Hotel Babalon Analysis Extract
This is an extract from the British TV show Hotel Babalon. In this clip we are discussing the conventions of ethnic race and minority in television.
In 'Hotel Babylon' tension is created when the immigration service comes searching for illegal immigrants posing as workers in the hotel. The tension is built effectively using frequent fast paced non-diegetic music. The scene where 'Jackie' is hiding in the stock cupboard with the illegal immigrants she was able to round up, there is a low angle, pan forward, leading to a close up of her face, where the audience can clearly see a distressed expression which further builds tension. At this point, the non-diegetic fast paced music begins to play once again but this time louder. This is extremely effective as it highlights and emphasises the fear and anxiety the characters feel at this moment in time, this in turn also allows the audience the sympathise with.
Tony Basgallop the director has cleverly taken into consideration that if the immigrants are caught by the police they will be put in prison or even sent home. This is signified by the camera shots used throughout this scene. For example, a medium long shot is filmed through metal bars, this is a symbol of prison as the immigrants on the other side of the gate rush to hide. This demonstrates to audience what the immigrants are trying to escape from; not only are they trying to escape the police, but they are running from a life behind bars, or being deported to a place worse than prison. This is effective as the audience are able to understand the characters panic and the seriousness of the situation.
In the next scene when the immigrants are trying to hide in the cupboard, the director uses symbolism to make the audience feel empathy for characters. The camera does this with a low angle shot of 'Jackie' frantically trying to unlock the door. The diegetic noise of the rattling keys creates tension a sense of panic which symbolises how; if caught, the immigrants could spend their lives locked away. This mise-en-scene is used by using dark lighting which highlights the fear in the characters and this in turn represents how being caught will lead them to a dark and lonely life.
'Hotel Babylon' tries to create binary opposites between good and bad(evil), the bad in this case ironically being the police, and the good being the immigrants. This is interesting, because generally films and TV dramas would usually not try to make the authorities look negative; however in this case Tony Basgallop has. When the immigrants and 'Jackie' in the cupboard have just saved the woman’s life from a hypoglycemic attack, there is a sense of calm and relief. Then there is a fast cut to a scene with the police violently arresting an immigrant which 'Jackie' was unable to round up. This scene involves lots of diegetic shouting over the sound of a abbandoned hover. This is effective as it makes it clear to the audience who they should clearly empathise with and who they should disagree with.
Another way the director has chose to imply how fearful the experience is, is with tension and mystery. Just as the immigrants in the cupboard begin to calm and there is a silence, it is interrupted by a loud knock at the door. The non-diegetic music is then played loudly, and a low angle, pan forward leads the audience to see the shocked and fearful expression on a woman’s face. The diegetic knock continues, implying the person on the other side is eager for an answer. This scene creates fear yet curiosity for the audience, as they wonder who it is.
'Our Friends in the North' Essay
There is a medium close-up as it shows his head and shoulders and the angle is straight on and there was no movement. A medium close-up is a normal view of a subject and it is at eye level which makes this character equal with the audience, we empathise with him because he is neither more powerful than us or weak.This signifies he is the main subject, because the cinematographer zoomed and focused on him and was level with his face, so the audience can clearly see his facial expressions. The camera movement follows the father to the left and this is called panning, because it is swivelling from a fixed point. The director wants the audience to follow the father because he is a dominant character and could foreshadow him doing something important in the scene. The body language of the younger characters is relaxed until the father comes in and they change to being uncomfortable because the father is drunk, and likely to embarrass the son. There is evidence in the clip that the father is an alcoholic through sound, because his speech is slurred, slow and sometimes inaudible and hard to disipher.
The father leans in to his son’s friend and acts very intimidating by shouting in his face and acting very aggressive. The way the father is acting signifies he is insecure with his power status and wants to have complete dominance, and he thinks the only way to do this is to be violent and hostile.
The dialect in this clip is of a ‘Geordie’ accent and shows the region of where it was set; and in this clip that is the topic: stereotyping class and region.
The costumes the characters have are very standard and can symbolise they are from a low earning family, and the absence of a mother can explain the money hardships they must be facing. These clothes could also represent the social class the characters are from because they can’t afford many luxuries and nice clothes.
The set is shown to be old fashioned as it is seen to be in the 60s however it was filmed in the 90s. The props of the table, chairs and a sofa infers to the viewer that the location is in someone’s home, and the make of the items highlights what time the programme was set.
People who live in Newcastle are called Geordie's and they are normally stereotyped as being drunks and so the empty beer bottles emphasises this stereotype even more.
The camera focuses on the main characters face when they are talking and then it changes to the other characters face when they begin to talk; to make all the characters equal as not one is more important than the other.The camera changes from a medium close-up to an over the shoulder shot so that the audience can see both characters in the shot signifying that they are both very important to the scene.
Many times the editing pace slows down to focus on the characters face, so the audience can see their facial expressions and sympathise with them if they are crying or looking emotional.
During the fight the director moves the camera so if focuses on the fighting characters to show the action then to the other characters face to highlight their emotion; which builds suspense for the viewers as they want to go back to the fighting to see what happens.
This music continues over the sound of cars driving down the road, these combined sounds highlight Daniel’s loneliness as he hitch hikes at the side of the road; he only has the diegetic sound of the cars to keep him company. Slow and sad non-diegetic music plays after the fight scene, to underline the main characters despair and sadness of hurting his father, even if he was a mean drunk; he was scared he would turn into him.
Camera Shots
Extreme close up
Medium long-shot
Interviewee looks into space in the frame
Big close up
Long shot
Moving long shot walks in to space
Close up
Very long shot
High angle shot
Meduim close up
Moving extreme long shot
Tilted frame angle
'Cutting It' Essay
Both characters at the beginning of the scene are in a taxi, which shows they can afford it and suggests they have a sense of purpose, as they have a place to be at. The woman subverts the stereotype of males taking the lead and showing dominance, by paying for the taxi herself.
A black cab is used to insinuate their location of being in an urban area, in this case London. The class and status of the couple is shown through their smart dress and on her half, an expensive coat and stylish make-up
In the opening sequence of the clip the sound of the car engine and traffic noise is diegetic because it creates realism and you, the viewer, feel as if you are in traffic with the characters.
A black cab is used to insinuate their location of being in an urban area, in this case London. The class and status of the couple is shown through their smart dress and on her half, an expensive coat and stylish make-up
In the opening sequence of the clip the sound of the car engine and traffic noise is diegetic because it creates realism and you, the viewer, feel as if you are in traffic with the characters.
As the woman enters the hospital non-diegetic music is played, to create a worried emotion because the music is slow and sad; also the lyrics talk about leaving, which could represent her fate. In the hospital the consulting room is lit from above and surrounded in darkness, to emphasise it is a place of drama and tension, because the layout and lighting makes it look like a theatre. The movement and closing of the green folder on the doctor's desk suggests either a final diagnosis or the all-clear; this scene is really ambiguous because you can not hear any dialogue.
In this clip, the pace of the editing varies, which highlights the different emotions. Such as, at the beginning the pace was slow which establishes the loving and caring relationship between the characters.
When the couple are outside the hospital the edits are more frequent and are mainly focused on the woman's face; which suggests she is important in the storyline and the more dominant role in the relationship. When the woman is in the office, it is in slow motion to emphasise her heightened emotions, it also creates tension, as the audience have to wait to find out her results from the mysterious consultation.
When the woman gets hit by the car, there was diegetic sound of car traffic and you know she was hit when you hear a squeal of the brakes and the skidding of the wheels; which was followed by the sound of shattering glass.
When the man was in shock of seeing her on the floor dying, all sound is quite so the characters' facial expressions can be amplified; this trance is broken when a car horn blares and brings the man back to reality.
As the man runs over to the woman he is very panicked and this is shown through the quick beat of his heart. However, the heartbeat sound was also used to show death, as the woman was slowly dying, and the audience heard this as the heartbeat got slower and weaker and eventually faded out. After the woman was hit by the car, the scattering of the flowers around her body, reinforces pathos of the closing shot. Rapid cross-cutting of the final sequence builds up an emotional impact, as the viewer is hugely sympathetic towards the man and upset about the woman dying. Brief slow-motion shots, are used twice to extend tension and vary pace, as the man witnesses the accident and as he runs across the road to her.
In this clip, the pace of the editing varies, which highlights the different emotions. Such as, at the beginning the pace was slow which establishes the loving and caring relationship between the characters.
When the couple are outside the hospital the edits are more frequent and are mainly focused on the woman's face; which suggests she is important in the storyline and the more dominant role in the relationship. When the woman is in the office, it is in slow motion to emphasise her heightened emotions, it also creates tension, as the audience have to wait to find out her results from the mysterious consultation.
When the woman gets hit by the car, there was diegetic sound of car traffic and you know she was hit when you hear a squeal of the brakes and the skidding of the wheels; which was followed by the sound of shattering glass.
When the man was in shock of seeing her on the floor dying, all sound is quite so the characters' facial expressions can be amplified; this trance is broken when a car horn blares and brings the man back to reality.
As the man runs over to the woman he is very panicked and this is shown through the quick beat of his heart. However, the heartbeat sound was also used to show death, as the woman was slowly dying, and the audience heard this as the heartbeat got slower and weaker and eventually faded out. After the woman was hit by the car, the scattering of the flowers around her body, reinforces pathos of the closing shot. Rapid cross-cutting of the final sequence builds up an emotional impact, as the viewer is hugely sympathetic towards the man and upset about the woman dying. Brief slow-motion shots, are used twice to extend tension and vary pace, as the man witnesses the accident and as he runs across the road to her.
Waterloo Raod Analysis
Firstly the scene starts off by panning to the right across the top of cubilcle of the toilets, this is done because it lets the audience know the surrouding area where the scene is taking place, it is also showing how no one else is inside the toilets until the audience can hear and see the two girls, this builds a sense of tension. The two girls are both inside the same cubical toilet highlighting that they are trying to be secretive. Then once the panning movement has stopped the audience can see both characters from a bird’s eye view and the drugs are in the centre of the shot signifying that this is what the scene is about. Whilst this is happening non-diegetic sound is playing, the music is quite fast paced as well, however at this point the editing is slow paced, which creates the feeling of confusion for the audience.
After this the director focuses on the characters faces in a close-up to show all of their emotions, also when the characters are speaking a panning motion is used, instead of different shots and a faster edit. In this case there have only been two shots. Furthermore the non-diegetic music has become quieter as the diegetic sound of the characters speaking is more present in the scene. The mise-en-scene signifies that the scene takes place in the school toilets as the audience is able to see that they are dirty and also there is writing on the toilet walls which is a stereotype for school girl’s toilets. Also the characters are wearing school uniform but they don’t look very smart signifying that they are not good students and break the rules, which highlights the fact that they are taking drugs.
Then the third shot is a high angel shot looking down on the two girls suggesting that they are inferior to who ever they are looking up at. Then the editing speeds up as the non-diegetic sound fades out, signifying to the audience that the scene has now become serious and is important. Then the director changes the camera angle to a medium close-up so the audience is able to see the setting as well as the characters. It also has all three characters in it and the two characters are out of the toilet highlighting that the drugs they were trying to keep secret has been found out, which is foreshadowing what is going to happen later on in the episode. Furthermore the editing is fast and many close-ups are used which highlights the heightened emotions that the characters are feeling drawing in the audience even more.
As well as the close-up shots there are over the shoulder shots used which lets the audience know who the character is talking to. Then once the one character is speaking to both of the characters a medium close-up is presented as it shows all of the characters highlighting that there should be unity there but then it changes back to the over the shoulder shot which suggests a sense of loneliness as the character is by them self. In this part there is only diegetic sound used which again highlights how the scene is important and quite tense.
