Re Write of Doctor Who clip

Doctor Who Gender clip

During this clip of Doctor Who there are many different micro features which include: sound, editing, camera and mise-en-scene which helps present the representational issue of gender throughout the clip.

First of all the micro feature of camera is used to present the representational issue of gender. For example straight away in the first scene a extreme close up is used to represent the male characters cockiness and it tells the audience who has the power in the clip, furthermore a Steadicam is used within the clip which shows the female character Martha walking to the male character through all of the other minor characters in this scene this juxtaposes with the non-diegetic sound because this is very down beat music which symbolises the current mood which is being portrayed within the clip. In the micro feature of camera high and low angled shots are used which represents the difference between the powerful and weaker characters in the clip. A good example of this is at the beginning of the clip high angles are used on the female character Martha to portray her as week and low angled shots are used on male characters to portray them as more dominant compared to the female characters which is a good use of the hegemonic norms that male characters are the more dominant ones. However this switches further on in the clip as high shots are used on  the male characters whereas the low shots are used on the female characters which represents a switch in authority the longer the clip goes on and ultimately go against television series hegemonic norms. Further on in the clip a eye line match is used between Martha the female character and the master who is the main male character in the scene. This is used to signify a switch in power in the scene because this is used when Martha’s diegetic such as her speech becomes a lot more confident. lastly when Martha does become confident in the scene because she is ultimately defeating the master a extreme close up is used to signify victory, this is a role reversal because the camera shot was used the same way as it was used right at the beginning of the clip for the male character when he was a lot more confident and had more overall power within the scene.

The next significant micro feature which is used throughout the Doctor Who clip is mise-en-scene this feature includes all the characters costumes, positions and all the different types of lighting throughout the scene. First of all the main male character the master is wearing a basic suit which follows the stereotype of men as a suit is a stereotypical masculine outfit, whereas in contrast the main female character Martha Jones is wearing a leather jacket which signifies a type of role reversal as the female character is wearing a more masculine outfit compared to the male character. Another significant factor within the micro feature of mise-en-scene is lighting which is used to help present the mode of address within the scene, for example low key lighting is used at the beginning of the clip to represent the down beat mode of address which juxtaposes with the storyline because the evil villain is more dominant and winning the verbal battle, however when battle switches and  the good characters start to win it they become more dominant this again juxtaposes with the lighting because it goes to high key lighting to represent the break through and how well they are doing. The last main aspect of mise-en-scene is the characters positioning within the clip, this is used very well to represent gender. For example near the beginning of the clip the female character is positioned on her knees to signify the dominance the male character has and the order of hierarchy which the characters have is being displayed, however in juxtaposition with the lighting the order of hierarchy and dominance switches when the male doctor grows and becomes dominant again as a result the master s placed in a position of struggle as he is slowly falling down the stairs with his hands out to try and help him balance more.

The next major micro feature which is used throughout the clip is editing this is significantly used throughout the clip to help represent the issue of gender. For example at the very beginning of the clip the master has a lot more screen time which shows the audience that he has authority and is the dominant character within the particular scene, in comparison Martha the female character in the scene has a lot less screen time which signifies the difference in dominance in the clip, this also juxtaposes with pace of the overall editing of the scene because it is a lot slower at the beginning compared to what it is near the end. In contrast near the end of the scene Martha has a lot more screen time compared to the master which symbolises the switch in power within the clip, this again juxtaposes with the overall editing of the scene because the pace of it drastically increases and it jumps around from character to character considerably more compared to what it did. Furthermore parallel editing is used to help the clip alter between the different flashbacks which explains the narrative and helps the audience understand how Martha started to gain some dominance and authority within the clip.

The last micro feature which is used in the clip to help represent the issue of gender is sound, this includes all the non-diegetic, diegetic and ambient sounds within the clip. First of all the non-diegetic which is used is very down beat and juxtaposes and supports the mode of address and the scenes narrative, throughout the clip the mode of address changes so the non-diegetic music also changes to juxtaposes with this and make the whole scene become more upbeat for the audience. Another feature of sound in the clip is the diegetic which include all the characters lines. Quotes such as ‘kneel’ is in a dominant and authoritive tone from the male character to the female characters which represents the dominance the male character has in this particular scene. However further on in the narrative Martha starts laughing at him and explaining what she had done and the more she explains the more cocky and arrogant her voice of tone becomes, this symbolises and represents the switch in power because the more dominant character has a cocky and arrogant voice of tone which they both have just at different time periods in the clip. Another feature of sound is ambient sound which includes all the minor background noises. For example Foley is used to help over emphasise sounds which includes the ticking clock which helped portray them as being in a lot of danger, however it is also used when ‘doctor’ is being said all over the world to add more emphasises over the fact that they are winning.

In conclusion all the micro features which are being used within the doctor who clip allow the representational issue of gender to be portrayed in a very unique and subtle way. For example editing and camera are very basic however are very effective in this clip. Whereas sound and mis-en-scene is more complex however has the same outcome as it helps portray the representational issue of gender even more.