The Wire and A Touch of Frost essay

Examine and compare the way the "law" is represented in The Wire and in A Touch of Frost. Analyse: class/status/authority, gender, race/ethnicity as well as whether the representations are sympathetic, realistic.

How do the producers position the audience in relation to the detectives / officers


The opening scene of both Frost and The Wire establish the social setting where the drama is set. In Frost this social setting is similar in that although it is also working class there does not seem presence of violence initially and instead is just police officers trying to drive through football fans.

The Wire is established as a police drama straight away. This is shown in the first scene as the police cars lights are being reflected in a puddle on the pavement which may be the victims blood. Moreover we can also infer this as a result of the diagetic sounds of the sirens and police radio, which instantly indicate that this is a crime scene. 

This differs to A Touch of Frost because it wasn't as clear that it was a police drama- as the "old man" was undercover and tricked the bouncers into leaving their post to help him out.








The Wire is a TV show based in America whereas A Touch of Frost is a British crime drama. The very fact that the programmes are set in two different countries suggests that there will be different representations, portrayals of the law as the American take on crime differs greatly compared to the British.

The credits also tell us that this is a crime drama due to the iconography which we is associated with the police i.e. crime scene and the police tape. Furthermore, the sound track being played through The Wire wasn't as tense as other dramas (suggesting that it was different) it also had a line that said "If you walk through the garden, you better watch your back." This suggests that crime was inevitable in this particular area, as the song basically says that if you commit a crime or even live in the area then prepare for the consequences and expect something to happen- this is a strong message however was executed in a light touch way, suggesting that they should know better and there will be little or no remourse for the guilty as they've been warned.

The opening scene of both Frost and The Wire establish the social setting where the drama is set. In Frost this social setting is similar in that although it is also working class there does not seem presence of violence initially and instead is just police officers trying to drive through football fans.
The opening of Frost is shown at a slower speed, to create tension and give the viewers an overall look of the location this is when they use a point of view shot, looking out of the window to show the busy crowded streets  Which then cross cuts to a close up of the drivers face, which shows his frustration and annoyance as he then honks his horn. In Frost the crime is not shown straight away because even though we see what appears to be someone hot wiring a car, this scene turns out to be fairly comedic as we then realise that it wasn't someone trying to steal the car but an old man trying to start his car and has to ask to be given a push. 

This particular shot shows Frost as a defenceless old man trying to start his car. The use of CU in this shot creates sympathy for Frost as we the audience feel sorry for him.  Furthermore, from the LS below, the two men are in the foreground which suggests that they take more dominance in this shot, demonstrating once again that Frost is supposed to be a feeble old man.

 This is then heightened even more when the two men first see him as they're quite derogative towards him as they call him an idiot and are quite patronising towards him through the use of the word "mate" in regards to Frost, who's clearly their senior, this sense of familiarity shows their lack of respect for him.





There is also a comedic element, which isn't apparent in the opening scenes of The Wire. This could suggest that the law is not always as serious as you would expect, particularly those in England compared to the USA. Whereas, in The first scene of The Wire, we start of with a panning shot of a crime scene, showing a dead body and a man picking up evidence from the floor and depositing it into a sealed bag. 

Like The Wire there is also the use of police walkie-talkies to suggest that this is a police series, reinforced by the emergence of the police men from the van. This is when the editing in Frost does however speed up and the narrative becomes more engaging, something that doesn’t happen in The Wire, when all the police officers emerge from the van to arrest the two men who had been giving it a push. This simple arrest suggests that the police officers in Frost are not dealing with intelligent and sneaky criminals as they are in The Wire. 

In The Wire, there appears to be a close relationship with the policeman and the criminal, as they're both shown in the same shot, which suggests that there is no need for the policeman to show his authority.

The opening scene of both Frost and The Wire establish the social setting where the drama is set. In Frost this social setting is similar in that although it is also working class there does not seem presence of violence initially and instead is just police officers trying to drive through football fans

    Both A Touch of Frost and The Wire use police walkie-talkies which are clear props to imply that it’s a police series, reinforced by the abrupt entrance of the police men from the van. This is when the editing in Frost speeds up and the story becomes more appealing, something that doesn’t happen in The Wire, when all the police officers emerge from the van to arrest the two men who had been tricked to give it a push. This simple arrest suggests that the criminals in A Touch of Frost are far less intelligent than the ones in The Wire as they’re easily fooled, this also shows the policeman to be quite shifty and crooked as they’re willing to lie and set people up in order to arrest them.

The use of non-diegetic sound, heightens the tension and anxiety, along with using a hand held camera to capture the police officers entrance into  the building thus allowing the audience to experience what they’re experiencing. Once the officers had broken into the building we learnt the nature of the crime, illegal dog fighting and gambling. This highlights the difference between law and the types of crimes  American and British police officers have to deal with. Also, as soon as people see the police in Britain they run, showing their fear of the policeman and the policeman's superiority as these were grown men who were terrified. There seems to be a recurring theme of citizens in Britain fearing the law more because they are not as accustom as the Americans to crime. As in The Wire there was a shot of children looking at the crime scene with blank expressions suggesting that this was a normal event in their neighbourhood. Furthermore, from the race of the children, the victim and the witness I can assume that this was in a poor neighbourhood which is accustomed to crime, especially murder as black neighbourhood tends to fall into this stereotype in cop dramas in America.

The hierarchy of police officers is also something that is present in The Wire and Frost. In The Wire it established by the fact he wears his own clothes and is in charge of talking to the victims and in Frost this is also the case and his importance is also shown by the police cars all going on his command thus showing his leadership and authority, whereas there's only one police officer in The Wire so we're unable to know where he ranks in terms of authority in the police force, however, we do know that he has more authority within the situation he's in, talking to the criminal.

Law is presented in very different ways in The Wire and Frost. The Wire shows a police officers compassion and bond with the witness whilst Frost is very much about the police officers and criminals being two very different groups of people.

Ashes to Ashes edit

Class and Status - Spooks

Discuss the ways in which representations of class and status are constructed in the extract through the 4 micro-elements:
camerawork
editing
mise-en-scene
sound 

The opening sequence of this extract starts with Sampson looking at his reflection in the mirror, looking devious and sinister. This idea is then echoed through the sound as theres a noise that sounds like an explosion, this is usually associated with gothic tales as its quite eery this suggests that this character is quite devious an evil character. Moreover, when Sampson begins to speak his tone of voice is quite low and husky creating a far more intense and sinister atmosphere,


This screenshot suggests that the event of a woman drawing an "X" on the door (X to signify a target, x marks the spot) isn't out of the ordinary, therefore implying that this sort of activity could be a recurring occurrence. This could also show that they've relinquished control due to the oppression by the upper class- in this case, the politicians who feel its their duty to eradicate people who don't fit their image and by the looks of the children's faces, it has happened before.

 Moreover, the fact that "X" was drawn by a white female on a black woman's door suggests that this is a hate crime, in which the ethnic minority are targeted regardless of gender. Furthermore,before and after she does this she looks at the children whose glance stays on her throughout what she does, and almost disregards them as she doesn't look remorseful for what she's doing or even look startled by them, perhaps illustrating how low she sees them, she might see them as a were class to them therefore she doesn't need to explain herself to them, this could because of her race. She might see herself to be above them in the social ranking. As a result of her drawing the "X" two men in big jackets enter the shot and barge into the woman's house and start throwing her belongings out onto the balcony, where the children are still watching.



Moreover, from the diegetic sounds you can hear that the intruders are smashing all the lady's belongings, showing no respect towards her, thus showing their lack of respect for her- which could be because of her race or because of her low social rank. In addition, you can also hear the screams from within the house suggesting that there's a child on the premises however this still doesn't stop the men from destroying the home and capturing the woman.

The next shot is a birds eye view shot of a very expensive and classy car, which is chauffeured driven. This particular shot shows the character that's in there to have a very high status and be quite high in the social ranking.









We then discover that it is the character Harry  in the car, the editing then shows a CU of Harry on the phone barking orders to his employees- this demonstrates him to be an authoritative figure head as he's the one instructing people on what to do.

The editing of this shot, blurs Sampson out in the foreground of the shot and solely focuses on the other man in the shot perhaps suggesting that he was not completely behind what Sampson had just said about being called a "Islamaphobic." Furthermore, this idea of uncertainty is has been shown through the crowds silence, feasibly suggesting this is quite a sensitive subject, implying that perhaps the audience aren't as "pro-white" as he makes them out to be. However, seeing this he then turns it round to his favour by using the negative stereotypes associated with the Muslim rac, i.e. terrorists.

Representations of Social class in Shameless

Through the miss-en-scene I can infer that this is set in a council estate in Manchester, however from my knowledge of the series I know that it is set in the fictional Chatsworth council estate, Stretford, Greater Manchester, England. This is also shown through the camerawork through the use of panning as it gives a bird’s eye view of the estate and I can also infer the regional accent of the narrator Frank Gallagher. 

Moreover, Frank Gallagher's narration of the setting suggests that the estate is like a Utopia as he portrays the council estate in a positive light which is juxtaposition of what the audience see's as the stereotypes associated with estates are usually quite negative. Moreover, his descriptions of this estate would seem like hell to someone of a higher class and status. 

Below is the extract of Shameless.

From this extract, it appears that the narrator Frank Gallagher seems to be really appreciative of what he has, this is shown through the upbeat score of music in the background, as it is quite jolly and uplifting which echo his happiness. This is also shown through his tone of voice and vocabulary as he uses a biblical reference to describe the grassy area of the estate as he called it the "Garden of Eden", suggesting that to him this place really is paradise. This could link to his class because he doesn't have much he's able to appreciate the little things whereas someone from perhaps a richer and more educated class and background would see this place as a hovel and wouldn't appreciate its beauty due to them having more materialistic things. This could be because of his class as they are usually seen as people who lack ambition and settle for less due to there "can't be bothered" mentality.  

From looking at this angle the mise-en-scene shows the counsel estate to be a sought of haven, a sanctuary if you will. This is shown through the bright setting of this particular shot as the connotations usually associated with an estate is grim and dark. During this section, the pace of the camera shots quicken, this has been done via numerous jump cuts. This could have been done to show the increase in activity, additionally, this could also mean that there isn't much to see as if this was a period drama such as Downton Abbey which solely focuses on the upper class and their servants, the camera shots would be much slower and there would be far slower and more panning shots of the grounds, whereas the camerawork in this extract is very fast and intimate, as it zooms into the house very quickly.

In this shot the director has chosen to show children playing, to suggest that this a friendly estate where everyone gets on, this is once again highlighted through the mise-en-scene. This shot shows working class people in more of a positive light thus eradicating the usual stereotypes of thugs and gang members hanging out in parks creating nuisance 

The use of CU's in this shot helped to add sympathy towards the child and it also heightens the idea that people of a lower class have less control of their children thus resulting in their bad behaviour. Although, the child looks scared of the father, the dad then loses his control and power from the situation as he is then knocked in the head by a loaf of bread by one of his children, thus suggesting that the children run the house.

In this section, the father has just been hit on the head with a loaf of bread ans has dropped to the floor. This reinforces the stereotype that a single father can not cope on his own as his children appear to not respect him, this could be due to how he acts more like a friend to them and not like a father. Moreover, as he's a stay at home dad their lack of respect could be because of this, they might be ashamed that he's not done anything with himself, he's just living of the dole and they can't really respect him as he's just acting like a kid himself, this could be as a result of him being an unemployed working class man in his middle ages, who has a tendency getting drunk, taking drugs, petty theft and getting into fights in public or with the law. His family are also working class and they all are regular drinkers, most of them are also criminals. Women are often shown using sex to manipulate people. 

This shot clarifies that there is a blurred line, in terms of hierarchy in this family as the father is supposed to be the head of the household, the more dominant character but the facts that the angle is a point of view shot looking up at his children, which in the extract is followed by them running out of the house  suggests that the father has no real control or power over them which is more profound in lower class families than middle or upper class.

This particular screenshot shows Franks daughter to be quite demonic, as the mise-en-scene shows fire to be underneath her and she's moving her fingers in away that can almost be read as casting a spell, thus suggesting that she can be seen as the "devil" child, which is another biblical reference. This can also be seen as a pagan ritual, as everyone is gathered around the fire, this could be seen as the middle classes perception of the lower class.

This shot of the police car entering the estate shows the people applauding its arrival showing their lack of respect towards authority. This also suggest that this is a usual event for them, that they have numerous encounters with the olive. This is usually associated with people of the lower class as they often turn to crime in order to get money or stop their boredom.

 



 This shot shows Franks son using an aerosol can to increase the fire showing that he see's arson and vandalism to be fun. Thus showing the lower class in a negative light, as it shows him being a nuisance to society. However, this also shows his father to be terrible at his job as he's encouraging it rather than trying to put a stop to it, another representation of social class.

Ultimately, this extract shows the working class in a very negative way as it depicts them in a very stereotypical manner; showing them swearing, taking drugs, drinking, fighting and partaking in illegal activities and scams rather than trying to get real jobs. Moreover, the fact that the children have different mothers illustrates that the father has a tendency to sleep around with different women, who clearly don't care about their children, bar one who occasionally comes in to help Frank which then confirms the connotations attached to working class people. The use of different shots, the miss-en-scene, sound and the editing really help to impact the audiences perception 

Representation of Women in Media

Below is a clip of my view on how women are represented in the media.



As a feminist I believe that women shouldn't solely be seen as pretty objects to be looked at but as intelligent individuals who should be equal to men and with this in mind I created my video to be a hard hitting expose on the belittlement and sexualisation of women in the media. I did this by using clips from music videos where women are seen as "Glorified prostitutes" which has been stated by a sociologist called Engels. Moreover, I also enclosed a clip from a documentary on the inspiring female super heroine which was Wonder woman as I believed that she was the driving force for feminism and women believing that they could be more than housewives but the heroines of their own lives, they can be independent.

"Cutting It" relationship representation

Write up your response to the Cutting it extract - How does the extract construct representations of gender? (And relationships)

Last lesson we watched an extract from "Cutting It". This scene started off with a couple riding at the back of a taxi. The female character (Allie) is shown leaning on her partner Gavin’s shoulder. This could suggest her dependency on Gavin; however it could also simply portray the closeness of their relationship. The closeness of their relationship is then emphasised in the close up of their rings in screenshot 4 suggesting that they’re a happily married couple.

Later on, the cab pulls up outside a hospital and Gavin is confused and asks “why are we here?” suggesting that Allie is the dominating character as she’s the one in charge as she set up the meeting with the consultant. Furthermore, Allie has even more authority in this scene as she insists that Gavin waits for her outside whilst she goes to see the consultant alone.  

Conversely in this situation the power shifts as the consultant has the power as he is the one that had the envelope which enclosed Allie’s fate. Scene 17 shows Allie receiving the results from her consultant. Her expression is detached, so the viewers are not sure what to expect with the news. The setting and the light on in that particular scene imitates an interrogation room, as it has one main light in the middle.

Scene 27 and 28 also suggest going against the stereotypical imagery, as usually that would particular scene would be shown with the male character shouting across the road, with the female character staying quiet to take in what the male character was saying and then responding with a simple facial expression (usually of agreement) Whereas in this scene; Allie is the character shouting across the road with Gavin replying with the use of silent facial expressions. This suggests Allie is in charge of the scene - mainly because she knows the results; however the audience and Gavin do not know the results.

When Allie is hit by the bus, Gavin is portrayed as a sort of super hero as he flew to her rescue; nevertheless he did this after a slight pause, which is typically the woman’s reaction to an incident, thus showing the constant back and forth of authority. It is only when Gavin and Allie talk to each other that we see Lillie’s spread around Allie. Victorians believed that Lillie’s represent beauty and charm therefore this Mise-en-scen could suggest the beauty of their relationship is over as she is about to die or it could represent the beauty of the day (up until her demise) as they were newlyweds and the news she received could have been positive.

Overall this extract constructs representations of gender to be unclear as the roles of authority are constantly changing throughout the extract as Gavin obtains feminine qualities at times whereas Allie upholds masculine qualities, thus showing role reversal. 

Homework- Representations of gender

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs representations of gender:

The shot below is a low angle shot, showing the mans authority and dominance. This shot also reconfirms the ladies position of authority as she's also looking up at the man.

 The idea of male dominance over the woman is made even clearer in this next frame as she is then humiliated by everyone by being made to kneel down in front of everyone. This clip then highlights how feeble and powerless she is and how much he's belittling her. This is an example of woman not being seen as equals and an example of how patriarchy and how its accepted in our society as even in this clip there are people on the sides not outraged at the main actors orders including the woman, its as if they know to just accept it.

This frame of a lady in the red dress, emphases many feminists points on the objectification and sexualisation of women in the media as the colour red is usually associated with sex and promiscuity. Moreover, this character doesn't get to speak she's just there as eye candy, something to look at. Bearing the Mise-en-scene in mind- The lady obediently follows his orders, kneeling to the ground and submissively bows her head at his command thus giving him the power he demands. 

Overall this clip portrays the female character to be quite helpless, powerless and quite substandard to men. This is a stereotype that has been played on numerous times before and is evident in even TV commercials. The majority of advertisements that have to do with cooking or household chores feature a woman as the main character, illustrating that woman are the homemakers who stay at home and look after the children and feed and care for there family whereas the men are the breadwinners.

However the screenshot below displays how it all changes:

 This is the section in where the male character lost his authority and Martha gained it as she knew something the rest didn't therefore she had more power. This was also shown in the change of sound as Martha starts laughing, the sound is more upbeat played on a guitar - this highlights the change in position of superiority.

This screen shot shows Martha to be the dominant character as everyone is listening to her, however  she's on the same level as them suggesting that the other characters don't feel inferior to her, they respect her.

This screenshot illustrates the change in status and authority, as the Doctor is now rising which then gives him a higher status thus showing that he has more power in this situation. Moreover the lighting around him suggests he's God like.

My first video and review

Last lesson we had to film a short clip involving: different shots and angles, the 180 rule and a continuity shot - we chose to film the actress walking through the door then filmed her from the other side. The video starts off by showing the actress walking down a corridor and then approaching a door. 

The 180 rule was applied when the two people characters were having a conversation on the stairs. The camera shouldn't cross the 180* line otherwise the audience will be left confused as to who's looking where. 

Below are examples that demonstrate the 180 rule.

 These diagrams show that the camera has to follow a certain angle and should not cross it as the shot will be unclear for the audience and won't flow nicely.

In reflection, after watching back my first  official video, there are very few errors. However it isn't perfect but nothing is, one critique that I can make is the "close-up" of the hand, I'd suggest that if I was to re-shoot this I would make it even closer to add more of an impact and been more effective. 

I think that the start of the video is really good as it flows very well and the shot of the actress walking through the door was really good and flowed really well. However the main issue with this video was the conversation between the two actresses as when I edited it to show who was speaking, it was very jumpy and didn't quite flow as nicely as the rest of the video nonetheless for my first video it was pretty good and I am proud of it.

Camera shots & angles in film

Last lesson, we filmed ourselves experimenting with different shots and angles. We then had to edit the video using 'Final Cut Express', in this edit we added text describing the different shots and angles.
Below is a first cut of my editing process.

Enemy of the State- Home Learning

Enemy of the State, Tony Scott, 1998

The point of this sequence is to create suspense in the audience, to keep them interested and also to build tension within the shot. A way that tension is created is the use of close ups, mid-angle shots and cross cutting as it add emphasis to the particular shots. Furthermore they decided to use cross- cutting to show the characters inside and the bad guys outside to make the audience feel empathy for the men inside because we know what's going to happen and they are unaware.  Cross-cutting is also used to show the back and forth conversations between the characters. Moreover, music is another creative technique which has been used to help create suspense and make the audience question what's going to happen next?

This shot is an example of a close up used- this CU is significant because it shows the man putting something into the machine and it wouldn't of been shown if it wasn't valuable or important to the scene, thus helping to build suspense.

Below are pictures of significant CU's.

 The picture below is very significant in this sequence as it shows a picture of one of the characters and his family, thus creating sympathy. Moreover, it also makes the character seem more humane and relate able as even though he has "macho" job this clip shows his vulnerability as his family are obviously important to him.

I chose the section of the film that had a sequence of CU's, these CU's were really effective as it grabs the audiences attention as it intrigues them and helps to create suspense.

The editing used in the sequence suits the idea of a thriller movie. The short and swift close-ups, intense expressions and menacing music all supports the thriller theme and successfully creates tension and anticipation within the movie, which is the basic ingredients for a good thriller film.


At 2:16 There is a close-up of the padlock. From the shot after, it seems the two men will try to break open the padlock to get on the other side of the gate. The effect it has on the audience is the question of if the two men will try to break open the padlock, if so, how they will go about it.

At 2.20 there is an extreme close up of the gun. This, for the audience will make them wonder if he will break the padlock with the gun. Or whether he will use for protection for whatever he trying to do. If he is walking to somewhere that is not safe and the gun is for his protection. Or if he, himself is on other villainous side of the story.  

Finally at 2:24 - There is a close-up of the characters face, straight after a shot on the computer. This shows a concern on the face on the character for the audience because there is a clear link between the computer analysis and the concern on the characters' face. This close up helps create suspense as I the audience member want to know why that character is concerned and what that image means to him.


Overall, the editing of this sequence works well with the genre of  thriller due to the multiple close ups and cross cuts which create tension and build suspense which is crucial for any good thriller. The close ups and the backwards and forward motion of the editing between CU's and M S's guarantees that the audience wont miss anything and that they can see what the important parts are

Lesson Review - Camera Angles & Shots

In the last lesson, I worked in a group testing out different camera angles to portray a story of a bully and a victim. We did this by using taking the same picture but in different angles and different proximity in order to have different effects on the viewers. Firstly, we learn't about types of shots such as: close-ups, medium shots, long shots and establishing shots (ELS). 

 One of the shots we tried was a close-up which contains just one characters face. This enables the viewers to understand the actor's emotions and just solely focus on this character thus making the viewer feel sympathy for the charecter. I think we really captured this with our photo as you can see the girls' emotion as she is the main focus. 

     

     We then attempted to take a medium shot (the above picture) which is supposed to contain characters from the waist up so that you can not only see the emotion of the characters but their interaction with each other too. This type of shot  is usually  waist-high  or over-the-shoulder, however it can be shots of any subject matter, as long as the framing looks "normal" to the human eye.

A long shot is where you give the viewer a more specific idea of the setting. This will show them the landscape, it could be a building which is important in that film. We did manage to get a good long shot showing this although it could have been taken even further away to show distance even more. Furthermore even though this long shot has been taken from a higher angle, it still counts as a long shot because it shows the surrounding however we could have taken it from a greater distance. 

An example of an over-head shot.

This is an example of a close up, where the hand takes sole focus. Close ups are very effective as it makes the viewers focus solely on the hand and in this case it helps to create empathy as it shows a hand on someones shoulder perhaps suggesting that they're friends and she cares about the character.

Here is an example of an extreme close up. Extreme close ups are often used to add effect to to a particular scene, whether its someone talking- to emphasise their words, or in this case someones eyes to perhaps show fear or create suspense and make the viewers question what she's looking at.

This is an example of a low shot.  A low angle shot is usually used to suggest that a character is powerful.as they appear bigger, therefore on reflection I can see that this angle wasn't effective and appropriate with this particular shot because we wanted to portray the emotion of fear from the victim of bullying. I now know that if i was to do this again I'd use a high angle shot because they can be used to suggest that a character is isolated, perhaps scared and not in control of his/her surroundings.

For more information on film editing, be sure to check out my other blog.