Downton Abbey Clip (mock re-write)

In this clip taken from the television show Downton Abbey mise en scene, sound, camera and editing are used to portray the representation issue of class and status. The extract follows the general hegemonic norms of status divide in that era.

The first thing the audience sees is an establishing shot of a young boy riding his bike down a long pathway up to an opulent and grand mansion. The camera is purposely tracking to make it as though we are riding the bike with the boy into the shot; the audience is on the same level as the boy as we are invited into the shot with him. The ease of the long camera shots imply that that it is a common thing that he does every day. Additionally, the simple and dull clothes he is wearing is representative of the lower class. This idea of lower status is further highlighted by the avoidance of focusing the camera on the boy’s face, suggesting that maybe he is not important enough.

The cross cut to the scene of a woman waking up in a cosy room. There is very low key lighting in the shot creating a calm and warm environment. Moreover, this shot juxtaposes her comfort with the paper boy’s early and scheduled life. Within the scene there is a medium, profile shot of the woman looking out the window at the boy riding along. The high angle, bird’s eye view shot of the boy makes it seem like she is literally and metaphorically looking down on him, as though she is in a higher class and position, proposing the binary opposites between classes. In addition the point of view of this shot is as though we are looking at the boy from the woman’s perspective due to the eye-line match, whilst the previous shot was suggested that we are looking through the boy’s point of view. Furthermore, the smoothness of the wide shot and the ease at which the boy rides in and out of the frame highlights the normality of the situation of him riding to the mansion.

Suddenly, the diegetic sound becomes significantly louder as it cuts to a bell ringing of which the sound is amplified to give the bell importance, as well as the low angle, close up of the bell. This quick shot signifies that the bell is of high priority as it is what the higher class use to signal the lower class, this suggests that the poor people wait on the rich, emphasising class divide. Once the bell has been rang the staff says ‘here they go again’ which further creates the idea that they wait on the upper class. In addition, there is lots of talking in the scene, this loud diegetic sound symbolises how busy the environment that they are in is, as well as the use of many interrupted shots denoting that the kitchen is a very hectic place to be working in. This also creates the idea that the editing of the shot is purposely done so we do not have lengthy shots of the staff because they are not that important. Additionally, in the establishing shot of the kitchen, the director positions the camera so it is level with the table proposing the idea that we are sitting at the table and are on the same class level as the staff. The clothes that the staff wear is maid and butler attire so it is easy to distinguish between the upper and lower class.

The scene of the boy ironing the newspaper is included in the clip as it is the first time the clip focuses on the notion of the titanic. The slightly low angled, close up of the boy looking at the newspaper is of great importance of the whole thing revolving around the titanic. In compliance with this newspaper scene a butler tells the boy to iron a section first providing him with power in the situation, but also making sure they do this for the lord as he has a higher position in the class hierarchy. Moreover, when talking about the Titanic one staff member says ‘nothing in life is sure’ this statement relates the two classes together as it goes for both upper and lower.

Furthermore, the next scene of the lord walking down a grand staircase conforms to a higher class hegemonic norm. The camera is directed to use tracking/pulling shots of the lord walking, as well as the stedicam used to follow the lord to create a clam and steady environment that is not hectic, juxtaposing with the business of the kitchen. The director uses long, slow shots to both emphasise the peacefulness of the scene, but also to create more focus on the lord’s significance and authority. In terms of editing, we see basic continuity editing as the scene only uses two very long shots, this shows that the Lord can command the shot as the camera is directed to follow him around, this creates a point of view shot as it is as if we are waiting for the Lord to walk down the stairs. Moreover, the clothes he is wearing connotates wealth and power, as they are very smart and look expensive, just like the use of rich gold and red colours in the set design sub textually implying a sense of wealth. Additionally, the non-diegetic, classical music further denotes a calm and wealthy environment, as classical music can be representative of affluence.