Doc Martin exam question:

Discuss the ways the extract constructs representations of regional identity.

Consider:
Camerawork/angles/movement
Sound
Editing
Mise-en-scene
I am going to analyse the Doc Martin clip provided on miss' blog. The question
is relevant to the regional identity in the clip and the way it is portrayed
throughout. The extract is set in cornball. The stereotypes associated with this
place are often shown as being backwards, living in rural areas, and working
on farms. etc.
The clip begins with an establishing shot of the pipe burst scene. The costume
variation in this beginning part of the extract is massive. You can clearly tell
who is the outsider, this being Doc Martin. As the remaining characters are
wearing overalls and practical clothing which is an action code for them
working in manual labour. This code was divided by Barthes and is included in
his "narrative codes". This code suggests a lack of intelligence from the
workers to the Doc as he is wearing a suit and they are wearing overalls.
The general colour scheme of this scene is very dark and bland. Commonly
using a Khaki colour and also Beige. Also the lighting encourages the power of
the outsider as his costume and also as the majority of the light in directed at
him to again make him the focal point in the scene and outlines the gap of
intelligence in the group. Overall the lighting in this establishing scene of the
extract is very dull, this paired with the cutting speed starts the extract off very
slowly, boring and maybe even pedantic. This is a stereotype of Cornish people
as they are often portrayed as lacking intelligence and being bit deluded/ditsy
also maybe a bit pedantic and out of the ordinary. The camera angle in this
scene shows him (Doc) as being above the workers as of to say he is looking
down upon them, this is maybe used by the director to reflect the social status
of the characters. The overall camera angle is used as an action code to show
us the pipe bursting as it would be quite difficult to see underneath the sink
using a usual camera angle. During the dialogue before the sink bursts they are
arguing and one of the workers is identified as another workers son. This is a
stereotypical media practice when representing the Cornish as they are often
portrayed as trapped within a family business and there are a lot of father son
jobs going about. The son then goes on to show his intelligence and his dad
calls him mad, again relaying the idea that he is trapped around idiots in his

hometown. Doc tells the workers dad to "treat himself to a noun" again
highlighting his poor vocabulary. When the pipe bursts the
editing speed drastically increases as when the pipe bursts all manner of things
begin to go wrong for the characters. A stray dog enters as well as another
character, this time female, and also the phone rings. This is a reflection on
how everything always goes wrong for these characters due to their mental
incapacities. Another stereotype used by the director. Also the only character
that takes control of the depreciating situation as he tells the woman to clean
up the water, he shows the worker how to do his own job, and tells the more
intelligent worker (whom lacks direction) to get off the phone and help clear
up, also he takes the dog away. This shows that Cornish characters are
incapable of solving any of life problems without help from the outside, this
again is a common themed stereotype. During the interchange into the next
scene of him walking the dog to the police station a backing track is sound
bridged, this often used by the director of a TV drama to create fluency in the
extract. The soundtrack is also non-diegetic meaning the characters cannot
hear it only the audience gains pleasure from it. The soundtrack is mocking the
predicament of the outsider as he is often shown with egg on his face. Also it
reflects the stupidity of his surroundings. Also over this you can hear seagulls
as he is walking. This being another action code to it being a coastal village. As
he is walking to the police station with the dog a handheld camera is used, this
maybe to reflect the erratic and angered nature of the character as his
patience may be cut short by his surroundings. A common stereotype used
when filming in Cornish and other coastal areas such as sunset is that the nonlocal is very abrupt almost as if they have already given up on everybody
around him, this stereotype is shown perfectly in this part of the extract. As
Doc enters the police station the police officer is shown to be alone and also
doing abit of hovering. This again is used by the director to highlight a stupidity
as there is probably only a few officers and they are pre occupied with cleaning
the station rather than dealing with crime. It also makes the audience think
that there must be very low crime rates in the area as not a lot of officers
occupy the station. This is a common stereotype that coastal towns and
villages are crime free. Hovering is not stereotypically a job of the police
officer, again showing that he is backward to society as in the big cities e.g.
London they would employ cleaners. After this scene he meets
another outsider who demonstrates her intelligence through her dialogue,
referencing a doctors oath. She is also shown to be tied down as she
makes reference to a husband that maybe the only reason she finds herself in
her surroundings again highlighting the idea of outsiders, per say, being
trapped within this village full of idiots. She also says to the Doc "your exactly

what this town needs" maybe to show that she is tired of dealing with the
locals. Again referring to her, maybe being trapped. During the end of the
extract, around the three and a half minute mark, Doc encounters a woman
and the soundtrack changes to connote that there might be something going
on between the two characters to the audience. This part is interrupted by a
woman shouting Martin come give me a hand. This elder female character is
shown to be doing labour work and unloading a van full of vegetables. This fits
hand in hand with the stereotype that everyone who works in these areas are
all farmers and all work hard. No matter of age.