Representation of gender and ethnicity in a historical costume drama - Rome

The mise-en-scene within the drama has a huge impact on the representations shown. In this case, the high
status characters wear gold jewellery and golden dresses, which show that they are high class and wealthy
individuals. The drama is male dominated; however the small numbers of female characters included are
powerful and important. However, the leading female character is seen as an object that her brother sees as a
political gain and she doesn’t have any choice in who she marries, even though she is strong-minded. Due to the
large number of male characters, we see a larger range of social classes between them. The ethnicity group
represented is Jewish and the characters perfectly fit the stereotype of long beards and dull, bleak clothes
and little adornments. The colour of their clothing may also represent their social status as during that era,
only the richest people wore bright coloured clothing, as the dyes were expensive.

The setting of the drama fluctuates between an obviously wealthy area consisting of gold plated buildings,
shops, painted walls, pillars with gold trim and wealthy characters. This setting has a lot of femininity about it,
such as waterfalls, lots of gold and natural bright lighting. The setting then cuts to a scene consisting of just
men, where the lighting is dark creating a sense of disagreement, secrecy and tension. This strong contrast
reflects the social statuses between male and females within the scene. It is easy to tell from the light
clothing worn, that the drama is set somewhere hot and exotic and also the natural, bright lighting emphasises
this. Lighting is used to emphasise the levels of tension between the male characters in the synagogue as
shafts of light beam through the menorah, which is slightly cave-like and portrays a dark side.

Lots of props suggest that the drama is located within a Jewish environment such as the menorah, candles
around the functional market scene, mosaics and mats on the floor ready for worship. Also, dark, ancient
symbols are frequently used whilst fighting. During the scenes of disagreement, age is often represented, for
example the older characters have more power over the younger characters.

Throughout the scenes, the dialogue is often tense and shifty whispering, enhanced with facial expressions
which create tension within the scene, however when certain characters speak, this whispering stops which
shows male authority. During the pleasant scenes, diegetic sounds such as birds, panpipes and water fountains
are used to represent the femininity of the scene and to enlighten the mood. The non-diegetic flute music
shows a change in mood. This also represents an exotic setting, which is unfamiliar to an English audience. On
the other hand, in the male dominated scenes of conflict, many diegetic sounds are used to build tension and
emphasise the disagreement. Examples of this are the rustling of paper shows importance and agitation within
certain characters, heavy breathing is frequently used to show tension, but is also used during the romance
scene to show passion. The males are represented as feisty and short tempered through the use of abrupt
answers, which shows they are easily agitated with each other, murmuring amongst each other whilst the
argument is taking place and strong, assertive voices show that they are powerful. This is clearly shown when
the main male character starts to speak and the room goes silent, showing a great deal of authority. Another
example of him showing authority is when he whistles. When the male character spits at the other male, they
lower their voices which puts emphasises on the spit and builds tension.

Throughout the drama, the camera shots maintain a fast rhythm and the shot transitions are smooth, however
when a problem arises, the shots slow down which slows down the pace to create tension. The majority of the
shots during conversation are close-ups of characters, which show their reactions and in many cases,
emphasises the fact that they’re not happy with what’s being said. From this we can easily identify how the
characters are being represented.
As an audience, we are involved in the discussions taking place through the use of over shoulder shots, and also
tracking shots are used to show the audience the environment and to progress the scene.

Shots that consist of the male and female character are composed so the characters are extremely close, this
shows their relationship with one another, and as an audience we can identify that it is more than a friendship.
This shot follows with a low angle shot of the male showing that he is a superior character. As he turns away,
his back is facing the camera, which may suggest he is hiding something. The dialogue, which the female uses,
shows that she is also superior. To enable us to identify this, the camera fluctuates during their conversation.

When the male and female character then kiss, the camera shots enhance the passion of this forbidden love.
It is a centred shot, whereby she is sitting and he is standing and also her hands are on his face showing that
she is in more control and maybe a stronger character. Whilst kissing, there is an empty space between their
two bodies, which is creating a divide and pushing them apart. This empty space is also created when two of
the male characters are fighting. It emphasises the distant between them, however they’re represented as
equal due to their faces being in line with each other, which shows that they’re on par with regards to power.

There are shots of a less important characters, where he is off centre, this shows that he is not of any
importance otherwise he would be right in the centre of the screen. There is a high angle shot of the
synagogue below which is filmed through the balcony gaps. This suggests that we are concealed, as there is
some kind of private conversation taking place.

The editing throughout the drama tends to be subtle. Shot-reverse-shots are used when the characters are
speaking which enables us to see their reactions. The drama consists of quick shots, which creates a fast pace
and means we don’t miss anything.

The characters eyes are very important, so there are a few close ups of them. Over the shoulder shots are
frequently used which maintain a continuous pace and show the characters reactions.

When the couple kiss, there is an eye line match, which shows the characters are equal and makes the scene
more romantic. After the romantic scene, there is a quick cut into a panning shot of the Menorah, which then
follows on to a political debate between the males. The scene completely changes through fast pace edits.
Another eye line match is used during the male arguments to show tension and their level of importance.

Hannah Warren