Homework- Rewrite Practise Exam

Homework- Rewrite practise exam

One way of showing class and status is via the angle of the camera shots. An example of this is in the shot where the royals are talking to each other in the middle of the 2nd fight. The shot is placed as if we are eye level with the royals who are ignoring the fight to the death in front of them. When these two men chat however we can still see the protagonist fighting the trident wielding gladiator. We see these two men from a high angle wide shot which symbolises their lower class. Another example is when the trident gladiator (now the second protagonist) is hit with the spear and is clinging onto the wall. In this section we have a low medium shot of the roman that is of higher class, this drastically contrasts to the dying gladiator who we have a high medium shot of. This contrast connotes the difference of the two men's classes and shows the difference in status. Also this scene could be used to explain the difference, not only between roman and slave but from black man and white man. This whole section shows Levi Strauss' binary opposites thrice as royal to slave, white to black and antagonist to protagonist. Another use of how they show the protagonists as slaves is when they walk behind a cage. This makes the watcher feel like the gladiators were trapped together and thus dislike the royals who are in a wide shot showing their freedom. This technique is used in another part of the scene where the trident gladiator throws his net over the camera. One really effective use of camera shots is when the cage door opens for the first time. At this moment we see the protagonists at the foreground, the guards at the midground and the antagonists in the background. This is also teamed with the protagonists having a high shot the guards at eye level and the antagonists with a low shot. The whole effect gives the watcher a form of hierarchy, from the people with status, to the people with slight status to those that have no status at all.

A way of representing the difference is also through sound. The first example of this being used to show class is when the men are first led to the cage, they are led to it by a dull and dreary death march song, this connotes that they may be dying sometime soon. However this march alone does not show class but when it is in juxtaposition to the sound of the royals laughing it shows how meaningless the gladiators are. Even when they are being led to their death the voice of the royals takes precedence as if to say a laugh from them is worth a life of the protagonists. This effect is used again in the first fight as the protagonist is sat in a cage whilst two men kill each other and still the antagonists are heard. Also in this section we hear the antagonists joking about how they have used and abused people of a lower class (people like the protagonist). This emphasises their superior class. When the second fight starts (the fight with the protagonist) the music starts to pick up pace, this then keeps building to make the effect more. However when we go into the eye level shot of the antagonists the music mellows down just a bit. This connotes that the antagonists are worth of breaking the tension of the protagonists fight.

The class is very clearly shown in the mise-en-scene. One key feature is the props. A prime example of this is in the fight. Here are two men laying down their lives for these four royals and the roman in red is there playing with his jewellery. This must be a very arrogant and snobby man if he doesn’t even show the slightest care for the slave who’s going to die. Another example is in the fight with the protagonist. Half way through the fight the black man loses his net and holds his trident aside his hips. Also at this moment he is beating the antagonist, this prop is used to emphasise his masculinity (phallic symbolism). To confirm this idea the protagonist only has a dagger, in contrast to the black man this is very short, this effect shows that the black man has a higher status. Also to do with weapons we see a difference in racial class. A sword is a symbol of power in ancient culture, so in the hands of the roman we realise he is quite powerful. To relate this to racial class the black man has weapons that are commonly associated with a farmer and a fisherman. This connotes that the protagonist is of higher class. Another example of mise-en-scene being used to show class is via costume at the beginning. The roman guards are clad in armour and each guard has weapons. This raises their class above that of the slaves around them who are in rags and are weaponless. Also in the realm of costume are the gladiator’s outfits. They are in underwear and a shoulder guard with nothing else. This contrasts with the antagonists clothes as they are long and colourful. This emphasises their class as they have posh clothes to hand. Also a section of mise-en-scene is the setting of the scene. This is mostly used to show the difference of status in men and women. An example of this is when the antagonists are sat down. They are sat in a form of hierarchy with men at the top and women (their wives) at the bottom; this shows an obvious difference in status of the two sexes.

Finally the last way to display class is through the editing of the section. A good example of how this is used is when the prisoners and the protagonist are sat in the cage. We here see four tired slumped men in rags and it suddenly cuts to four well-dressed reclining royals. The effect of this juxtaposition connotes that the antagonists are by far the more powerful people and the people of higher class. Another example of how this field can be used to show class is when, in the second fight, the antagonists start chatting about a completely different subject whilst the protagonist is dying.