Mad Men, representation of gender
Mad Men - How is the representation of gender constructed in the text?
At the beginning of the clip, an establishing aerial shot (birds eye view) was being used, the director used this to show the the audience the traffic and busyness of the setting, which was clearly New York City, shown by the yellow taxi's, which were old fashioned, showing the time period the film was set in. Also at the beginning of the clip, the music was up beat and fast which may also show the audience the excessive amount of people rushing around, as there becomes less people, the music slightly slows down.
Mise-en-scene is used to show the costumes, cars and type writers which are all old fashioned, setting the era for the audience.
A tracking shot is used mid way through the clip, watching the women walk across the office, this is to show how busy the office is, filled with women doing their low paid job working for the men. Shot-reverse-shot editing technique is used to show a conversation between two men, where the characters are shown looking at each other in the different shots.
Women are objectified in this clip, comments such as; 'get your ankles out' so the men have something to look at, suggests that all women are good for is their bodies. Additionally, 'Why don't you go shopping or something' also implies that women are useless for anything other than looking nice. The men are in the position of power in this clip, they seem to have the better job, and are always above the women, which gives them power to order them around.
At the beginning of the clip, an establishing aerial shot (birds eye view) was being used, the director used this to show the the audience the traffic and busyness of the setting, which was clearly New York City, shown by the yellow taxi's, which were old fashioned, showing the time period the film was set in. Also at the beginning of the clip, the music was up beat and fast which may also show the audience the excessive amount of people rushing around, as there becomes less people, the music slightly slows down.
Mise-en-scene is used to show the costumes, cars and type writers which are all old fashioned, setting the era for the audience.
A tracking shot is used mid way through the clip, watching the women walk across the office, this is to show how busy the office is, filled with women doing their low paid job working for the men. Shot-reverse-shot editing technique is used to show a conversation between two men, where the characters are shown looking at each other in the different shots.
Women are objectified in this clip, comments such as; 'get your ankles out' so the men have something to look at, suggests that all women are good for is their bodies. Additionally, 'Why don't you go shopping or something' also implies that women are useless for anything other than looking nice. The men are in the position of power in this clip, they seem to have the better job, and are always above the women, which gives them power to order them around.
Consider the director's intentions with some of your ideas. Comment on audience positioning in your answer. What do you think the director is saying about gender in the 1960s Amercian workplace? Try to use media terms to describe as many techniques as you can to support your ideas.
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