AS G322 TV Drama: Example: Hotel Babylon, Representation of Ethnicity

Representation of ethnicity

Difference in status of various ethnicities: how is the audience positioned?

For example, who has higher status, the police or the immigrant workers?

How is the audience encouraged to identify with the workers? How is more emphasis put on their points of view?

How is the audience positioned in relation to the immigrant officials and the immigrants?

Is there an antagonist here?

Is the audience encouraged to have sympathy with the immigrants?

Does the extract challenge or confirm traditional stereotypes of illegal immigrants represented in the media?

What does the framing of all the characters together in hiding and later through panning in the canteen suggest about a sense of community?

Note the focus pull when Ibrahim is arrested – how does this reflect his sudden awareness of danger?

Contrast of the luxury hotel with the cramped storage room in which the immigrants are hiding;

Costumes – suits for some characters and cleaners’ and maids’ uniforms for others – what messages or values are implied;

Lighting – high key, artificial and low key

Colour – white suit of the receptionist juxtaposed with the dark suit of the other female character;

How does clothing denote power and the way the characters fit into a hierarchy?

How does the use of sound relate to the characters’ different roles in the drama?

Describe the tempo and use of music in relation to the representation of characters.

How does the use of foreign languages and accents reinforce the representation of characters as different or other?

What is the significance of the statement in the dialogue; ‘I wasn’t always a cleaner”?

How does different editing create particular viewpoints?

How does screen time indicate the shifting relationship between the characters? Rule of thirds?

Pace of editing reflects frantic situation and emotions.

Shot reverse shot and cuts aid continuity.

Cross cutting between two situations enhances tension.

Long and short takes represent power.

Eye line match reinforces a sense of dominance.

What types of transition are used?

Juxtaposition of characters using editing devices.

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