Class and Status

Class is a system of ordering society whereby people are divided into sets based on perceived social or economic status.

Status is a relative social or professional position.

Within the sketch they are set in height order which happens to be class order as well. The upper class male is dressed smartly with a top hat and a cane, the middle class man is similarly dressed however he is wearing a fedora and the working class man is dressed in scruff clothing with a paper boy hat. 

The working class/under class is lowest of the classes, normally depicted as 'chavs', parents are normally unemployed or in a low paid job. They normally live in a block of flats or a council house.  

Sound

Diegetic and non-diegetic sound; synchronous/asynchronous sound; sound effects; sound motif, sound bridge, dialogue, voiceover, mode of address/direct address, sound mixing, sound perspective.

• Soundtrack: score, incidental music, themes and stings, ambient sound.

Mise en Scene

Production design: location, studio, set design, costume and make-up, properties. Lighting; colour design.

Editing

Includes transition of image and sound – continuity and non-continuity systems.

Cutting: shot/reverse shot, eyeline match, graphic match, action match, jump cut, crosscutting,

parallel editing, cutaway; insert.

Other transitions, dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe, superimposition, long take, short take, slow motion, ellipsis and expansion of time, post-production, visual effects.

Camera

Shots: establishing shot, master shot, close-up, mid-shot, long shot, wide shot, two-shot, aerial shot, point of view shot, over the shoulder shot, and variations of these.

Angle: high angle, low angle, canted angle.

Movement: pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane, steadicam, hand-held, zoom, reverse zoom.

Composition: framing, rule of thirds, depth of field – deep and shallow focus, focus pulls.

Working class

Presented in the stereotypical context of traditional working class communities such Eastenders and Corrie, Shameless

• Community values often praised but do not reflect reality

• Working class communities have declined with the collapse of traditional industries such as coal

mining

• Often presented in the context of trouble, undesirable welfare scroungers, unable to cope with

their delinquent children.

Upper class

• Mainly represented through the coverage of the

monarchy,

• Seen as well bred and cultured,

• Represented through their accents, estates, and a taste

for shooting and hunting,

• Usually represented in costume and period drama.

How does the media represent social class ?

• Lack of focus on the tensions or class conflict which exist within society and have been highlighted

by key sociological perspectives such as Marxism

• Media through its representation of social class ensures the cultural hegemony of the dominant

capitalist class which maintains inequality and exploitation.

Nairn (1988) – Monarchy

• “Royal Family” concept = niceness, decency, ordinariness,

• Royal family can be deemed to be “like us” but “not like us” – the queen seen as ordinary working

mother doing extraordinary things,

•Obsession with the royal family develops through the British society following WWII

Representations of the upper class and wealth

• Neo-marxist believe that the mass media representations of social class tend to be celebrate

hierarchy and wealth,

• UK mass media never portrays the upper class in a critical light,

• Upper classes usually portrayed in an eccentric or nostalgic way. 

Reiner (2007) and Young (2007)

• Media tends to portray the UK as a meritocratic society in which intelligence, talent and hard work

are rewarded;

• Neo Marxists argue that this concept of meritocracy is in fact a myth as wealth rather than ability

opens up the doors and access to Oxbridge and top jobs; 

Newman (2006)

• Argues that the tabloid media dedicate a great deal of their content to examining the lives of

another section of the wealthy elite,

• This dedication invites the audiences to admire the achievements of these celebrities

• Media over focuses on consumer items such as luxury cars, costly holiday spots and fashion

accessories

The middle class.

• Presented as educated and successful as well as able to cope with problems,

• Over represented in the media due to their lifestyle,

• Representation fits in with the hegemonic ideology of the dominant class in society,

• Representation justifies the existing class structure and inequalities by suggesting people need to

become more competent and successful in order to cope with life.

Representations of the middle class

• Overrepresented on TV in dramas, soap operas, and situation comedies,

• Substantial percentage of newspapers and magazines are aimed at the middle classes such as a

Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph which focuses on their consumptions and taste,

• Content of newspapers expresses the concerns of the middle classes with regards to the declining

moral standards along with their pride for their British identity and heritage,

Representations of the working class • Newman (2006) argues that there are very few situation

comedies, television or drama which focuses on the everyday lives of working class who constitute a

significant section of society,

• Newman argues that when in the media working class are often depicted in a very non positive

light dumb buffoons (Homer Simpson) and immature machos (Phil Mitchell),

• Butsch (1992) – working class portrayed as flawed individuals (benefit cheats, etc)

Martin is a character who likes to spend a lot of his time in his shed, he normally doesn't wear a shirt 

around the house, he is very clumsy and is partially deaf. 

Representations of the working class

• Curran and Seaton (2003) – newspapers aimed at the working class make the assumption that they are uninterested in serious analysis of either the political or social organisation,

• Marxists argue that the content of newspapers such as the Sun and the Daily Star is an attempt to distract the working class audiences from the inequalities of capitalism.

 

Representations of poverty and underclass

• Portrayal usually negative and stereotypical,

• Portrayed in the form of statistics in news bulletin such as figures

of unemployment,

• Recent media interest in the labelling of the poor such as “chavs”

which according to Shildrick and MacDonald (2007) suggest that

the poor are undeserving of sympathy, • Hayward and Yar (2006) –

the term chav is used as an amusing term of abuse for young poor

people 

In 'Fish Tank' the main character lives within a block of flats which is a stereotypical place for 

working/under class to live like in 'Top Boy'.

Lawler (2005)

• Chav is used as a term of disgust and contempt,

• Argues that the media use the discriminatory and 

offensive language to vilify what they depict as a peasant 

underclass symbolised by stereotypical forms of 

appearance,

• Swale (2006) – usage of the term NEET (Not in 

Employment Education or Training),

• Newspapers suggest that those from the underclass are

responsible for their own poverty. 

DOWNTON ABBEY

Within Downton Abbey class can be easily distinguished. One way that we can establish the class of these characters is through Mise-En-Scene. At the beginning of the clip there is a boy who is riding his bike dressed in rags with the stereotypical paperboy hat. This immediately signals to me his class, as he cannot afford a decent standard of clothing. Not only this but his profession at the time, was a very working class job. Towards the middle of the extract you can see many of the maids/ workers all eating round one table and later on you can see a lord who is sat at his own table eating. This illustrates both the working and upper class, as the workers are not seen as important enough to have their own separate breakfast areas, where as the upper class do.  With regards to props, the upper class is easily differentiable from the working class. Towards the end of the extract the lady is presented with breakfast in bed, eating of china plates with a china pottery set.  This extract in many respects fits Narin’s theory that royal/upper class families are portrayed like us but not like us as the lord and lady have a normal conversation with each other but have servants and exert power over people.

The whole extract is set heavily around a palace and so the non-diegetic sound, or sound track, is rather fitting. It is an instrumental/ piano melody esc sound track, which is stereotypically associated with the upper class.  The ringing of the bell early on shows the divide between the classes and that there is a social divide as the servants are being beckoned. This shows that they are working classes as they answer to someone, and a bit like the Ronnie comedy sketch; it shows they have a place within society and that they know their place.  Newman’s theory (2006) is highly supported within this extract as the paper on the Titanic’s sink had an article that talked about all the upper class women getting on board the lifeboats but not the working or middle class. This supports his theory as he talks about newspapers covering people based on their wealth.  The accents, so diegetic sound, of the characters determines their status and class. All the working class within the extract has thick northern accents whereas the upper class is well spoken and has soft accents. This links to the Neo Marxists argument against Young and Reiner’s theory (2007) that meritocracy is in fact a myth as wealth rather than ability opens up the doors and access to Oxbridge and top jobs. The well-spoken nature of the upper class in the extract suggests they are educated which therefore suggests they went to Oxbridge.

At the start of the clip there is a POV shot of the lady of the house, which coincidentally happens to be a low angle, over the paperboy. This shows the difference in class as she is looking down on him as he is working class and so sees him a lesser than herself. There is also a high angle of one of the workers. This could suggest he is middle class as a high angle makes him seem intimidating as if he has the power over a working class worker. This relates to the comedy sketch ‘I know my place’ as he looks down upon the working class but looks up to the upper class. There is another over the shoulder shot from the perspective of a middle class man which is slightly angled down on the working class workers. This shows class as he again is looking down upon the lower class again a bit like within the comedy sketch. Later on there is an establishing shot when the lord of the house is walking down the stairs. This shows his class as it establishes how much he has.

UNDER CLASS 

• Butsch (1992) – working class portrayed as flawed individuals (benefit cheats, etc)

• Curran and Seaton (2003) – newspapers aimed at the working class make the assumption that they are uninterested in serious analysis of either the political or social organisation,
  
• Newman (2006) argues that there are very few situation
comedies, television or drama which focuses on the everyday lives of working class who
constitute a significant section of society.

Shameless

                                                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOg9RNVFAXA

At the start of the clip there is an establishing shot of the location in which the drama takes place. This is used to show class as it shows a beaten down area, a council estate/block of flats, which is normally associable area for the stereotypically working class family. There is an extreme close up of the beer as it is passed to Frank. Extreme close ups can be used as a way of showing an object of interest, in this case the object is beer. This represents class as, Frank is unemployed and stereotypically the unemployed working class 'drink away' their problems. There is a close up on Frank's face which enables you to see his drunken face. This shows class because drinking and being excessively drunk is associated with the working class as it is assumed they do not look after themselves properly. This links to Butsch's theory (1992) that working class individuals are flawed as Frank is very drunk and therefore is not a responsible figure to his children. 

With regards to the character of Frank his dialogue is very slurred. This illustrates his class as similarly to before, being drunk and irresponsible is related to being the working class. This links to Newman's theory (2006) that sit-coms do not accurately represent the working class as having a contribution to society. Throughout the extra there is a continual use of informal lexis. Frank says 'Fuck' continuously, this sort of language something is associated frequently with the working class as they have this 'chav' type attitude which links to Lawlers theory (2005) that 'chav' is used as a term of disgust, which is fitting to the way Frank treats his kids. The sound track is off beat and reggae esc this shows that they are underclass as it is common music and has no real class like the soundtrack of Downton Abbey. They all have strong scouse accents and Liverpool is known for its council estates and so it shows their underclass status. 

At the beginning the set is made up to be a shabby pub, stereotypically the working and underclass spend most of their time in the pub. This in a way links to Swale's theory (2005) that the working class are N.E.E.T (not in employment education or in training) he is at the pub all day. Not only this but it slightly links to newspapers suggesting that the underclass are at fault for their own situations and because Frank is only drinking away his problems instead of facing them he is creating more issues for himself. 
The costumes of the characters are also very stereotypical of the working class as they are wearing full tracksuits or worn out clothing. This shows that they are working class as a middle or upperclass man or woman would be wearing a decent standard of clothing.
Not only this but when it cuts to the scene in their apartment the older sister uses an old blanket to make a poncho, this shows that they cannot afford to go and buy a new one they have to make do with what they have which is stereotypical of the working class. Within the same scene you can also see the walls of the flat are beaten down. This links to Butsch's theory that the working class are flawed individuals as they aren't looking after themselves or where they live.

   

Throughout the extract there are loads of normal cuts. This shows class because it illustrates how ordinary the working class are and that they aren't particularly exciting. There is then exaggerated sound of Frank chugging his beer. This again links to Butsch's theory that the working/under class are flawed individuals as it is exaggerating his dependence on alcohol which is stereotypically a working class thing. After Frank finds out Ian is not his son there is a wipe transition to the apartments. Exaggerated wipe transitions are quite unprofessional and do not look as good, this shows class as Frank is unemployed and not very professional when it comes to being a father. This links back to the working class being N.E.E.T because of Frank being unemployed and the exaggerated wipe further shows this as it doesn't look good.