Hotel Babylon – Ethnicity

This clip is about a hotel that has illegal immigrants working for them and a man of a high authority has come to take the immigrants away. The clip deals with the representational issue of ethnicity and challenges the hegemonic norms that people of ethnicity and immigrants should not be allowed to work in a high end hotel, like in the clip.

The first thing the audience hears in the clip is the sound of a lift door opening in what seems to be a storage room. There is a smartly dressed man, and then there is instantly a two shot of two police men, symbolising authority and power. This creates the idea that the hotel is on lockdown and is about to, or has effectively become a prison, which the director uses as a running theme throughout the clip with many different uses of locks and keys and the idea of being imprisoned and captured.

The clip then cuts to a woman dressed in a very classy and expensive white outfit that is representative of the expensive lobby and theme in the hotel. An exaggerated, slow zoom is used to introduce the woman’s character. Moreover, the zoom is used to bring the audience into the hotel and the scene to make them feel more involved in the clip. Suddenly a shot reverse shot is used when the man, who seems like the leader of the police, walks through the class doors into the room. This emphasises his authority especially when the percussive beats build to create a rising tension, which acts as a metaphor for a heartbeat. Furthermore, the shot reverse shot makes the man look more powerful as he seems taller compared to the woman and his sense of authority extends to the point that he dresses comfortable and does not need to dress in a suit and tie, unlike the two man standing guard behind him.

Once the woman tells her colleague the signal to get all of the immigrants out of the hotel, it is clear that the man recognises the code as he makes a slight smirk on his close up. The quick shot of the hotel lobby when the woman alerts the colleague allows the audience to see the ethnicity diversity in the lobby which is representation of opulent wealth. The clip then reflects the panic of the situation in the camera movement as the colleague is running through the corridor alerting fellow staff to hide the immigrants, the director uses steady cam to mirror the panic. Once he has alerted the main staff lady she then goes to the kitchen and speaks in a variety of different languages so all the different ethnicities understand what she is saying. As the staff are running to a small room we see the repeated use of the shot through the fence, this deliberate editing or camera work is a visual motif and continues with the idea of being in a prison and being behind bars or being trapped.

As the main staff lady is opening the ‘staff only’ the noise of keys rattling and a lock opening is purposely made louder so the audience notices it more, this adds to the symbolic prison and trapped feel. Then there is a series of close ups on the staff, showing all the different ethnicities and suggesting that they are all together working as a cohesive unit and are now a team. Suddenly there is an exaggerated zoom on the woman’s face, and a lack of non-diegetic sound highlights the tensions and worry as someone is missing.

There is immediate cross cutting to the staff member they just realised is not there and depth of field focuses on the member vacuuming. Moreover, the shot in the corridor is very red in colour, implying danger and foreshadowing something bad will happen. The calmness of him hovering juxtaposes with the tension of the scene to create more tension as he is oblivious to the dangerous situation. The cross cutting to the staff in the room and the woman fainting is a vital scene for the representational issue ethnicity. The use of medical knowledge and the dialogue ‘I wasn’t always a cleaner’ challenges the stereotype that his ethnicity means he would not have previously been educated and not have medical skills. Most would not associate a man of ethnicity who is now a cleaner to be so well educated, considering his current situation/circumstances.

The non-diegetic, percussive drum beats heightens tension and the continuous cross cutting from the serious situation in the room to the man obliviously vacuuming creates a pressured situation that keeps building. The hyper zoom on the cleaner being caught and the juxtaposing cleaner suit and the men in smart suits plays into the ethnicity issue that the cleaner is of less power and importance. Then another hyper zoom from a higher angle on the woman’s face in the small staff room with all the members as there is a deliberately loud knock on the door, suggesting it is one of the men in suits.

Once he has been caught and the scene is now in the lobby area the woman previously working at the desk, dressed in white orders people of ethnicity around. Furthermore, the camera is moved around the lobby showing all the different ethnicities, some of a higher position, as the expensive clothes suggest, and others of a lower, staff position as they are being ordered around. The scene then cuts to a more emotional part of the clip were they are cleaning out the man who has been taken’s locker. The non-diegetic violins are very dramatic and slow as violins symbolise sad moments and that the action is over now and there is a more despondent mood. Additionally, there is a lock and key further creating the prison like scenario.

Lastly the clip shows all of the staff of all ethnicities sitting in the lunch room eating; the slow track across everyone highlights the disparity between all of the staff as they speak their own languages. Moreover, everyone has separated as they became a sort of team during the clip and have gone back to being separate in their own ethnicity group.