How is Gender Represented in the Primeval Extract?

How is Gender Represented in the Primeval Extract?

When we are introduced to the first female in the extract, it is very clear that she is being represented as an atypical female. Females are expected to be dressed in a skirt and blouse, whereas she is dressed in combat trousers, large working boots and a leather jacket; all items which are signified to builders and working male figures.  The first scene that she is in, she is sat on a large yellow digger – a bulky, angular object. This clearly emphasizes how masculine and strong the character is in the narrative. Typically, when faced with danger, we expect the female character to be scared and attempt to flee the scene, or wait for the male hero to come along and save them. However, when the danger appears in this scene, the female on the digger attempts to save the male. Her efforts and calmness are emphasized through a number of shot reverse shots between her and the sabre tooth tiger. In contrast to this, the diegetic sound that the digger makes is not that of a normal digger – they have been added in post production. You would expect the digger to be making, deep ‘diesel’ like sounds. Yet, this digger has high pitched, robot like sounds to it. This can connote that the woman using the digger does still have a feminine side to her and that she maybe does not belong on the digger. As the scene continues the verisimilitude decreases vastly. The woman is seen running with a shotgun and shooting – accurately – the tiger from a distance. Something most men could not do. This will enhance how masculine the female character is, but by taking it to this level, just becomes unreal.

     In the same scene, we are presented with a male character. From the start, he is shot from a high angle, making the audience look down on him, connoting that he is not a strong male and that he is not as important as the other characters. To emphasize the weakness of this male character, when faced with danger, he jumps into a hole and helplessly tries to defend himself from the scary feline. Again, to make him look even weaker, every time that he is on screen he is positioned near the bottom, contrasting to the female in the scene who is positioned in the center of the screen throughout.

    In contrast to his weak figure, the male finds his courage and tries to draw the tiger away from the female character in order to save her; something that we would expect from a strong male figure. Something we would expect from a stereotypical man – it’s a mans duty to help out the female character. Furthermore, even though he is being the hero now, his weakness and inferiority is still shown through the types of camera angles that we see him in. A multiple number of long shots that show that he is still a small character. This is also reinforced by the fact he is still placed toward the bottom of the screen.

    In addition to this, the idea of males being represented as feminine is continued in the third male character. He is dressed in a pink shirt and a scarf. All items which you would normally associate with females and feminine characters. Although he is a dressed in a feminine way, and is not a physically strong male, he is always shot at eye level, which connotes that he is of the same importance as every other male and female in the scene. However, juxtaposing this, in the last scene, we see other characters (both male and female) holding guns threatening a male. However, this character is positioned far left and set back from the rest, he also picks up a shovel instead of carrying a gun. This shows that he is not a masculine character and follows the general theme that males are not really as masculine as they are normally presented.

    Lastly, we are presented with another female character. Straightaway she contrasts the other females in the scene. She is seen wearing sophisticated clothing and has makeup on. This implies that she is like going to be like other females and will be weak and vulnerable, and fit in with what a normal stereotype of a woman is. This is not shown at the beginning of her scene, as she is shown trying to blackmail a mail figure. This would have run alongside the rest of the extract, but the male then takes control of the situation, pulling a gun on the woman, where we see a close up of her face and a clear view of her shocked and scared expression. Reinforcing that the woman is weak and vulnerable, the woman is shot from a very high angle. To show that the woman is scared and that there is a high level of danger, there is a slow motion shot reverse shot between her and a number of dogs barking – signifying that there is a level of danger.

    At the very end of the scene, both males and females come to the rescue of the female in danger. They are all shot at eye level, which connotes that in the end, everyone is of the same equality. It does not depend on what sex you are. 

                                                                                    By Reece Garside.