Analysis based on the
representational issue of Ethnicity
In the 'Hotel Babylon' short clip is hugely based on ethnicity
due to the obvious factor of the story line being based on immigrants, who are
mainly within a black ethnic background who work in the hotel, juxtaposing with
immigration officers who are generally of a white background.
To start, the audience can clearly see that the immigration
officers are coming toward the hotel reception. The officers are all mainly
white and are extremely well dressed, which clearly conveys their level of
authority. During this point, the music is at a high intensity and the footstep
sounds added help to add anxiety and panic to question to the audience who is
approaching. The ticking sound could be showing they the time is decreasing for
the immigrants and showing that they need to hide, firer conveying the power
the officers have over everyone. Camera angles here include a lot of close ups
and zooming into close ups, this again, shows the authority and perceived
importance of the officers. In terms of editing, there are multiple shots used,
including a motivational shot used to build tension and create atmosphere.
Furthermore, at this stage the mise en scene illustrates a busy scene with many
people involved, this also creates an atmosphere of panic and emphasises the
impotence that the immigrants must get away.
Within the next couple of scenes, some of the people within the
hotel are being earned that the immigration officers are within the hotel and
must urgently pass the message back to the immigrants so they can quickly hide.
Next, we see the immigrants
all being frantically rushed
into a small room to hide, the mise en scene here is very plain and this could
be used to show that they are seen to be less important by the officers
being contained like 'animals'.
Here, a sense of calm falls upon the room for a split second which
conveys tension until the lady
in charge notices that one man is missing, the atmosphere then returns to panic
and despair in hope
that their friend is safe. The camera then slowly pans up the missing friend
and the slow paced shots show that he is in his own world and is completely
oblivious to what is going on. The camera then skips back to the immigrants in
the room. The music is slower at this point and this emphasizes the binary
opposite of the British officers and the foreign immigrants as the music is
always much faster when the scene is focused on the officers.
Next, we see a shot of the missing immigrant worker in a lift
with the officers standing behind, he is still completely oblivious to what is
going on at this point. The officer them walks out moot a res carpet which
highlights his perceived importance. The shots are much quicker as the officer
walks after they have caught the immigrant to show his power over him. As the
worker falls over his Hoover, the shot focuses in this to make clear that he
has been caught, conveying a sight of weakness. In terms of mise en scene, it
is very basic in the hotel hallways which could link to the kind of lives the
immigrants are living. Also,
the colour red appears again on the man’s boiler suit, as it has done subtly throughout
the extract, and this infers danger which links well to what is happening
In the next
scene, we see the man who was caught being taken away by the officers, as he is
dragged through the main reception, we see other people look on and beg for
them to let him go, whilst realizing that they can’t do anything about it. The
reception is very busy at this point and has an exotic feel to it which shows
the variety of races present in the hotel. This is also shown as we can clearly
see a range of people from different cultural backgrounds, and a typical
Italian waiter which shows diversity and equality, promoting the fact that the
hotel welcomes all races.
The following
few scenes show the arrested man’s
friends and colleagues in sorrow and emptying his locker, the camera shot
briefly shows us a poster of his national football team which says to the
audience that he is proud of his background.
The music at this point is very slow and sad, to perhaps show that the
colleagues of the arrested man are reflecting on the recent events and feeling
deep sadness for their friend but also a sense of relief that they are safe
themselves.
In the final
scenes of the extract, we see the camera panning round the canteen to show and
emphasize on the fact that the hotel is home to a wide range of nationalities.
However, everyone is sitting at separate tables with other people from their
respective nationalities; this follows the stereotype that ethnic groups stick
together. The music at this point
reflects the overall mood running through the hotel. There is loud conversation
however at some of the tables and then it goes much quieter when the camera
gets to the table with the man and woman and this represents their ethnicity
and the fact that they are praying. The camera work used here concentrates on
the eye contact that the two workers are giving each other to perhaps show
their relationship or that they are sharing the same feelings about the day’s events.
Overall,
ethnicity is presented in many ways throughout the extract; sometimes more
obviously than others, and it is made clear that the hotel is full of a very
wide range of ethnicities and cultural backgrounds.
