Discuss the
ways the extract constructs the representation of ethnicity using the following
four technical codes mis-en-scene, editing,sound and camera angles.
Hotel Babylon is a TV drama based in and
around a hotel. It represents many issues such as immigration and many of the
main characters have different racial backgrounds.
In the second scene we see a white female,
the manager of the hotel, she is wearing white clothing which shows she is a
main character and draws the attention to her, she has her hair done properly
and has make-up on, this shows her status as a female authority figure to show
she has importance in the hotel. The medium close up shows the woman and then
the shot reverses and shows you the entrance to the hotel. A non-diegetic sound
motif then plays to the audience whilst three figures enter. The music is
dramatic showing that something significant is going to happen. The camera then
tracks the male figures until they reach the reception desk; the camera angle
appears to be as if they are being watched. We then learn that these are while
male authority figures from the immigration office. The female then calls the
attention of the black male figure that works in the hotel; he is in a suit
wearing a gold tie, which shows his higher status in the hotel. In this scene
there is a good balance of different ethnic backgrounds, from the Ben, the male
black hotel worker, and the female white manager of the hotel. Then we have the
evil archetype characters, the immigration workers, who are white male
authority figures.
The next few scenes we see are the chase,
from Ben who is going down to tell Jackie about the police officers and then
Jackie trying to help the workers get into their safe hiding spot. Jackie is a
female authority figure in the hotel and she is of an Asian racial background
and is also a linguist in the hotel as she is able to fluently communicate with
all the immigrants in the hotel. Whilst Jackie is trying to gather all the
workers up the editing is quick and frantic and using many jump cuts to create
tension, the transitions are cutaway to create a sense of panic the audience is
then positioned so they feel like they are being chased as well so the audience
know how the workers feel. The representation of the immigrant workers is that
they are innocent so far; the audience is made to be on the side of the
immigrants and support them. During the frantic scenes there is a behind bars
shot, which shows Jackie and the workers running behind what appears to be a
set of elevator bars, this shows the audience that they are trapped and locked
in. In the following scene we see Jackie
and the immigrant workers in the cupboard hiding from the police, we learn from
the diegetic dialogue when Jackie says “Oh no! Ibrahim!” that he hasn’t made it
in time and the police are going to arrest him. There is a close up pan of all
the immigrant workers in the cupboard to show their fear and emotion whilst in
the closet. They are all wearing maids outfits and cleaning uniforms to show
they are less down in status than Jackie, who is wearing a suit, has make-up on
and her hair is done up properly. There is a low angle show to reinforce the
status that Jackie has over her fellow workers. Whilst they are locked in the
closet a diabetic worker faints, the camera focuses on her and then shows a
male black character, Adam, come to help. He uses technical vocabulary such as
“Hypoglycaemic Attack” and “Mucus Membrane” and then says to Jackie “I wasn’t
always a cleaner” this draws your attention to him and makes the audience
realise that the immigrant workers are smart and have useful assets to the
county rather than being locked up in prison or being deported back to their
native country.
During this extract there is two narratives,
one being the immigrant workers hiding and another being the police chasing
Ibrahim. Throughout the clip there is non-diegetic atmospheric music playing in
the background, which changes slightly during the clip to create different
atmospheres this stops after Ibrahim is arrested, this brings the audiences
attention to him and the scene. When we first encounter Ibrahim we see he is
using the vacuum to hoover the carpet in the hotel. The focus is initially on
him and we see a full body shot; there is then a pull focus, which brings the
police into shot as they come out the elevator. This gives the effect that the
audience is being pulled away and that they cant save him from being taken.
Again making the audience empathise with the immigrant workers.
After Ibrahim has been taken we are taken to
the canteen of the hotel where the workers are settling down to eat. There is a
calming non-diegetic music in the background, which calms the audience down and
makes them relax now that the immigrant workers are safe and secure. There are
groups of different people, from different racial backgrounds, sitting down to
eat their food together, the dialogue in the scene is all in different
languages to show the different races in working in the hotel and they are all
eating different food
Overall we are made to feel sorry for the
immigrants who work in the hotel and people who are there to help to keep them
safe, such as Jackie. The close up shots of the immigrants whilst they are hiding
in the cupboard show their emotions and that they are scared from the
immigration workers. The lighting is low key and the room they are in has no
natural lighting making the scene quite dark this makes the audience feel sorry
for them as they are being forced to hide.
