Hotel Babylon – Representation of Ethnicity

Hotel Babylon – Representation of Ethnicity

The scene where the two coloured men meet by the pool:

Characters:

·         Ben (In suit)

·         Tel (Board shorts)

·         Stereotypes of people originated from the black community are very prominent in the first scene.

·         In the initial scene, where Ben meets Tel, it is obvious that there is a difference in the social class between Ben and Tel. The shot and reverse shot shows firstly, that Tel is a typical stereotyped black, young male. His appearance portrays him as more fashionable, edgy and radical. He has a large silver necklace, tattoos, braided hair and brightly coloured board shorts. Whilst, Ben is dressed very smartly, in a suit with neat hair.
 

·         The juxtaposition in the scene shows that Ben feels quite uncomfortable around Tel and the atmosphere is very awkward.

 

 

·         Tel has a very open posture and open body language, which suggests that they have known each other a long time. Also, Tel’s facial expressions show him to be very confident and again, a typical stereotyped black male. Towards the end of the scene, Tel even becomes slightly aggressive.

·         It is apparent in this scene that Ben has sexual feelings towards Tel. However, he doesn’t show his feelings openly towards Tel. This perhaps suggests how the black, male community has strong opinions about homosexuality and the fact that it is frowned upon. His sexuality is very controversial in the black community and this is perhaps the reason why Ben is trying to hide it.

·         The lighting is key is this scene and strongly emphasises Ben’s face. However, one side of Ben’s face is lit and the other side is dark. This can be interpreted metaphorically as a suggestion that Ben is trying to hide something.

The scene where the two maids strip for the Japanese business man (Mr Matsui):

·         There is a connotation of power in this scene and a cut away shot to a pile of money, enforces this. However, he doesn’t appear to have any power over his perverted feelings.

·         There is an existing cultural stereotype of Japanese business men, who have lots of money who pay women for strip teases.

·         A shot showing the unease of one of the maids, is followed by a shot of the eagerness of the Japanese man.

 

 

·         The Japanese man also has power over the remote control, which suggests his dominance over the situation.

 

·         There are a few extreme close ups of the Japanese man, which enforces how disgusting and perverted he is. – This brings out an awkward and appalled emotion in the viewer. During the extreme close ups, key lighting is used to focus on his face, especially his forehead, which reflects the light. This highlights the fact that he is sweating profusely. This further shows how ‘excited’ he is for the show that is being put on for him.

 

·         The Japanese man is wearing a dressing gown but nothing else. This suggests that he is hoping for some sort of sexual gratification.

 

·         The scene is played slightly comically and lighter way, which is perhaps more suitable for the target audience.

 
 

The fight scene between the chefs in the kitchen (Gianni and Martin):

Gianluca	Martin
He is short and thin.	He is tall and fat. – Accentuated by the chef hat that he is wearing.
He is quite swarve and of a good looking Italian culture – Good with the ladies.	He is quite fat and unattractive.
He is wearing a black,   fitted chef coat.	He is dressed in a large white chef’s shirt, apron and hat.
Italian	English
Sharp, accentuated tone of voice.	He has a lazy, English accent. – Not too forceful in the way that he speaks (not too assertive).
Stereotypical angry, fiery Italian.	Bitter, not as violent.

·         The extras in the background set the scene as a busy multi-cultural kitchen.

·         Gianni is a short and thin character, dress in a black, fitted chef’s coat. This implies that he is quite swarve and his appearance suggests that he is of a good looking culture; Italian. However, Martin is tall and fat, which is accentuated by the chef hat that he is wearing. He is dressed in a large white chef’s shirt, apron and hat.

·         Gianni has a sharp, accentuated tone of voice, which shows a clear contrast to Martin’s lazy, sloppy English accent. Martin is also not very assertive or forceful in the way that he speaks.

·         Gianni is a stereotypical angry, fiery Italian. He is quite violent towards Martin, which makes up for his lack of height. However, Martin is not as violent but it is obvious that there is a build-up of tension in him, which is portrayed in him as bitterness.

·         When Gianni kisses Martin on the head, he does it quite aggressively. It is also seen as quite patronising towards Martin as Gianni has to get Martin to bend down.

 

·         Martin appears as quite powerful afterwards though, as he grabs Gianni round the front.

 

·         Gianni has sharp, jerky movements, whilst Martin is quite big and is stationary in the shot. This is portrayed in the cut away shot of Gianni, picking up the knife and then back to the shot of the two chefs.

 

·         In the shot, reverse shot, the two characters are almost filmed on the same level. The height of Martin is not exaggerated in this shot. This would imply the equality of the two characters and suggests that they are both to blame.

 

 

The two managers walking towards the kitchen, discussing Gianni and Martin:

·         The two managers are shown as stereotypical affluent white people.

·         The two managers are dressed in smart and sophisticated attire. This suggests that they are of a higher status than the lower class workers, who pass the managers.

·         The workers are dressed in drab, inexpensive uniforms. – They are shown scurrying around, carrying boxes and rubbish.

·         The two managers are taller than the workers in the scene, who are of other ethnicities.
 

We had to watch this extract from Hotel Babylon and write about the representation of ethnicity in four different scenes. We then identified the difference between an extract, a scene, a shot and a frame.

 

Extract, Scene, Shot, Frame:

·         Extract – The selected extract has at least four different scenes, chosen by the examiner.

·         Scene – The scenes could be between 20 seconds and one minute. You choose which scenes you want to write about.

·         Shot – You choose a specific shot to discuss mise-en-scene and the lighting.

·         Frame – You can include stuff about the composition and structure of the frame.