Doctor Who Extract June 09
Gender
Sound – voices – choir – bad situation - disequlibrium
‘kneel’
High angle shot – Martha
Low angle shot – master
Master – black suit – nice
Martha – black – military dress – against stereotype
‘companions who could absorb the time vortex’ – she was captured – not as strong – assume that the camp were females – makes that one seem strong – not stereotypical
Laughs – close-up – when she explains- srs between them both – makes him look stupid
Flash back – audience understands
Walking in wind and cold – hard time – diagetic sounds – verisimilitude within the diagesis
Sat on stairs – high status
‘i love him’ – emotional - s
Binary opposition – he wanted violence – she did it emotionally
Strings and choir when she builds up her explanation – audience feels happy that he’s lost – could say happy because she a woman beat him
Blonde woman – red dress – binary opposition to martha
Doctor – most important – everyone is saying his name – rises up in the air- physically taller than everyone in the room – blue lights surrounding him – emphasise his newfound power – gets closer to the master – makes him run down the stairs – high angle shot – physically weaker- binary opposition to earlier
Women in background – maid outfit – ethnicity – male in caretaker
Low tempo – trombone – when he’s speaking – sombre- obvious that he’s the antagonist – low tempo music connotes that the audience aren’t meant to like him
‘bow your head’ – foley sound of blade – she could get hurt – vulnerable and weak
Laughs – makes him seem stupid ‘c’mon – did you really believe that’ – she didn’t use weapons – only words – clever than him – positive – not stereotype
‘i did just what the doctor said’ – following male orders – doesn’t have a mind of her own - stereotypical
Flash back – blurred and
Tilts up when she stands up – explaining the plan – movement to higher ground – he’s standing still - bo
Juxtaposition between their faces – hers animated – his straight
Short, close up shots on people’s faces – emphasise their hope and the tension – will it work?
Mid shot – little man in cage – vulnerable – against stereotype
Hair yp – buckes and straps – male gaze – mulvey
Master – match on action – shows his movement – everyone else still – biggest power – bo later
Extreme close up- high angle
Mocking tone – makes him inferior
‘faith and hope’
Camera still on her – tilts to follow his movement – agitated – lost
Blue light on their faces – him – light accociated with ambulances – safety/ rescue – he’s the rescuer
Sonic pulled out of his hands – symbolises his loss of power – eqlibrium
This extract of Doctor Who represents gender through various elements, such as mise-en-scene, sound, camera angles and editing. There is a mixture of both stereotypical and equal dominant views for both men and women; however, the audience are, to a large extent, lead to believe that women are inferior and that males are dominant. Additionally, the audience can see representations of power within the male gender, suggesting that males can be inferior too.
Firstly, representations have been portrayed through mise-en-scene, for example the woman Martha is wearing black military style clothes, which challenges stereotypes as black connotes darkness and power as audiences associate black to be worn by the villain within a diagesis (reception theory) and is overall a colour that women don’t wear. Also, the military style clothing further stresses this as women traditionally wear skimpy clothes to attract men (The Male Gaze, Laura Mulvey), however her clothes barely show any skin and so Martha is not seen as a sexual object by the male audience, thus challenging stereotypes. However, binary opposition is used between her and the blonde lady behind the Maser, who is wearing a tight, bright red dress, which shows her figure and thus conforms to Mulvy’s The Male Gaze theory. The colour red connotes love and is quite bold, and this suggests that the blonde lady needed to wear it to be seen, as she is behind the Master, who is the dominant antagonist, as she also doesn’t spend a lot of time on screen, which in itself, suggests that because she’s a woman, she’s inferior, which conforms to the stereotype. Also, the women in the background are wearing maid outfits, which is a stereotypical female job. However, there is a black male standing next to them in a caretaker’s outfit. The use of uniforms connotes a loss of identity and thus importance, which follows the stereotypical view of ethnicity. Also, audience aren’t introduced to them as well as Martha, The Master or The Doctor, making them inferior to these three.
As well as costumes, stereotypical representations are shown through the use of props, such as the platform on which The Master is positioned and Martha is positioned on the floor, below him, making her physically inferior, following the stereotype that women are inferior to men. Although, at the beginning of the clip, in a mid shot, we see a small, shrivelled man in a cage, which doesn’t conform to male stereotypes. The use of cage symbolises constriction and being trapped, which men aren’t portrayed to be as they are typically portrayed as being free and independent and the fact that this man is in the cage, not Martha, gives her dominance over him. This is further emphasised through the use of the extreme close up, high angle shot.
Another aspect of mise-en-scene is lighting, which was used when the Master’s plans go wrong, where the are blue lights on the people’s faces. The colour blue is associated with ambulances and so connotes safety and being rescued, and is used to suggest that The Doctor is the one who is going to rescue them, following stereotypes.
The use of sound, such as the incidental music at the beginning, which consists of choir voices, suggests that the clip has entered a bad situation (disequilibrium), which is uncommon at the beginning of a TV drama, as it normally starts with equilibrium (Toldrov’s theory). This ultimately infers that the male dominance is bad, which doesn’t conform to stereotypes as males, typically play the protagonist who saves the day. However, it is clear that he is the antagonist who is against the female protagonist, Martha, due to the slow tempo incidental music used when he speaks, creating a sombre mood and thus connotes that the audience aren’t meant to like him. This is contrasted with the incidental music used for Martha when she explains how stupid he is, which are light strings and a vocal choir, where the dynamics increase as she builds up her explanation, which causes the audience to feel happy that the male antagonist has lost, and this could further suggest that the audience are meant to be happy that a woman has beaten a man, which doesn’t follow stereotypes as I said before, it is normally males who play the role of the protagonist – not women.
The use of dialogue both challenges and conforms to the stereotypical view, as The Master commands Martha to ‘kneel’ and ‘bow her head’, which she allows and thus makes The Master superior and follows stereotypes. Also, Martha, when explaining how he is wrong, says that she ‘just did what The Doctor said’, which follows stereotypes as she’s following male orders, thus suggesting that she can’t think for herself and is dependent on males. She also says ‘I love him’ when talking about the Doctor, which follows the stereotype as female characters tend to act as a love interest for the males. It also shows an emotional side to her, which is another stereotype. However, this is contrasted when she laughs at his plans and exclaims ‘c’mon – did you really believe that?’ which makes him look stupid and therefore inferior.
The use of camera angles, widely supports this view as the binary opposition between Martha having a high angle shot, which makes her look vulnerable and therefore inferior, and The Master, who has a low angle shot, suggesting that he has more power and is therefore superior to Martha follows the stereotype. Nevertheless, the power is then shifted to Martha when she laughs, which is portrayed through the close up high angle shot on her face, which clearly shows her emotions, which the audience can see as happy, which creates disequilibrium within the diagesis and breaks verisimilitude as she’s not meant to be laughing in a serious situation. A tilt shot is used when she stands up, representing her movement to higher ground. Then shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule are used to show the conversation between both the Master and Martha, and thus makes him look stupid as he doesn’t know why she’s laughing. On the other hand, despite her newfound status which challenges stereotypes, the Doctor is portrayed as the most important as when he rises up in the air, surrounded by blue light, the camera tilts to follow his movement to show that he is now physically taller than everyone in the room. Then as he starts to move towards the Master an eyeline match and a high angle shot is used on the master to show that he is now physically shorter than the Doctor (eyeline match suggests this) and is now therefore weaker, this is then stressed further as he goes down the stairs.
Finally, the use of flash back for editing, catches the audience up with Martha’s story and shows physically strong Martha was as it cuts to her walking in the wind and cold, connoting that she had a hard time doing The Doctor’s plan and is a strong person for completing it, thus challenging the stereotype. The diagetic sound of wind creates verisimilitude within the diagesis and so creates more sympathy for her. The pace of the editing increases when Martha explains the plan to The Master and there are a series of short, close up shots of people’s faces, which emphasise their hope and increase the tension and the audience don’t know whether or not it will work.
So, in conclusion, the extract is stereotypical of gender as The Doctor, one of the protagonists saved the day, however he did this with Martha’s help, which goes against stereotypes. None the less, The Master was portrayed as the violent antagonist, with the majority of power throughout the clip, until The Doctor broke up his plans and became superior, following male dominance. Also, Martha’s help was more emotional compared to The Master’s violent plan, which in itself follows typical male and female stereotypes.
Explanation/analysis/argument 16/20 - could include more on The Doctor's role and how Martha's plan was intelligent and emotional rather than violent and rambles in some places, but some places aren't explained enough
Use of examples 16/20 - could be more examples on editing - post production - it also was mixed up slightly with shots and camera angles - doesn't distinguish that it's editing
Use of terminology 6/10 - good - could use more for editing and a wider range for camera shots
38/50
76% B
