Analyse Representation Of Gender In 'Girls'

Gender is highly represented in ‘Girls’. This TV series is an American drama comedy released in 2012 following the lives of a group of friends in their early 20s. To me I think the extract we used from the series seems quite humorous and explores quite stereotypical womanly characteristics. In this essay I will analyse the representation of gender in terms of mise en scene, sound, lighting, camera movements, camera angles and editing.

           Mise en scene in this extract is very effective. Firstly in the very start we see an inner city street in the dust hours of the evening, to the viewers this could present that a scene is going to be emotional which has connotations to the characteristics of being a female as in normal stereotypes women are seen as the more gentle, more emotional and mentally less strong, so therefore the use of the night time scene could be foreshadowing. Next we focus on the settings. To us it seems like the girls are in a shared flat which effectively is decorated in a very mainstream stereotypical fashion consisting of young and arty furnishings, and other things such as books lying around and an ironing board although everything does seem to be placed carefully the furnishings and decorations allow the scene to run smoothly and effectively. The flat seems pretty tidy which is also a clever use of scenery as women are also related to hygiene and cleanliness whereas if it were two men sharing a flat it would probably have expectations to be dirty and messy. The appearance of the characters also contrasts highly which also makes the scene more interesting. We see Marnie (speaker 2) in pyjamas and slightly sexualised revealing clothing which makes her seem more dominant in a typical way as we can tell by her characteristics she is the more opinionated character. On the other hand speaker 1 is dressed up, she seems to argue more manly and her physique seems quite contrasting to Marnie which makes their friendship more interesting and makes the scene more intriguing. The costume choice makes the viewers feel like they are inside the flat with them and experiencing it as they are.

       There is continuous sound in this extract. At the beginning there is non-diegetic sound which is quite mellow laid back, high tuned happy music which seems quite womanly, this is effective as we see that outside is quite gloomy and dark and to me this represented that we will have one half of the scene that’s mellow and happy and the other dark and gloomy which in my opinion may represent he mood of each character, Speaker 2 be. We then hear the slamming down of her possessions which are opposite to our normal connotations with women being quite gentle and tidy. The use of conversation starter being about a book is usually quite feminine as men wouldn’t tend to appreciate or maybe discuss books. When they begin to speak we can tell that one is more womanly spoken than the other with Hannah saying ‘watcha doin’ which is a lot more masculine than Marnie’s grammar. We can see that Marnie is more aggressive and classically the more female character seems to crave the last word and last say in the situation, by saying something and storming off as Hannah stays quite calm and questionable like a male aroma always needing a final answer whereas Marnie seems quite controlling of the scene. Marnie and Hannah both seem to know how to push each others buttons and know what will offend the other which is classic of females,  this is more present in Marnie as she seems more aggressive and opinionated. We hear exaggerated sound when she throws the toothbrush, door slams and at the beginning when Hannah slams down her stuff. This is effective because this may represent emotional or mood change as when the toothbrush is thrown that’s when Hannah becomes aggressive ad when Doors slam that’s when the Women have had enough and decide to exclude themselves from one another. At the end with the door slam it may represent separation as if both girls have sulked and given up, this is after then have argued quite harshly the separation and silence is effective as an ending to a scene.

             The lighting in this scene is very different. At the beginning we see quite dark lighting on the street usually scenes which start in the dark or evening tend to be quite emotional. This could be foreshadowing for bad event. It doesn’t change significantly as she goes into the flat as you would expect so this gives the viewer quite a gloomy effect. To me the lighting changes with mood and as woman are known for being quite dominant and also emotional the lighting isn’t the key feature of the scene and may just represent the characters feeling which links in quite well with the negative aggressive mood Marnie seems to be in throughout the scene. The lighting seems unnaturally dark and this may be a link to how women think they are always right but they may always have a problem with something which is a common connotation between women.

      The camera angles and movements are significant in this scene. We start with a long shot of the New York street which is used to set the scene. We then have a tracking panning shot which shows the inside of the apartment. This follows Hannah’s movement in a mid-shot view as she stops and slams down her possessions. As the women begin to speak we can see match on action being used and shot reverse shot footage which tends to speed up from one another as they begin to get more aggressive and argumentative. We also see the use of high angle shots on Marnie to show she may be venerable and we gain a closer relationship with her. There is high use of point of view angles and close ups to show the characters emotions. The shots make each character look important which is effective as women are normally seen as always right, protective and controlling.

           Editing in the extract Is very smooth and makes the scene run well. Shot duration varies and goes from long shot and long duration shots to short emotional filled shot shots. There are no transitions which may relate to there’s no changes in the girls emotions and thoughts stating clearly they think they are right stick to their opinions. Both characters are important as they have around the same amount of screen time which builds up relationships between both characters and the viewers.

        In conclusion gender is highly represented in this extract from ‘girls’ and fits numerous humorous and serious stereotypes in modern day.