OCR The Hustle practice question

The clip focuses on a shop including the main characters in the clip of a shop keeper, rich woman and another man, however there are also other characters and scenes included in the clip. The clip starts with a rich, feminine looking woman walking up the stairs and a shop keeper walking towards a less feminine looking woman. The woman that the shop keeper first begins talking to is seen as less feminine as the other before we have even been introduced to the other woman. This is because she does not look as well looked after as her hair is not as tidy and well done as the other woman's and she is also in more casual clothes. As she is appears a lower class, weaker and less feminine woman the shop keeper talks down to her. We can also show how the shop keeper talks down to the woman because the camera angle is over the shoulder of the shop keeper showing he is higher than he although he himself is also very feminine. Although this shows femininity because she has less power than the post masculine man, she challenges the stereotype of women as it is clear to the audience that she has little care in her appearance and will not spend an awful amount of money on clothes. The music is also played when the shot is of the richer woman whereas with the poorer woman the music fades out; the music is feminine which has been used to show her femininity and because it has been faded from the poorer woman shows her lack of femininity. The shop keeper then goes to the richer woman and therefore motivates the cut to be on her. This gives the audience the intention that because he is male he has more power over her, however throughout the clip it is shown that this is not the case. The richer woman has slow camera movements when she is the focus of the shot. This has been used to show her femininity as the movements are slow and fragile, just as a stereotypical woman would be seen. She also presents herself as a sexual object because of the tone of voice she uses when trying on the dress. She talks in a very sexual and provocative way as though she wants to be seen by other men as a sexual object and that by talking in this way will get her a reputation of this. The shop keeper is also one of the main focuses in this shot as he is the motivator of the cuts and is shown throughout the whole scene. He challenges the stereotypical man as he acts in a post masculine way. This is shown through speech as he knows what type of dress the woman would like and also through his actions. The background music is calm and joyful when focusing on the shop keeper and richer woman and is used to show their femininity. It shows the equality in their femininity and represents her stereotypical femininity and his post masculinity.

The scene then quickly changes to two men sitting at a bar. Out of the two men the older man appears more feminine than the younger man. This is shown because he is well dressed showing he cares about his looks whereas the other man is in casual clothes. The difference in clothes shows the younger man's stereotypical work man attire as he looks dirtier than the other man and as though he cares more for his beer and cigarette. The richer man also appears more feminine as he is talking more and offers the other man more to drink; this shows femininity because this is often seen to be done more by women than men. The slow jazz music in the background also implies his femininity because it is slow and calm, and more of what a women would be seen as represented by rather than a man. However, their masculinity is also represented through camera movements as they are quick, just as men do not like to hesitate when doing something and they are sharp in their actions.

The next scene is set back in the shop with the rich woman and the shop keeper. As the woman is packing away her things she realises she has lost her ring and goes into a stressed and panic state. Her actions show her over-emotional trait as the is frantically running around the shop and shouting at the shop keeper to find her ring. The music which is played in the background is fast and loud representing the stress she is feeling and therefore representing her femininity. As the shop keeper steps in to help the music stops implying he can calm her down and can have control over the situation. This scene shows how his more masculine side is present in a stressful situation and how he can take control of the situation. As he is taking control and talking to the rich women about the situation he appears in control and is making it clear to the woman that he can handle the situation. The camera zooms in closer to the woman's face to show her emotion and to make her the centre of attention. As the camera has zoomed in to do this she looks into the camera and talks provocative way and also has a provocative expression. This shows how she has again been used to show how women can be seen as sexual objects by men and that the shop keeper has made her to feel this was as she is talking about him.

The next scene is of a man fixing an alarm. This scene is very quick and sharp; it is quick and sharp to show his masculinity as he just wants to get this job done quickly and does not want to waste any time. As he is fixing the alarm, the final part of the job suddenly goes wrong causing him to go into a state of shock and become aggressive. This scene shows a quick example of a stereotypical man because he is aggressive and sharp. The sound of the alarm can also show this stereotype because it is loud and hostile, which is relatable to the stereotypical man.

The shop is then shown again with the shop keeper searching for the ring on the floor. Another man then walks into the shop and is spoken to by the shop keeper, being told that the shop keeper will be one minute. This contrasts with the way he acts towards the woman earlier as he runs over to her as soon as he can, whereas with a man he acts less hospitable and cares more about finding the ring. The shop keeper is shown to have less power than the other man. When they have the first conversation the shop keeper is on the floor and the camera angle is a high angle compared to the low angle on the other man in the shop. The use of these angles show the difference in power between the two men and that the visitor in the shop has more authority, although it is not his property. The other man is also seen as more masculine than the shop keeper because he is more aggressive towards the shop keeper and talks with more authority. This shows he is more masculine because it is stereotypical of a man to have more power over the woman, so although the shop keeper is not female, he is more feminine as he has less power and eventually gives in to the visitor of the shop. The other man also knows how to manipulate the shop keeper showing his intelligence and again his power over the shop keeper. In this scene the camera also focuses more on the visitor of the shop rather than the shop keeper, meaning he has more camera time. This makes him appear more dominant because the camera focuses on his and the audience see him more than they see the shop keeper. The focus is also directly on the visitor at one point and the shop keeper is in the background. The close up of him against the medium-long shot of the shop keeper show how he has more power because he is the main focus of the shot and that the composition has been done so that the audience focus more on him than the shop keeper.

The final scene of the clip shows the man from the shop running into a café to meet a woman. Although he appeared more powerful and masculine in the shop he suddenly appears weaker compared to the woman. This is because it is implied that she can have him do anything she wishes and he does as she says. This challenges the stereotype of men and women because it is normally the man who is in control of the woman and she will do anything to please him.

In conclusion this clip uses clear use of editing, camera, mise en scene and sound to represent gender. The way this has been used means that multiple people can relate to this clip and how there is variation within the roles of males and females. The scenarios within the clip have been done for the audience to relate to them because they are things which could happen in everyday life. However, the clip focuses mainly on middle class people which are very rich and it is more likely that the working class will watch this. This means it is harder for the audience to relate to the situations involved.