Representation of Gender

Gender is stereotypically split between masculine men and feminine women. Their are certain feminine stereotypes such as liking pink, flowers and cooking and being weak and family orientated generally associated with women. There are also masculine stereotypes such as being macho, good at fixing things and football generally associated with men. This is not the reality as you get both feminine men and women and masculine men and women who like all sorts of different things.

My initial thoughts of the clip are that there are many different types of men throughout the video. The only woman in the clip appears to look for help from the man and when she is rude to him her facial expression suggests she regrets it. The little boy is shown to look up to the first man as his face shows enjoyment and happiness as he arrives.

Firstly the camera is help very unsteady and films through a fence and passes to other irrelevant people until it reaches the two talking characters who are the main focus in the clip. I think the reason for this filming is because they are police detectives and the onlookers are interested because of a case and could possibly be reporters which is why they have used this type of unsteady, shaky camera as it would be similar to that used by a reporter.  In the next few shot the man is slightly further back placing him higher than her in the shot which is showing the status between these people which is confirmed when a close up of the woman's facial expression shows her regret for talking to him rudely earlier and she's looking for help and reassurance. This is portraying women to be needy and weak and men to be reassuring, higher in status and manipulative as he walks away knowing she will ask for his help. As the camera pans outwards establishing the location it also shows the distance between the characters as previous to this shot is a shot of the woman's face looking almost disgusted that she had to ask for his help.
In the next scene the camera remains unsteady during a serious of close up shots, mediums shots and medium close ups of the police man and the evidence he is analysing. Not only is this showing the signs of stress on his face but it also emphasises the unorganised, hectic manner that the man is working in while he clues together parts of the crime. It could be said that this is showing men to be unorganised. He is also portrayed to be intelligent as he knows what different things mean that other people wouldn't and he can tell different things just by looking at pictures. This man is also giving counteracting a comment made by a women over the young girl sleeping around. Trust and expected pureness in young girls is often a trait shown by middle aged men and fathers as they try and protect them and there innocence. The step mother is therefore being shown as nasty, lying and deceitful as she is said to have spread these allegations about her step daughter.
In the next scene the camera tracks all of the woman from the first scenes movements even as she bends down to pick something up. This emphasises how the woman is busy and her life is quite hectic also. Close ups showing only part of what is happening could represent her lack of time and her not being able to fit everything in her life. As the man walks in the camera shows a shot of the man and boy waving at each other and establishes there relationship. In the relationship the boy seems to idealise the man as he seems a lot more cheerful and happy with the man.
In the next scene there is an establishing shot showing what is clearly a very old, deserted house at night time. This would instantly make the audience on edge as nothing good ever happens at these settings especially not at night time. The expensive looking car pulling up contrasts with the old house and sort of foreshadows the characters met in the next scene. The camera is filmed from a very low angle at this point showing the height and power that these new characters from the car have on the new characters in the house. A flash back or to present (but at another location) shows what the men in the clip are referring to. This scene portrays two different types of men. Firstly is portrays the 'alpha male' Who just charges in, causes destruction and chaos and makes demands. This is showing men to be hard, strong, manipulative and very destructive and uncaring. The other me in the clip are shown to be weak, homeless, and naïve.
The last scene just shows the relationship between the boy and the first man as they both look to be enjoying themselves. It also appears that the little boy trusts the man as they have conversations you wouldn't really expect from what appears to be a woman's work colleague and her son.

The Mise-en-scene also shows gender due to setting and clothing. The both characters are wearing dark clothes which contradicts the usual gender stereotypes of men wearing blue and women wearing pink. This then suggests gender equality between the characters which does not actually fit with what is happening on screen. Neither of the characters are in a police uniform suggesting that they are of a higher role in their jobs once again suggesting no gender being better than the other.
The mans house appears to be very hectic covered in all of the evidence from the case showing these traits to be the traits of men but then the woman's house is also shown to be quite untidy. The difference between this is that the woman's house is untied because she has a son where as the man appears to live alone meaning his mess and untidiness is self inflicted. The old house shows that the man who are squatting there are very poor, homeless and possibly unclean if you go by the state of the house. They are also wearing quite lightly coloured clothing which could possible question there masculinity as the men who burst into the house clearly have more power over them and are wearing far darker superior clothing. Finally the thug like men arrive in a very posh, expensive looking car, and liking cars is a very well know stereotype of men. The contrast of the house and car creates an enigma code for the audience as they would wonder why this posh car is pulling up at this clearly derelict house.

The editing in the clip firstly represents gender with the eye line match. Between the two main characters the eye line match is the two characters almost being inline with each other. With the man and the little boy the little boy is below the man so the little boys eye line is looking up at the man which is often used when a son looks at his father. With the men in the house the men who are squatting there are all sitting down where as the men who burst in are standing up, this means the seated men's eye line looks up at the men showing the relationship between the characters. The editing also shows a very dull affect on the camera showing the negative tone that the program has.

My overall thoughts on the clip are that women are shown to be needy, weak and looking for reassurance and help. They are also shown to have priorities such as children which appear to have a big affect on the woman life. Men are portrayed in three different ways. Firstly strong, violent, uncaring and aggressive. Secondly clever, intelligent  and fatherly and lastly they are shown with the typical womanly stereotypes of being weak, helpless and needy.