Homeland Representation Study Break Wk1

Homeland Representation

Sectors of society are represented with meaning in the opening scene of Homeland. The sectors of society that are represented are: the man who's in power who's with his rich friends, the woman who goes against the man in power as she works to do her job, and the man who is on death row who wants to save his family   

We are shown contrasts between these unique sectors of society throughout the video.

Carrie, the CIA worker, is shown in a run down area, dirty and scroungy. Loud noises and honking horns show how busy and in a  hurry she is, this also joins with the shaky mid shots of her as she drives and the skid sound on her car wheels to show shes desperate to get something done. Also, she says to the man on the phone ''It's urgent'' which adds to the sense of tension the audience is receiving from her.

David, the CIA Deputy Director, is shown in a situation that fully contrasts to Carries. Hes dressed in an expensive tux which is opposite to the hijab around her neck and dull  clothes. Hes in a room with people dressed for a rich party, and there are bold colours like deep blue curtains which represent power and big shiny, wooden doors where she's driving around Baghdad in Iraq with its dusty roads and crowded streets. It shows the audience that even though Davis is in power, Carrie is the one who is actually doing the practical work for it, and this makes the audience sympathise for her  as we see her urgency to get this information from this man in a very time pressured situation. It also contrasts from Carrie in the camera shots used to show them both. Carrie, as mentioned before, has shaky shots to represent the hurry she is in, whereas Davids camera slowly pans around him as he talks calmly and firmly to Carrie, and she replies back almost frantic and the instability in her tone again links back to the unstable and quick camera shots. Editing and surrounding sound also contrasts between the 2 characters, Carrie has quick editing in her scenes which adds to the urgency whereas its long cuts for David and he doesnt move around so the only movement in his shots are from the camera panning and random people in the background. The only other sound coming from where David is is quiet talking in the background, whereas Carrie has all the sounds from Baghdad coming from her shots.

The man who is on death row is first shown when a shot fades from a hanging gallow to him looking through bars at it with a remorseful look on his face. This shows the audience that this is the man Carrie is talking about who has the information she needs. His jail cell when we are shown it is dingy and dirty and doesn't have much in it. A camera shows him looking through the slot in the door, it shows how he's got no real chance of escaping as we can see the bars on all his cell windows. Also, when it cuts from the market place to the man in jail, the noise dies down and it becomes eerily quiet compared to the streets which adds tension to this scene.

At the start of the clip, The words 'BAGHDAD' were edited on the screen to set the scene and show the audience that they are in Iraq. This is also shown when Carrie leaves her car at the traffic jam and pulls a hijab over her head. The establishing shots of the city are unstable and shaky which could mirror some of the locals we are shown, dressed in dull clothes and walking around as opposed to using cars- maybe some have shaky an unstable financial situations as the shots that we are shown are trying to show us she isn't in the rich part of Iraq. Its also noisy and busy which matches Carries attitude. When Carrie walks through the market place there is an over the shoulder shot which is shaky as she speaks desperately into the phone the audience sympathises with her side of the conversation at this point because she appears to be the one actually putting the effort in and she acts like she really cares about getting this information because of its importance.

We are also shown the weak society in Iraq through the way in which a soldier accepts a cash payout to let Carrie into see this prisoner, the fact that its in a brown bag shows he's not supposed to be letting her in, and the way in which we see him leave through a back door in a two shot of him and Carrie shows he really doesn't want to be caught doing what he's doing. Verisimilitude is added to the clip in the harshness of the way in which Carrie is ripped away from the prisoners door when the guards find her with him. Quick editing between shots and the sharp movements of the camera along with the grabbing of Carrie and the prisoner to get them away from each other adds a violent atmosphere which would be very similar to if someone really did break into and Iraqi prison.

Overall throughout the whole opening scene the three of the seven main media representations that were the most dominant were: Class and Status, Gender, and Regional Identity. Class and status was represented through David being in charge and having all the power while he was at a fancy dinner, and Carrie not having as high a status as him and being in Iraq doing all the work this represents the stereotype of powerful people never wanting to get there hands dirty. Gender was represented in the stereotype once again of David and Carrie- the man was telling the woman what she could and couldn't do, and also in the way in which the bomber in the jail was a ma, you barely ever hear of women being bombers its usually men. Regional Identity was shown in the way in which they couldn't help the man who was in jail not get the death sentence because he was an Iraqi citizen and they are Americans.
Throughout this clip meaning and certain representations of different sectors of society were created.