The opening scene of Babylon Hill establishes power dynamics between the characters. A low-level shot depicts a man dominating over a woman in plain clothes, while another girl wears fashionable attire. The camera always looks down on the younger girl, making her seem less important. Her youth is emphasized by her makeup being the only one worn, while she is portrayed as irresponsible for not being able to drive the car. Calm background music and continuity editing aim to represent realism between the middle-aged characters and tension with the sole young foreigner.
1. Analysing Opening Scenes – Babylon Hill
Here I have analysed the opening scene for Babylon Hill in relation to how women
are represented
Camera Mise en Scene
Low level shot of the man, makes him Costume: girl is wearing plain clothes,
appear dominant over the woman whereas the other young girl is wearing very
fashionable clothes
The camera is always looking down on the Actors: middle age man taking control over
younger girl, making her seem less important younger woman, shows her as weak
Makeup: young girl wearing makeup, she is
the only one wearing makeup, this shows
her youth
Props: car, the girl cannot drive the car. This
shows her as irresponsible and not capable
Sound Editing
Calm background music to represent middle Continuity editing to add a sense of realism.
aged people
Short blips of older music, there are a lot of When there is tension, the cuts between
older people and only one young girl. She is shots are much quicker. This shows the
a foreigner in that environment tension between the two ages