Downtown Abbey Representation Practice:
Who (out of the seven core representation areas of society) are being represented in this clip?
- Class and Status: Servants and the higher/noble class
-Servants are hard at work while the nobility get to take their time
-All of those in the castle are white with English accents, the Abbey is set in England
-No separation of ethnicity between the servants and the nobility, or 'ladies' and 'lords'
-Gender: The men have different jobs to the ladies, the men are higher ranked
-Age: Those who are older in the chain of servants have influence over those who are younger
How are they represented to us? (what messages are we told about these groups? What are they like? What are their lives like? What are we encouraged / persuaded to think about them?)
-Everyone, no matter what, serves under someone else
4 Technical Elements:
Sound:
Non-Diegetic:
-Talking and bustling of servants
-Ringing of bells to signal that the lords and ladies are awake
-The house is quieter with less bustling when the lord comes through, the servants have finished their work
Diegetic:
-'Lively' and 'awake' music
-Music stops when Servant reads the papers, something shocking has happened
-Elegant music to signify the appearance of the lord
-Silence when the Lord enters the dining room for breakfast, 'lively', fast-paced music starts up again once he's read the Telegram
Camera:
-Tracking shot of different characters
-Wide shots to establish certain characters
-Faster paced shots when it comes to the bustling of servants
-Subtle high angle shots of Mrs Hughes, showing her power
-Subtle low angle shots of Daisy (the fire girl), she has a lower status compared to everyone else
-Tracking camera smoothly changes angles in order to capture the full scene and life of the Abbey in the earlier hours
-Long continuous tracking shot to 'establish' the setting of the Abbey
-High angle camera shot of the Lord coming down the stairs, he's in a higher position compared to the rest of the Abbey
-Shots get closer up on each of the Lord and Ladies faces when they realize what has happened
-Over the shoulder shot, with the Lord and Lady, blurred until he turns to face her
Mise en Scene:
-Tracking shot: Switches between the servants an crawls up the ladder of rank (class and status)
-Higher ranking persons are in nicer clothes compared to that of the servants
-Telegram creates turning point for the characters
-Mrs Hughes is in a long 'intimidating' black dress
-The keys in Mrs Hughes hands shows she holds power
-Daisy being positioned lower than the other characters, she's younger and innocent
-Daisy is in a pink dress compared to everyone else in blue, white, or black, symbolises her 'standing out'
-Telegram is yellow (could symbolise danger)
-Mrs Patmore is older compared to Daisy, who is in submission to her
-Difference in Daisy's accent compared to everyone else
-The Servant 'O'Brien' seems to lag in order to hear the Lord and Ladies conversation about the Titanic
-Obstruction of newspapers, it 'conflicts' in their lives
Editing:
-Long Continuous shot, creates flow
-Jump cut takes us away form the butlers and back to the maids and Daisy, separates Genders
-Higher presence of jump cuts after the telegram has been read
-More jump cuts in the bustling kitchen
-Shot-reverse shot between the Lord and Lady
-Very little match-on-action, instead cuts from the door closing to the continued action that the character takes once they are inside
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