In the series True Blood the director explores gender and sexuality using female and male vampires to portray this image. In a clip of the queen Sophie Anne and Eric (both vampires) the pair of them exchange thoughts about the human girl that Eric is holding.
Firstly, when Eric walks in he drags the human girl across the floor towards Sophie Anne who is placed inside a cage locked up, this clearly shows the power of the male vampire and the control he has over female humans in general. the human girl is seductively dressed in a white corset, which suggests she is there as a sexual object as-well as the vampires 'prey' or 'food'.
The Mise En Scene in the scene gives the audience a good understanding of the class in which the protagonist 'Sophie Anne' is placed in, the surroundings seem to be rather classy, for example their are chandeliers placed all over the ceilings of the wall in the room. Furthermore, their is a swimming pool based in the center of the room and also classy furniture surrounding the room. This clearly shows that Sophie Anne is a female vampire with very much order in her life and has everything she wants. Adding on, the clothing she wears is rather classy, she has a a cream jump suit with gold beads around her neck and perfect makeup and hair. This portrays her to be high class, attractive and perhaps even seductive.
When the human girl is brought in-front of Sophie Anne's cage by Eric instantly the audience gets a glimpse of Sophie Anne's feelings towards the human girl. Eric goes on to say ''I'm going to put my fangs into her and drink'' After this Their is a medium close up of Sophie Anne slowly moving her head up with a worried facial expression looking at Eric. This clearly shows the audience that Sophie has some sort of feelings for this human girl, whether they be sexual or friendly. After this, Eric goes on to say hes going to bite the human girl in a sexual way, this seems to aggravate Sophie, which suggest she has some sort of sexual feelings for the human girl...
From watching the clip from 'True Blood' I clearly learnt that Women vampires are seen as strong and masculine characters also very seductive. However, although this masculinity is usually seen, there is still a part of which the male vampire has more control e.g. when Eric teases Sophie and then goes on to bite the human girl. This shows his power over the whole situation and the fact Sophie Anne is behind a cage suggests she has little power to stop him. Therefore Vampire TV Shows portray woman as mainly masculine, however they still stick to the usual convention of the woman having less power. Male vampires seem to be more in-control of most situations, and usually have the power to get a women to do what they want.
Chloe O'Brien
PEACE HOMIES! (don't copy my work k)
Very good Chloe. You have made good observations on the significance of the mise-en-scene in the scene, making note of the costuming, setting, props and performance and the representations of sexuality, class and gender made through them.
ReplyDeleteEBI: More of a focus on those representations and meaning made through the other filmic aspects such as cinematography, editing & sound.
What meaning is conveyed through the use of low/high angle shots?
How does the use of shot/reverse shot impact the scene?
How does sound impact the scene, for example in the scene, the screams and the biting?
Low angle- less significance
ReplyDeleteHigh angle- importance/superior/looking down
Shot/reverse shot- gives both reactions/emotions
Sound- creates a scary/violent and sexual atmosphere.
:)
Hopefully... I'm right or ill look pretty much like a doofus
ReplyDeleteYou're right but think about how those angles could convey representations of sexuality and gender. Empowerment, dominance. Sophie's in a cage, being made to watch someone she has feelings for getting bitten/penetrated. This is just one scene but the metaphors and representations being made are quite explicit. And it's something we saw in a number of clips last week, characters being made to watch as someone they care for is bitten. Convention? Theme? Creative metaphoric choice? Just things for you to think about when analysing other TV dramas, as all (most) texts have a meaning and subtext to them.
ReplyDeleteSomething else for you to think about for the future; being able to explain how a particular genre challenges or reinforces representations and stereotypes using it's conventions and themes.
Eg. How the conventions and themes of the vampire genre allow it to challenge representations & stereotypes of gender, sexuality & race.
Or how teen dramas/comedies like misfits, skins or the inbetweeners can challenge/reinforce the social perceptions and stereotypes assigned to teenagers.
If you can grasp this concept and focus more on how representations are made through the technical aspects (mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound & editing) you'll be prepared for whatever genre of TV drama comes up in the exam.