Representation of Ethnicity - Hotel Babylon

The clip starts out by showing an average day as there is no music meaning the focus is the on foley of the machines on in the background, also the scene is a medium shot of the man as they want the audience to be able to see that he is a in a suit so even with the loud background sounds he either has a high position in a company or is a business man, furthermore they want you to see his stern, concentration expression turn to one of confusion then fear. This makes the day feel relatable and typical to the average person watching it meaning that they want them to form a link with the characters in the scene. Then when the foley changes to the loud footstep the scene then gives slight prominence to the police there, however the business man is always in the shot or centre composition, whereas they share there shot meaning they share power this shows that there must be someway that he has some unknown power over them, also earlier on the shot seemed to follow the business man once again putting an emphasis on his prominence. The music making it seem the police have power however as the music seems to start when the police appear, it contains a sense of suspense as if something is going to happen. When the police talk it is in a calm manner however the medium-long shot on them puts an emphasis on their uniform showing there power they would have over a typical business man, again trying to make the audience relate to the situation where they would know a police in uniform typically has power over them. Giving the businessman the stereotype of dangerous as he has some sort of power other authority.

The scene then zooms into a secretary who is looking at papers showing she has an important role in the Hotel. The scene, although has bright colours seems to be dimmed, as if something bad or depressing has happened. Not the typical atmosphere in a hotel, almost as if they are hiding something, keeping something in the dark. However when the immigration officer goes up to the desk the scene seems to light up as if nothing is wrong, asserting the opinion that the hotel is hiding something. The music from the previous scene continues and continues to build the suspense that something is about to happen, it also though creates a eerie feeling that makes the whole thing seem like something sad has come from it before. The main foley from this shot is the door opening, as if a silent message that they are here because the shot then shoots to the secretary who's face is watching them closely, there is no footstep however to signify the idea that you don't know they are coming. They also remain in darkness until they reach the desk like they know something also. The immigration officer has the most power in this scene, he remains the centre of the composition and he is always slightly in the shot, if when he appears he is more prominent, there is also a close up of his face to show that he knows what is happening and by the slight twitch of his lips he finds it quite amusing but continues to watch as he is letting her think she is in control as she tries to stall. The shot then cuts to the men on the sofa, the Black business man seems to panic slightly at her question as he hesitates. It then cuts back to the immigration offer who has a growing smirk on his face, making his stereotype, dangerous as even with his authoritative power he knows more than he lets on. The women however seems slightly stressed the closeup on her face putting an emphasis on this making the audience pity her.

The music is now extremely tense, as the black member of staff  from before runs down the stairs past unknowing members of forgein staff, you know this as they talk loudly to one another in a forgein language, also the forgein members were wearing cleaning uniform. The fact that he didn't warn the forgein workers, this challenges the stereotypes of unfied as they obviously are seperated not only by language but by heirachy. Both the black man and the man from the beginning go into an office, panicked they warn a women at a desk. Once again at this scene the lights aredimmed as they descend down to show that they are hiding something underneath the 'glamour' hotel.She runs around the busy kitchen, trying to shout over the foley of the cooking, trying to grab there attention. It shows the kind of environment that the immigrants have to put up. The pace is fast to represent her panic an extra emphasis put on it as the pace of the music quickens. When the workers realise what is going on they too begin to panic as they start rambling themselves in fear running around much like her. However once again there is an absense of foley with footsteps, I believe this is because even though there is mass panic they idea they are are not supposed to be there is echeod in the non extistant footsteps. The shots stay medium throughtout this as the director not only wants to show hysteria in actions but also there face as the workers panic.

In the closet the music continues but the foley of the keys however is that sense of security that no one can get through a locked door, the scared gasping of the people however increase the sense of the dread and fear making that need for security all the more real. There is a close up of the womens in the offices face to show her panic when she realises one of them is missing. The scene from then on constantly flickers to the cleaner they called abraham as the suspense builds as the audience have to wait and see who finds him first to the event in the closet with the diabetic women. The other male black cleaner however seems to catch the audience by susprise it makes the audience pity him as the stereotypical view that all immigrants are non-interlectuals that are here to take all our money is wrong as this man can obviously achieve alot more inlife then being a cleaner.

Overall, I belive that this clip shows conformity in the stereotypical views of dangerous and pitied but in the same way that it shows them it also goes against them as the clip shows that immigrants have more to fear by us then we do of them gaining great sympathy from the audience. This clip both challenges and conforms to the ethnicity stereotypes that I have meantoioned.

Ran out of time to fully complete the essay