Representation of gender
Alana Querino-Busby
Link to clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoGIGInBYNM (scene ends on 1:20)
The scene I have picked in order to write about the representations of gender is a scene from the hit TV drama ‘The walking dead’. In this scene the main focus is on the two main characters Daryl, played by Norman Reedus and Beth, played by Emily Kinney.
The scene starts of with a two shot of the two characters looking over at something that has caught their attention. The first thing the audience see about the two characters is what they are wearing. Where normally a male and female would have difference in what they are wearing due to clothing types or colour, in this scene this does not affect us as they are both wearing dirty clothes in different shades of browns and greys. The only difference would be that Daryl is wearing a leather jacket which could give him the representation of a biker. Whereas, Beth is wearing a short sleeved top showing a more feminine side. When the cinematographer decides to turn the camera for us to see what it is they are looking at, we see a wide shot of what appears to be three or more zombies feeding on the remainder’s of some people. They are surrounded by trees and dirt whilst knelt down on the ground next to a long rail line that leads into the distance. We then see a close up of one of the zombies, which are called ‘walkers’ in the series as he eats the remains of the body. The effect of this angle is to show the difference between this walker and the two main characters who are still human and it allows us to understand the extent to the situation they are in. The walker then jerks as he has an arrow shot straight through his head and the camera stays on this point in order to get a reaction from the audience as we see this happen. It then becomes a tracking shot as it follows the walker as it falls to the ground before cutting to a two shot of the other two walkers before repeating the process of tracking the women walker as she too gets shot into the head and falls the floor. The audience then see a low angle of the body on the ground and a pair of feet appear with a hand jerking the arrow out of the woman's head.
From looking at what the character is wearing on their feet it is clear that it is a man, and is a man who has in fact shot these walkers and done the work of killing them. The director then made the camera zoom out onto the character who is standing over the last walker, who is still eating the remains of the body. Behind the male character being Daryl we see the young girl Beth, who is watching him as he does this. Whilst Daryl is killing the last remaining walker the camera does not zoom out for us to see the reactions on their faces until the last walker is dead. The cinematographer zooms up to a mid shot of the two characters and this is when we see a clear divide in emotions over what has just happened.
From looking at Beth's reaction in comparison to Daryl's it is clear that she has not taken well to their situation as she looks like she wants to cry and has fear in the emotions of her facial expression, whereas Daryl keeps a straight face showing that he is either not affected by what he has just had to do or he is just trying to hold it in, in order to keep strong for Beth to keep her calm and help her feel safe. This gives us a clear understanding of who is the dominant character as Daryl is the one keeping a brave face and the one protecting Beth. The cinematographer then cuts to a mid shot of a shoe which is covered in remains or a human and blood which is laid out on the floor. This small sequence although the shoe is not with anyone shows a great significance to the characters as they’re deeply affected by seeing this. The director cuts to a mid shot of Beth who isn't taking this in too well as she starts to breathe deeply as if about to have an asthma attack. In the meantime Daryl is carrying on pick up his arrows before cutting across the camera shot being a cross cutting edit. The camera cuts to the back of Daryl who has started to walk away, before turning to face beth. The camera is just below him on a tilt to make him look a lot bigger than what he actually is showing that he has more dominance over the two. The camera then cuts to a mid shot of Beth who has started crying hysterically over what she has seen. From this we get a stereotype of the representations from gender as it is seen that women are weaker than men, and in this scene we can back up the stereotype as true.
The camera again cuts to a mid shot of Daryl, who although looks upset does not show it. With a slight nod he gestures Beth to carry on before walking off. The camera stays where it is as we see Daryl walk away holding his bow and arrow, until he reaches a point where it would be seen as a long shot as we see his whole body standing on the railway. His walking slows down before eventually stopping and slowly turning around to see Beth. The camera cuts to a wide shot of Beth standing over all of the dead bodies crying as it is clear that she is the more emotional character. The camera is on a tilt looking down at beth showing her of to be a smaller character in comparison to Daryl where the camera tilted upwards towards him.
Throughout the scene we hear a slow pace of incidental music to add to the tension of the scene which gets deeper into the music as Beth begins to cry, showing how much empathy she has in the situation. Another thing to notice would be the diegetic sounds of nature, we hear crickets in the background which add to the elements of being outside. The sound effects of the walkers eating the human remains also adds to the tension as it is a sound that wouldn't have to be in the scene and yet by it being in the scene it adds to the goriness of their situation.
