Representation Essay: 'Downton Abbey'

In the short clip, extracted from the film ‘Downton Abbey’ contrasts wealth and status, throughout the clip, shown through the relationship between both the wealthy class, and the maids/workers. As an audience you can definitely tell who the wealthy class is, through the way they talk and order the maids around, in contrast you can tell who the maids are by the clothes they wear. There is also this sense of ‘status’ with the maids as well, in that there are some maids who have a slightly higher status than other maids. We can see this clearly through the eyes of the camera, with the way that the camera switches and cuts between the two types of status’.

We can also see this through the types of clothes they wear, the wealthy wearing elegant clothing, and the maids wearing typical black and dull ‘working’ clothes, such as aprons and black dresses that look presentable in front of other people (costumes). You can also tell the difference in status by the Mise-en-scene shown in the film, an example of this is the rooms. There is a difference between the room of a maid and the room of a ‘wealthy’ lady. ( The room of the maids shown: 1:53 min’s into the short clip; The room of the wealthy lady shown: 5:07 min’s into the short clip ). Also represented is a semantic-field of work, linking to the working class which is in this case the maids. Although even though there is this contrast between the ‘wealthy’ and the ‘working class’, there is no mistreatment between the two, instead there is a sense of relationship that has been created between the two. 

Effect has been created through the Mise-en-scene shown through the setting of the short clip. The setting of the clip appears to be wealthy, a nice mansion/castle set in England. This is depicted by the accent given off by the actors and by the setting of the place in general. The mansion/castles lavish qualities on the inside and on the outside, as well as the huge outdoor area also helps indicate that the setting is in England. The film is set in an 'old school' context linking to the fact that in England today some of the old castles and houses are still in use. 

The castle also links to this representation of ‘wealth’ as only the very wealthy people would own a castle, in fact the people would have to be a ‘lord’ as such to own, or even live in a castle. Adding to this the maids, are also pretty lucky themselves to be staying in a castle, though it may not be the best parts of the castle, they most probably enjoy just being able to say that they stay in a castle, no matter what their position or role is. 

The camera in some of the scene’s Hand held, as the Camera follows the actors around, for example at 2:10 mins (into the short clip) The camera pans and follows as the kitchen cook walks through the kitchen, the effect of the camera doing this, makes it as if we are standing in the kitchen with them and we are watching the lady walk through. 

This then changes when the editing makes a cut and changes to a close-up to the two different characters talking to each other, the editor edits the scene so that as each person is talking, it closes up on them as they talk. As a whole the camera closes up on almost every character as they talk, capturing their emotions and the way they react to each other. This helps capture the attention of the audience, and brings meaning to the film. 

The music shown throughout the film is almost melancholic in a way, with its slow feel, creating a feeling to the film that makes the audience wonder what happens in the rest of the film, for the opening of it it starts with slow and almost sad music. Almost giving the impression that something is going to happen, leaving the audience wondering whether it is going to be a good thing or a bad thing.

The business in the Kitchen area and in the castle itself, with all the maids going around and prepping stuff also adds to the audience suspicion of what's happening, because of this it adds to their curiosity and makes them eager to watch on. The way that the kitchen cook stresses to the maid and asks her if everything is being done, is a good example of this. The audience is left wondering, why.