Social Class

Definition: social class is the measurement of how well of someone is in terms of their job, education, family background and where they live.

Lower Class

Kenny – Big Issue Seller (SKINS)

Mise en Scene:Costume; Doesn’t care about his appearance; long greasy hair, hasn’t shaved, wearing shabby clothes. Props; Big Issue magazine that people who are supposedly of lower class sell although they sometimes fake being poor to get money for the magazine.

Camerawork:Close up to emphasise the fact that he’s of a lower class due to his lack of care towards his appearance (or lack of money to go to the hairdressers/barbers or to afford razors etc.). Later on there is a wide shot to show the difference between Kenny (the big issue seller) and Tony who is of a higher class to Kenny as his family are from the higher working class/middle class.

Sound: Digetic sound; he says how he can’t have help from Tony to sell the magazines as Tony looks wealthy and therefore he wouldn’t sell as many copies because they may think that because he’s speaking to someone of a higher class that he isn’t of a lower class.

Editing: Cross cutting to show a clear comparison between Kenny who is of a lower class selling the Big Issue to earn some money and then to show Tony who comes from a wealthier background of parents who have decent jobs and are in the high working class to lower middle class.

Working Class

Hotel Babylon

Mise en Scene: Costume; the hotel workers seem to be well dressed as they’re wearing professional looking suits and the woman on the left has her makeup done nicely along with her hair. The male on the right is clean shaven and doesn’t have greasy unstyled hair like Kenny (the male from the lower class) did.

Camerawork: Shot reverse shot to show a difference between the middle class compared to them who are of a working class status.

Sound: Digetic sound; they sound a lot more educated and well spoken than Kenny from Skins, however they don’t sound overly posh.

Editing: Clear cut to show that they’re still the working class as they’re being paid to get bossed around by middle class people who come into the hotel who have all the luxuries.

Lower Middle Class

Mick Carter – Pub Landlord (EastEnders)

Mise en Scene: Costume; well dressed, has a smart coat and shirt to show he’s of middle class as he’s a pub landlord therefore earns a fair amount of money. Cleanly shaven, hair is well groomed etc.

Camerawork: Long shot to show he’s well dressed. However it reveals that he has his hands in his pockets which shows he’s also laid back and not part of the higher middle class and defiantly not anywhere near the upper class.

Sound: Digetic sound; he doesn’t sound posh however he doesn’t sound like he belongs in a lower class as he doesn’t use an abundance of profanities, however he doesn’t use sophisticated vocabulary.

Editing: Cut to show Mick as a pub landlord to someone else in EastEnders that is of a lower class than him to make the juxtaposition obvious.

Upper Class

Cast from Downton Abbey

Mise en Scene: Costumes; well dressed, hair nicely curled and styled. Bright coloured clothing to connote happiness and wealth. Props; cane which is a stereotypical item that posh, upper class people have.

Camerawork: Longshot to show the cast with their posh, expensive costumes to show they’re well off and rich. Reveals that they’re standing up straight and have good posture which is an example of mise enscene.

Sound: diegetic sound; posh voice, sophisticated vocabulary, well spoken, clearly well educated etc. Non diegetic sound; classical music which is stereotypical as posh, upper class people tend to only listen to classical music as opposed to lower class who listen to rap music.

Editing: Delicate editing, not choppy or handheld. It isn’t gritty as apposed to other shows such as SKINS that uses hand held camera work and gritty shots to show the working/lower class people of Bristol.