Hustle Analysis - Gender

In this moving image Hustle, we are shown a representation of men being greedy, defensive and patronizing, whilst the women are manipulative, smart and aware. However the wider representation of the clip shown is the stereotyping of women by males in society, which results in him to be hustled for his money.

The establishing shot reveals a pan of a white high ceilinged shop, white connoting purity and power which signifies the shop is for upper-class people. We see a medium shot of an attractive lady in a sophisticated suit which then pans to the male in a black suit, again representing the higher class environment. We then see a close-up of the woman’s face where her hand is in the frame, we see a diamond ring and automatically we are introduced to the first stereotype of women being addicted to fashion, clothes and jewellery. This is clarified as there is a shot reverse shot of a older lady in a red coat asking for a cocktail dress, this looks at the contrast between status and class as the man tells her the dress is £700 in a patronising manner. The camera then zooms into his face where we see his expressions of mockery as the old lady replies she wanted something “nice”. This represents men as ignorant and self-absorbed, emphasised by his femininity, and he is only interested in making money, clarified when he again patronised the lady as she leaves.

The shot then pans and we see the upper class lady in the longshot, we see she has unusually stylised hair and heavy makeup signifying her vanity which is another representation of women. Her careful movements give a sense of mystery as she is being helped by the man. In contrast to the old lady he is very helpful towards the upper class and stereotypes the lady to be rich and self-absorbed, this shows how the stereotypical view of the woman can be manipulative and misleading. The male is frantic as his dialogue quickens, this signifies his eagerness to help an attractive rich lady. This represents the vulnerability of men over beautiful women however due to the perception that the male is actually gay as he is very feminine, the audience start to question why.

The stereotyping is then emphasised when the cinematographer tracks up from her shoes upwards revealing a beautiful diamond encrusted backless evening dress, which connotes beauty and power. She is exclaiming, ‘oh yes, this is fabulous’, this is over exaggerated and seems unnatural as her emotions shown through her voice replicates the sounds of sexual intercourse indicating that women are high excitable when it comes to clothes, another stereotype. Also there is sex appeal promoted in her body language as she has décolleage and is flirtatious towards the sales assistant signifying her confidence and vanity.

There is then a cut to a new location of a room with dark luxurious furnishing and green walls. It heavily resembles a casino and could represent the foreshadowing of the clip ending with a risk being taken or gamble. Also the men in a medium two shot are drinking whisky and smoking cigars with a non-diegetic soundtrack of jazz. This connotes they are upper-class, which suggests that they are important but also greedy as they help themselves for more whisky for enjoyment, a representation of men being self-absorbent in this scene.

The next frame is very frantic, there are repeated fast crosscuts of the woman searching through her bag and panicking over her long ring. Representing women as being prone to loosing things and over reacting frequently. However due to her exaggeration and non-diegetic music being fast pace and happy this signifies that the situation is planned. This is clarified as the woman looks directly into the camera, giving direct address to the audience as she says, ‘ I know you will’ as the male offers help. This shows women as manipulative as she has conned the male due to her stereotypical acting.

There is another crosscut back to the shop where a gentleman with blonde hair and blue eyes, which is seemed as angelic, has entered the shop. His composition resembles someone whom is innocent and genuine; however as an audience we are aware that he is not, as he has a common dialect and is not formal. He is also very impolite and arrogant towards the sales assistant asserting his authority. This is also shown in the extreme longshot of the two where the sales assistant is on his knees and the man is upright and gracefully looking through the clothes. Again this represents men as patronising as the male belittles the assistant, towering over him.

When we see a zoom to his face, as he speaks to the sales assistant, his hair as highlighted as the same blonde as the woman which could suggest the unison or hustling the man. The cinematographer then cuts to a zoom on the man’s hand behind his back and the previous diamond ring slipping out. A ‘ting’ sound is heard emphasising the scam. The audience now knows that the sales assistant is being conned and the man was working with the woman. This represents both the male and female to be deceiving, manipulative and play the stereotyping to their advantage. Also the sales assistant is a prime example of men can be very trusting towards woman due to their sex drive. The sales assistant is trying to negotiate with the man. Being smart he patronises the assistant by making him feel like the thief for being greedy and claim the prize. This represents the males to be arrogant and selfish.

By the end, the jazzy non diegetic music fades in which signifies success. As the male walks into a café, to meet the original lady, who now has brown hair, which signifies her identity change, this emphasises on the scandal. Throughout the clip it heavily focuses on the stereotypes of the two genders and how people’s perception changes based on assumptions and looks.

Waterloo Road Analysis

The establishing shot of the scene is of the main girl character in the scene Vicky. She is standing alone leaning against a doorway starting on at two other characters that are deep in conversation with each other. Vicky is wearing a green jacket over a school uniform; the colour green has many negative connotations including jealousy and envy. The way in which Vicky is leaning against the door frame suggests that she is not stable and feels that she needs some support. Vicks has her arms folded across her body, signifying that she is an insecure person. The shot enables the audience to see Vicky in the background and the girl and boy conversing in the foreground. Although Vicky appears to be the selected focus of the shot her body language and distance from the other two characters speaking, suggest to the audience that she feels left out of the conversation and she feels jealousy towards the blonde girl (Maddy) who is speaking to Vicky’s boyfriend (Ronan).

From the establishing shot, the director cuts to an over shoulder shot from Vicky’s point of view, focusing on the characters: Maddy and Ronan in the background. During this shot, the setting is further established as a school food tech room as a wider shot of the set is visible. In the shot, the lighting on Vicky is low key, and very dark and shadowy, this could signify her emotional state, and the dark unhappy place she feels that she is in emotionally. In contrast the lighting on the character of Ronan in the shot is high key natural lighting which indicates a happier brighter mood. Maddy is wearing all black in the shot, the negative connotations of black suggest that: Maddy may be causing problem is in Ronan and Vicky’s relationship and the way in which she is bringing negative and bad energy to their relationship.

The director then cuts the camera to a mid-shot of Maddy and Ronan standing beside each other, portraying to the audience their closeness in the scene. The diegetic sound of dialogue between Maddy and Ronan is heard allowing the audience to hear Maddy’s strong northern/ Yorkshire accent letting the audience recognise where the program Waterloo Road may be set. As the conversation between Maddy and Ronan builds they share eye contact with each other, which once again leaves Vicky feeling secluded and left out and possibly suggesting to the audience that the pair may have something to hide between the two of them. As Ronan turns towards the doorway and sees Vicky for the first time standing there in the doorway, his facial expressions become subdued suggesting that he feels guilty for talking to Maddy, and being ‘caught’ by Maddy, this therefore suggests that in Ronan and Vicky’s relationship Vicky holds more power, which subverts the usual gender stereotypes that the male in the relationship is the strong powerful  individual, and the female as the weaker submissive individual who follows her partners wishes.

The rector the cuts back showing a mid-shot of Vicky still leaning against the doorframe in the doorway of the food technology room, which allows the audience to then witness her reaction to what she has just seen between Maddy and Ronan. Vicky’s arms are still folded across her body suggesting the anger that she may feel at Ronan and Maddy and the fact that she is not impressed by it but this could also connote that she feels uncomfortable and insecure around Maddy, because she feels threatened by her friendship with Ronan, and the increasing closeness of it. The diegetic sound of Vicky’s dialogue is heard by the audience: “You having a nice time?” is delivered in a cold sarcastic tone suggesting anger, and emphasising on the jealousy that Vicky is feeling. The director then cuts to an over shoulder shot of Ronan over Vicky’s shoulder, Maddy is cut out of the frame by Vicky’s head suggesting that Vicky is trying to assert her place in the relationship, and that she feels the need to involve herself in the conversation.The director keeps the camera in a still position as the scene develops further, Vicky begins to move slowly about the frame she stands in front of Ronan blocking him from the shot so that the audience can view an over shoulder shot of Maddy over Vicky’s shoulder, emphasising again the dominant role that Vicky holds in their relationship, and that she wants Ronan to keep all to herself. Maddy again returns to view in the shot which could imply that she is trying to get in the middle of Ronan and Vicky’s relationship, by: ‘worming her way’ in to Ronan's affections. From this point, shot reverse shot is used by the director, cutting between close ups of their conversation as they begin to speak to each other. The director then cuts back to a close-up shot of Vicky’s face as she begins to speak with Maddy. The diegetic dialogue from Vicky is heard, as she angrily shouts at Maddy to: “Get out!” the dialogue from Vicky again suggests a strongness that continues to subvert usual gender stereotypes, an as Maddy leaves and obeys Vicky’s command it is obvious to the audience that Vicky holds more power over Ronan that Maddy does within the scene. A close up of roans reaction to this and his facial expressions let the audience realise that he is shocked and bewildered by Vicky’s hostile actions towards Maddy.