'Hotel Babylon' Representation of Ethnicity

Mise-En-Scene:-

- The dark, low key lighting in the 'staff only' room where the immigrants hide suggests a common ideology about this minority ethnicity. The choice of this lighting may imply a sense of negativity around the group and there emotions, presenting them as 'evil' characters. This is quite a stereotypical viewpoint, as people generally fear things that they do not understand, and ethnic minorities (such as the immigrants in this clip), are quite a misunderstood group. (1:40)
- Secondly, we can note that the white women working on the from desk is wearing white. White typically connotes perfection, purity and innocence, presenting the woman as seemingly angelic. This contrasts with the dark clothing of the immigrants, which may suggest that she is more pure and good than them, which is a stereotypical, racist view. (0:15)
-  The English speaking women who organizes the immigrants wears a dark red colour similar to them, but has a far smarter outfit (blazer, shirt, etc.). This connotes authority, as although she is still noticably lower than the white women (who appears to be dressed far smarter still), she looks more presentable than the other immigrants, as if she is more likely to be seen. This is extremely stereotypical, as not only does the clear-English speaking character have higher authority than the other immigrants, she has lower authority than the white woman. (1:08)

Camera Work:-

- One of the first shots in the clip is an over the shoulder medium shot of the detective character. This shot includes three white character, and although from their outfits and speech we understand that the detective has higher power than the policemen, this is not shown in the camera angle. This shows all characters in the shot to have equal authority. I believe this may be used to emphasize when the the camera angles are not showing equal power later in the clip. (0:10)

- When 'Jackie' is alerted of the raid, we then follow her journey through the building collecting the immigrants. When she moves through the chef's kitchen, a handheld, left to right crab movement is used, following her movements. This connotes disorganization and chaos, and takes away any calm feelings. This makes the immigrants seems irrational and illogical in their movements, which supports the stereotypical thought that they are not as intelligent. (1:15)

- When the immigrants are hid in the 'staff only' room, a handheld, panning shot is used. Whilst the unsupported, handheld element of the shot continues the theme of panic, the panning of the camera seems to show just how cramped and uncomfortable the room is. This could support the stereotypical view that immigrants can be treated like animals. (1:55)

Sound:-

- When the detective enters the hotel, there is limited dialectic sound, and constant, consistent non-dialectic sound. This ensures that all attention of the audience is on the detective, connoting importance and power. This is a stereotypical view, because, although there are other ethnicities shown in scene (reading paper, etc.), all focus is on the white, British man. (0:20-0:33)

- Once confronted with the detective, we see that the white women speaks in quite a posh ideolect. By saying "Not a problem" instead of something like "That's fine" we can establish that she is well educated and proper. This is a common stereotype of white British people. (0:41)

- When they are in the 'staff only' room, one of the women has an issue with her diabetes and a previous doctor assists her, stereotypically, although the man is black, we would expect him to have a British accent to go with his high skills, but he does not. This is an emergent view that other ethnic minorities can be so successful. (2:10)