Task: Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of gender using the following:

• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise-en-scene

Camera Work:

 When Luther and Alice are situated outside there are many establishing shots of the scenery around them. When Alice begins to speaks seductively and alluringly towards Luther the camera zooms in and focuses on her. Alice's voice, in turn, becomes quieter and the camera becomes the closer to allow the audience to think they are drawn in to her provocative nature, just like Luther is. This is Alice's way of gaining dominance and power by exploring Luther's desires.

 We are given an off the shoulder point of view so that we understand why Luther finds her so alluring but not given the full extent of her effects over him. In this scene Alice allows herself to become controlling and powerful by using her sexuality as her weapon.  

Whilst we are inside the apartment the camera uses tracking shots to follow Alice around the apartment. This shows that Alice is the main focal point in this scene and that Luther has no control because she has the dominant ground. Alice does not conform to the natural stereotypes of women being innocent and quiet when confronted.

 When Alice begins to talk about the painting of the black hole she has in her apartment a point of view shot from Alice's perspective is used to show that her opinion is the one that is important and valid in this situation. This idea does not conform with the natural expectation of women, usually a woman's opinion is dismissed or ignored, therefore it is strange to see that a woman's view is of main focus in this scene. Using the point of view shot shows us that in this scenario Luther has no control over Alice's intentions or actions.  

When Luther begins insulting Alice we zoom into her facial features and this is so we can understand the effect his words have on her. Luther comes closer to Alice and when we are given Alice's off the shoulder point of view we see that Luther is viewed at a higher angle, this gives the impression that Luther has now become a threat to Alice. This idea follows normal gender stereotypes that males have more power than females. Alice is viewed as slightly smaller to Luther and this could suggest that Luther is the more dominating sex and person in the situation.  

In contrast we see Alice's face through an off the shoulder shot. We can see that Alice's emotions override the usual expectations of women, being weak and sensitive, because she changes the subject so drastically.

However, when Luther gets close Alice the camera zooms in Alice's facial expressions which gives the impressions that Luther has become attracted to her intense, sexually alluring and provocative nature.  Alice is definitely perceived as someone who owns her sexuality in a non obvious yet covert and tactile way, thus contradicting the innocent and pure stereotype of women. Alice is the person who breaks off eye contact with Luther and the tracking shots of Alice continue to show that Luther had no effect on her and that she still maintains dominance and control.

When Luther moves to the other side of the room the camera levels appear to even out which gives the impression that the ground and atmosphere has reached a mutually threatening stage between one and another. When Luther begins to threaten Alice for the second time the tracking shots focused on Alice appear to be from Luther's point of view, it appears that Luther is circling and closing in on Alice which shows he is lawfully correct and right in his accusations. In affect Luther has regained dominance in this scene and is seen as a higher authority in association with Alice, therefor he conforms to the usual stereotype of males being the compelling and authoritative gender.

Alice steps into the ring of accusations with no hesitation. Alice is shown as close up and unaffected and this allows us to see that Luther has no effect on her. She empowers the situation by showing that she doesn't care, she does this through her facial expressions. When Luther backs away, this suggests that he has realised he cannot win over this unattainable dominance and so he chooses to resign and leave.

Throughout this clip we see Luther being challenging towards Alice however Alice always ends up maintaining her powerful, dominant position by using her sex and attractiveness to manipulate Luther's action and feelings towards her. Luther views her as something evil however we can tell, as and audience, that throughout this clip Luther finds her attractive.

Editing:

Within this clip a lot of shot reverse shot is used to suggest a conversation is taking place between Alice and Luther. The shot reverse shots seem to take on the angle of the person who is listening. When Luther is listening to Alice speak the camera is positioned so that it is slightly higher and when Alice is listening the camera is almost looking up at Luther. This editing effect could suggest that Luther is seen as more important in comparison to Alice because of his gender.

In tense moments in this scene fast paced editing is used, for example: when Luther is insulting Alice about her inexperience and stupidity when it comes to love. By using fast paced editing it creates a tense, unnatural and challenging atmosphere toward Alice. By speeding up the movements of Luther crossing the apartment towards Alice this shows that he possesses a threatening and invading nature, Luther attempts to assert dominance and power in this scenario. Alice is not seen moving at all and she is seen as very small against Luther which portrays that Alice is the belittled, conforming gender.

Sound:

During the opening seen we see Alice and Luther situated outside around apartment buildings and roads, it therefore makes sense that we hear cars and traffic as an example of synchronous sound. During the same scene we hear dialogue from Luther and Alice which is an example of diegetic sound. Luther obviously has a deep voice and Alice obviously has a light, feminine voice- this is another form of stereotyping.  
When Alice asks Luther to come inside to her apartment the sound of the traffic appears to fade and her dialogue seems more focused. She is whispering in a seductive way which could suggest that she knows she holds power over Luther because of his attraction for her.

When Luther and Alice enter the apartment there is no music because the whispering of Alice needs to be focused on to create tension. As soon as Alice mentions The Black Hole a tense music begins to play as an example of asynchronous sound. The sudden beginning to music would shock a viewer and create and uneasy atmosphere, because the music queues in when Alice speaks this would suggest that Alice is the reason for the tense atmosphere. We could further this conclusion and say that this would reveal that Alice will have some further antagonistic connections with Luther.

When Luther begins to insult Alice the asynchronous sound from the music cuts of quickly to suggest that Alice's way of thinking is being threatened. Perhaps what Luther is saying to Alice is having an affect on her mentally.
 When Luther becomes face to face with Alice there is no music which could portray that they are now sharing a mutually threatening ground. Alice asks Luther, in a whisper, 'Did you come here for sex?' and Luther replies with 'No.'. However when Luther replies it is not in a certain tone of voice as though he is not actually replying back to Alice but talking to himself. Luther is trying to resist his attractions to Alice and control himself.

When Alice steps up toward Luther the music played for the tense atmosphere of the black hole is played once again to suggest that Alice is making Luther tense. The music connotates that Alice holds the power in this situation, Alice has once again began to speak about destruction and evil matters and this could be the part that Luther finds so attractive about her. The fact that the music plays in these situations portrays that this is the reason why Luther cannot trust her or be attracted to her because she holds a wonderfully dangerous power over Luther.

When Alice touches Luther the asynchronous sound of twinkling is heard. this sudden sound matches the sudden movement of Luther. the sound suggests that this new contact of Alice and Luther has triggered something with in Luther which he does not wish to pursue. The fact that Luther is so scared of the touch of Alice shows that  Alice possesses a controlling, manipulative hold against Luther, hence why he leaves so quickly.

Mise-en-scene:

Alice's apartment is the scene where the majority of confrontation and threatening actions take place. there is a continuous battle between Luther and Alice for dominance and power in this scene but it is evident that Alice's always upholds the power because she rules and commands Luther's emotions with the way she embraces her sex and gender.

Alice's apartment is very much like a show room, its too tidy to be lived in. at the beginning of the program we learn, as an audience, that Alice owned a dog, this seems highly unlikely when you look at her apartment. The apartment lives up to the general expectations of women being gentle, neat and tidy. Alice tries to break stereotypes through this scene by dominating the circumstance however she falls right back into a common stereotype when we begin to analyse her living space.

The apartment is feminine, clean and contains a lot of neatly piled books and confusing pieces of art work. There are no phots of her connections with people in the outside world which offers the suggestion that she is an isolated person. Alice's fascination with the painting of the black hole communicates that Alice finds no significance of human life, hence why her apartment is not shown as lived in.