Cutting It Essay - Gender

How is Gender represented in this clip?

In this clip, lighting is used to highlight both the atmosphere and the feelings of both people, but during the first scene mainly the woman. During the first scene, the scene where the couple are in the car, the sunlight is shining from behind the woman, basking her in light. This creates an angelic effect and makes the woman seem innocent to the audience. I think that the natural, bright light reflects the woman's happiness at being married. This links to the stereotype that all women's aim in life is to get married and are obsessed with love and marriage. The audience will be able to relate to both the couple's elated feelings and due to the lighting feel that they are part of this special time.
The woman in the clip is dressed very nicely, with her make up and hair done. The woman is wearing a floaty dress with heels. Her make up is natural and her hair is styled. Both the costume and make up join together to create a very feminine look.  This feminine look reinforces the stereotype and expectation that women are always well dressed and are obsessed with their looks. The audience will not really have a reaction to how the woman is dressed in this clip because for them that is how women are majorly represented in the media therefore for them it will be nothing abstract therefore not sparking a reaction.
During the third scene, the scene of the doctor's appointment, the woman is shown to be alone in the doctor's room. This scene, I think, is quite empowering to women. The scene subverts the stereotype that women are always dependent on men to support them. The scene shows a very sensitive topic being discussed, possibly about cancer, and the scene shows the woman being able to deal with this subject on her own. She is shown as strong and independent therefore representing herself and women in a positive light. During this scene the audience would feel a sense of protectiveness towards the woman because they will be able to recognise how hard this appointment will be for the lady and will want to support her through this.
The ending shot of the clip, just after the woman has been run over by the car, the couple are laying down on the pavement with flowers scattered around them. Flowers are traditionally linked to being quite feminine objects and the presence of them in this scene brings to the audiences attention the woman in this scene. The flowers are scattered around on the pavement quite violently. They reflect the way the woman is violently scattered on the pavement. The audience would feel the loss and the flowers bring forth the woman's innocence of the scene which the audience will be able to pick up on.
The framing in the clip is important with how the genders are represented. At the very start of the clip, both the man and the woman are in the cente of the screen and on the same level as each other. This framing at the start highlights that in this situation they are equal in status. The scene is just after they have got married and the fact that they are both framed equally in this clip portrays to the audience how happy they are and this feeling reflects onto the audience putting both genders in a positive last.
Framing is used again in the first scene, but this time the genders are not portaryed as equal as they were before.The framing of this part of the scene centers the couple but also highlights the way they are sitting. The framing shows the woman leaning into the man. The man has his arm around her pulling her close. This position brings forth the stereotypical couple image with the man acting as the protector and the woman wanting support. The audience will be able to relate to this image because they know the stereotypes and the different 'roles' that men and women have in relationships and are able to see this reflected in this clip.
Later on in the clip, after the woman has just been run over by a car, the movement of the camera changes during this scene. There is hand held camera movement and it's point of view is from the man running towards his injured wife. The hand held camera movement highlights the man's panic and shock of the situation. In a relationship, as shown before in the car, the men are stereotypically cast the role of the protector and the fact that he could not protect his wife goes against this role. Therefore his panic, shock and desperation of trying to get to his wife and protect her is shown through the jagged and quick movements of the camera. The audience would be able to pick up on the despration and panic of the situation and the feelings the husband is having through the camera work.
During the clip , after the car has hit the woman and her husband has run over to her, the angle of the camera shows the man leaning over his wife. This angle of the man being above the woman suggests two things. One being that the man is above the woman in status. The other one, which I think is the most plausable representation , is that the angle is highlighting to the audience how vunerable the woman is at this moment in time and how her husband is still trying to protect her - therefore fitting to the stereotypical roles of the relationship. The audience will be able to pick up on the husband's desperation and him still trying to protect his wife.
In the first scene of the clip, where the couple are in the car, they are discussing their realatioships and past ones. During this discussion the woman says "I know about Melissa" and at this the man's reaction is one of guilt and regret.This discussion brings to the audience's attention that the man has a history of cheating. This conforms to the ideas that men are sex obssessed and cheat on their wives. I think the audience would be shocked at this because during this scene the couple seem very much in love and the fact that the man has cheated slightly breaks the facade of their 'perfect' love.
During the second scene, where the couple get out of the taxi outside the hospital, the man says "You planned this" and his face shows a reaction of slight betrayal and confusion. The fact that the woman has taken the couple on their wedding day to the hospital and the man's negative reaction and the line "You planned this", casts the woman in a negative light. It presents her as manipulative. This conforms to the stereotypical idea that women are planning things behind their husbands backs and twisting good things to suit themselves. The audience would feel sympathy towards the husband because he has had his day ruined by the woman's visit to the hospital and her potentially changing a good day to a bad one.
In the clip, during the scene where the woman has been hit by a car, her husband is running towards her across the road. When he is running the sound is muted but the silence is cut off harshly by a car horn blaring. The audience usually associate men with driving and the fact that the sound is aggressive and abrupt leads the audience to associate men with aggression. Men are usually classed as aggressive and the sound of the car horn in this clip reinforces this idea. I personally think that the abrupt car noise reflects the sudden realisation of the situation for the man.
Again during the scene where the woman gets hit by the car, when the bus pulls away to reveal the woman on the floor, a slow motion effect is shown. This makes the reveal of the woman on the floor a lot more tense for the audience and creates a greater reaction of shock for the male character and the audience. Not only does it create a bigger sense of shock it also represents the woman in a negative light. The slow motion also makes the audience think of the situation. The woman was standing in the  middle of the road when she got hit. This presents the woman as quite niave and stupid for standing in a dangerous place. It links to the stereotype of women being stupid and naive and the woman plays to this by standing and getting run over by a car.
When the woman has been run over and she is laying on the floor there are multiple cuts between the man and the woman. One of the cuts are an eyeline match. The cut highlights the mans eyes and to where he is looking at the woman on the ground. By having this editing in it portrays how vunerable the woman is lying on the ground. It will bring to the audiences attention the panic and seriousness of the situation.