The representation of class & status essay

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of class & status using the following:

• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise en scene 

Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

When both ladies at the start are speaking we can infer that they are the same class and status seen as the camera angle  stays the same even though they are using a shot reverse shot, if the angle was different and they didn't just use a mid shot for the whole thing then we could be able to tell if one was higher up than the other however it isn't like this and they both say at the same camera angle and shot. This is good because the audience can tell straight away that they are high up on the hierarchy. When the maid walks in the focus goes onto her for a few seconds as if she is the important person but then she fades back out and the focus becomes mainly on the two ladies. We then move onto a scene where a lady is in the bath and her maid is also in the room doing her jobs, when the lady who's in the bath is speaking the camera is on her and also the the maid is speaking the camera stays on the lady in the bath, we can infer from this that she is obviously higher up than the other woman in the room because the main focus is always on her. When the maid goes into the bedroom the camera tracks her head and she turns to look in the mirror this makes her realise who she actually is and shows the audience that she is a maid and thats all she is. We then move onto a scene where there are a group of lower class people all together, this scene is very intense and a low angle camera shot is used to make the audience feel vulnerable and the person who they are looking up to have more power, even though we know they are all lower class we can then infer from this that some think they are above others because of the angle used.

Editing

Hollywood montage is used for pretty much the whole thing however i did notice at the start wet the two ladies are talking and the maid walks in it fades the foreground making the main focus on the maid which shows that they do have respect for her and that they don't just ignore her. It then fades back out so the main focus is on the two ladies again showing that the maids "time to shine" is over with and that they are more important than the maid.

Sound

Straight away we can hear birds in the background which is a non diegetic sound effect, this implies that they are in country side area seen as there are no other sounds, if you were to live in a rural area like we can infer that they are high class people seen as lower class wouldn't of been able to afford it. Music is added before the character falls out of the bath, this is to build tension and to hint to the audience that something bad is about it happen, we can infer that it is going to be bad by the type of music it is because its very heavy music and ti starts the speed up closer to the even happening. Then the screen happens this is also a non diegetic sound which shows that the focus of the camera needs to be put back onto the higher class people because they are more important than the lower class characters.

Mies-On-Scene

From the costumes they are wearing we can tell whose upper and lower class straight away, we can infer from he furniture and decoration that they are a very very upper class family. The makeup and costumes are very correct and relatable to the time period that this was set at and with the costumes the guests in the house are wearing hats which indicates they are guests and the use of different costumes for the lower class characters are shown very well seen as there are also very easy to infer that they are not upper class. The lighting when the upper class women are in the room is very well lit inferring that they are elegant and pure but when it comes the the lower class women who are maids its very dim showing that they are lower, with the lighting being low it makes the audience feel as if they are dirty and mucky characters and makes your look down on them.