deal over it and she is over exaggerating. We then learn one of the men does care and just wanted to give her space, this shows men can be caring and show empathy.

Next we see a woman driving a digger which we don’t expect. We expect to see a man driving the digger and looking tough, possibly fat and bald. However in a replacement to this stereotype we see a young, good looking, female, who is driving the digger and doing the excavating. This proves women are just as good as men at some things and shows she is completing the job just as well as a man.

We then see the tiger start to attack the man, so the woman in the digger starts to draw the tiger’s attention to save him. After this we see the man try to draw the tiger away from the digger and save her. This is the gentlemanly thing to do, sticking up for someone female who is less physically strong than you. The tiger then chase the man and he tries to climb up a robe ladder to safety. The tiger begins to climb after the man which shows the tiger won’t give up. The man then has a really good idea which shows he is intelligent, he raps his belt around the zip line and slides to safety. The lion is following him and is close behind which shows determination, but them the woman arrives with a gun and fires a shot towards the lion to save the man. His belt at the start was brown, when the clip of him sliding started; towards the end it had changed to be bigger and black.

Next we see a woman fire a gun; this isn’t what we expect to see. We expect to be seeing a role reversal. We expect to see the man firing the gun and saving the woman, not the other way round. We then see the camera pointing down on the man as he is digging out the body from the hole. After this we see the whole group of people walking towards the camera. Then we can see the man who had been digging the trench coming out the jungle, back towards the people. After the conversation between the group, we see the woman in the barn trying to pin the blame on him. This is uncharacteristic for a woman as we expect them to be more fair and impartial. We then see that the tables turn and the power is regained by the man after he pulls a shot gun on the woman. We expect that the man wouldn’t take the decision lightly but we don’t expect that he hurts the woman in any way. This would be socially wrong. The lady tries to reason with him, which is what women generally do.

Two people with guns then take aim at the man wielding the shot gun. The make the man lower and put down the gun. There was a man and a woman which shows and possibly represents equality

Sound:

The clip starts with a calm piece of music that is quite loud. We hear dialogue between a man and a woman over the top of this piece of music. We can also hear the birds chirping in the background, this is ambient sound. When the shot cuts, the music carries on forming a sound bridge, this is where sound continues over the transition between shots. When they get into the forest the music starts to become more tense and dramatic. The tone of the track becomes lower to give a gloomy effect to the jungle and it builds suspense. The music gets louder but we can still hear the ambient sound of the digger. When the music dies down we hear a very strange sound, one which could be associated ‘when the penny drops’. After he speaks and tells the girl Abby to stop digging we hear several roars, as if something is coming. The music gets even tenser; we can still hear the sound of the tiger in the background. We hear the tiger hissing at the man and then in the background we hear the vague shout of the woman, to attract the attention of the tiger. We hear the tiger keep roaring at the excavator as this may be a new experience for it and it is putting up a show. The music changes once again to a ‘chase-ish’ type of music, whereby we associate the music with a chase scene in a film. When the man sees the zip line the music goes quieter and the tone deepens. We hear the sound of the man’s trousers brushing against the trees which adds to the ambient sound. The music sounds very daunting because it has lots of bass in it. We continue to hear the music over the next few shots; this means a sound bridge has been used. In the background of the music we hear the faint sound of a gunshot. The music then calms to signify that the tension had died down and the danger is over. After this then next piece of music starts. It has a slow pace to it and is repetitive. It suddenly varied both in pace and sound. This builds the curiosity of the shot. Another sound bridge is used, between the shots. When the man walks back to the group and the engage in dialogue we still hear the ambient sound of the birds chirping. Half way through the conversation music begins and starts really quietly. We expect it to build and increase in volume and it does, as the people run away to find the woman. When the woman appears in the barn the music changes completely. It changes to a less exiting, thrilling piece to a more dull and quiet piece. When the man picks up the gun the bass in the music increases and the music becomes tenser. As the man shoots the gun the woman is in shock we hear the music increases in volume and the dogs begin to bark. The dogs bark simultaneously and the shot blurs, the barks are asynchronous to the movement of the dogs jaw. This gives a slightly faint vibe to the shot making it look like the woman is about to pass out. The music then calms as the man hands over the gun.

Camerawork, Angles, Movement and Composition:

The first shot we see is an over the shoulder mid shot at a low angle, which quickly changes to an over the shoulder, mid-shot at a high angle looking the opposite way. We then see a tracking shot which follows the man from where they had their conversation back to the other men sat down on the benches. When the woman is driving the digger, the camera pans right and zooms in, but also travels to the left. This gives the effect as if you were starting to circle the digger. When the man is placing the rock on the floor the camera starts to zoom in towards him. When the woman is in the digger we see the camera looking up at her, using a low angle shot to make the woman seem dominant. With the man walking around on the floor is makes him seen little and like the woman has all the control. When the camera focuses on the hand the digger just discovered, the camera pans right fast to see the look on the guys face. When they start to hear the roars of the tiger the camera pans left so fast the camera blurs and it looks almost like a dissolve transition, it then pauses and then pans even more right to show the girl in the digger. When the tiger is swiping at him a high angle shot to make the man seem inferior, usually males are dominant, so we would expect the woman to be in the hole and the man to save the day. When the tiger jumps over the camera, it tilts back down, using a high angle shot making him still look inferior even though the tiger has gone. This gives the effect that the tiger could still come back. When the man gets to the rope ladder we see a demonstration of an extreme long shot and a high angle shot as well. We then see the man climbing the ladder from below, looking like he is getting to safety and looking dominant from a low angle shot. We see the tiger climb the tree from below, by using a high angle or a crane shot it makes the tiger look like it’s angry that the man got away. There are successive shots one after another switching between the tiger and the man, low angle shots are still making the man look dominant. We see a crane shot or an aerial shot when the man is on the zip line looking down at the forest. When the tiger is running towards us we see the low angle shot showing the tiger looking inferior, and extreme long shot is used. When the man comes to the bottom of the zip line we see an extreme long shot has been used. We then see the man digging the hole from a crane shot. This is a high angle shot looking down on the man showing he had a lucky escape and that he is inferior in the Forrest. We next see a shot of the whole group, the camera pans from right to left but also zoom out at the same time. Following this the shot zoom’s in on the man and pans from right to left. During the conversation between the group the camera constantly pans from right to left and shows several over the shoulder shots. When the man throws the woman on the floor the camera goes slow motion and slightly blurry to show the effect that the woman is dased.