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.
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