1. Mad Men (season 1 episode 1)
The first scene uses a medium close up where we see the main character Don
Draper in a bar on his own drinking whiskey, which is a typical mans drink and
shows how much of a stereotypical man he is. Further in the scene the director
uses a close up to show the black waiter lighting Draper’s cigarette this reflect on
to the time period that this was set as black people were racially discriminated
because of there colour of there skin and hoe Draper has power over him even
though he is sat down drinking whiskey. A two shot is used to show the difference
between the white waiter and the black waiter and how something as simple as
the white waiter wearing a jacket can show his dominance and power over the
black waiter.
The next scene in the clip medium close and a long shot as we see the character
Midge Daniels (when Don Draper visits her apartment) dressed in casual trousers
and what looks to be a mans shirt. This compares to the other women that were
on the bar as they were all dress up in dresses and their hair tied back like the
stereotypical women would in that time period. This show how she has power
over Draper and knows what he wants as she drinks scotch with him and flirts.
The tilt angle is used to show the two characters together. However in the shot
Don Draper is resting his head against Midge Daniels body, this shows how
Daniels is still the dominate one even though she is female and the male is
normally presented as the dominate one. The colour pallet that is used is vey
blue, which is used to how Draper and Daniels relationship is very cold and they
know what they want out of each other. Also it shows how Daniels has the upper
hand over Draper as she doesn’t need a man, she is a vey independent women
and how their relationship is very much sexual.
A birds eye view is used to show the building where Don Draper works which can
show how highly important he is within the building and workforce. The tracking
moving shot was used twice, one to show the men walking through the office all
smartly dressed to show how superior they are and their ranking in the office we I
can presume id high up. The second time it is used we she two women walking
through the office as one of them is showing them their workspace. By using the
2. tracking shot I can see how the women are all clammed together and the men
have their own office and personal space this is also stereotyping how the men
automatically have power over the women. Further though the scene a medium
close up is used to show what both women are wearing Peggy Olson who has
just stared working there is dressed practically all covered up and has her hair all
neatly tied up. Whereas Joan Holloway is wearing a short green dress which
allows her to be daring as she shows of to much flesh to make herself seem
more sexy and appealing to men. Her bright hair also makes her stand out as this
could be showing how powerful she could be over the other women including
Peggy.
