Representation of Gender Cutting It

In this clip of Cutting It, the representation of Gender in shown though the mise-en-scène, editing, shot types and different sound techniques. Gender is the represented in the media by masculine and feminine. Both males and females can be represented as either. Stereotypically masculine is shown as to be strong, tough and muscly whereas feminine as delicate, gracious and beauty.

My initial thoughts of this clip is that the man and woman are in a relationship but it seems that the woman has cheated on the man and he has forgiven her but then the viewer finds out that also the man has cheated.  The woman seems to think that she will die and she is telling the man to love other people after she is gone.

How mise-en-scène is used to help represent gender:

The shot that the viewer sees is a woman and a man setting in the back of a car. The woman is leaning on the man with her head on his shoulder. This body language shows the woman to be feminine because she is relying on the man for support. The man at this point is also resting his head on the woman’s head and this represents the man to be feminine at this point to because he is showing his emotions with this action. 

The woman is wearing jewelry, is wearing makeup and have her hair styled, this represents feminine to care about what she looks like.  The man has short hair and this represents masculine to not really care how they look.  

How shot types are used to help represent gender:

An extreme close up of the woman reaching for the mans hand to comfort him represents the woman to have masculine traits because she is comforting him and this also represent the man to have feminine traits because he is being comforted.

When the woman and the man get out the cab a medium long shot shows that the woman pays for the cab, this represents the woman to have masculine traits because masculine people usually make the most money.

There is a high angle shot of a woman sitting at a desk and a man behind it. This represents masculine people to have a high authority within work places then feminine people.

The is a close up of the woman’s face crying which represented feminine people to be emotional.

How sound helps to represent gender:

The viewer finds out, though the characters words (diegetic sound), that the man and the woman both have cheated on each other. The fact that the woman has cheated shows she has masculine traits because deserving someone is represented to be a masculine thing to do.

Though diegetic sound the viewer hears that the man has a very deep voice, which represents masculine people to have deep voices, and the woman has a high pitch to her voice, which represents feminine people to have higher pitch voices compared to masculine people.

When the woman is telling the man that if she dies he should move on and love again, his reaction shows that she is again comforting him and reassuring him, which again shows that the woman has masculine traits and the man has feminine traits.

As the woman heads into the hospital the non-diegetic sound(music) starts and its slow and sounds quit sad and this links to the fact that she maybe getting bad news about her health.

Asynchronous sound is used to make the viewer hear that a car skidded.  Also the music changes to the sound of a hart beat which builds the tension created by the accident that just happened.

How editing helps to represent gander:

A shot reverse shot shows the woman reassuring the man again and this represents the woman to have masculine traits. Also the use of an action match within the shot reverse shot makes the clip more realistic and it helps it run smoother.