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How is the social class of the characters represented in this clip of Cranford?

The social class in this clip is shown with some mise-en-scene; this is shown by Harry wearing scruffy clothes and no shoes, which infers that they have no money to pay for anything decent for them to wear. Mise-en-scene is also shown through Harry with the low lighting in the small house that he lives in; this also shows that they have very little money that they can afford lights, or candles. But it also shows that they cannot live anywhere which is in plain sight, so out of the woods, because it would all be too expensive, which explains the low light. The low light also gives the suggestion that they are not happy with their social class, and perhaps they would want to be of a higher class. Even though the Father said that they dont need to read to be happy, but you need to be able to read to be of a higher class. Mise-en-scene also represents the social class through Mr Carter as he is wearing expensive boots and carrying a cane. This contrasts against the boots that Harry had just received off of his Father for his birthday, which highlights their lack of wealth. Also, the lighting when introduced to the women in the higher class to Harrys family is very bright, they are also wearing white, clean and neat clothing. This would show their higher social class to Harrys family due to the contrast between dark and light, which could also connote the happiness (therefore there being plenty of light) and the depressive family (due to there being a lack of light). The sounds in the scene can represent the social class in the scene by the birds and the rustling in the woods, whilst Harry is going towards his house. This represents social class by the birds and rustling showing that they are out of the way and have less land than the people of a higher class. Also, the dialogue between Harrys parents and himself indicates a non RP speech, this is shown by Appy birthday Arry, as they are not pronouncing their Hs, which shows that they are of a lower class to someone who would pronounce every letter in a word and not produce ellipses as often. Also, at Harrys house, the diegetic sound of a door squeaking shows the lack of material items that they have as they do not have the money to be able to fix the door from squeaking. Also, the heavy and depressing music when Harry is approaching his house there is dark and depressing music, which could show their unhappiness. However, the music rises whilst the Father does as well which indicates the higher status within the family that he holds. Also, when the boy enters the greenhouse, the music is of a higher pitch which could indicate the higher status of the owners of the greenhouse. After the viewer is then introduced to the sound of heavy footsteps giving us the impression that someone of higher status is approaching and this creates tension. Class and status can be shown through camera angles firstly by the focus onto Harry, this shows that his status in the programme is high, however, due to the full house view in another part of the programme, it shows that Harry shouldnt be there, which due to the house being fairly decent in size, it shows that he does not belong there (associated with the mise-en-scene). Also, there is an over the shoulder shot of the Father whilst he is telling Harry off, which again, shows the status difference between the family members, and also between what would be expected outside the family, and within. Also, the majority of the time that Harry is speaking to someone outside of his family, it is a establishing shot within which it shows Harry looking up towards all of the other characters, therefore showing that he is of a lower social class to them. Also, the juxtaposition between the shoes which Harry has just received and the close-up of Mr Carters shoes shows the difference that Mr Carter can afford to buy shiny new boots, but Harry just receives handme-downs from his family. Also, the mid-shot of the Doctor shows that he is of a higher importance to the women in the cart, as even though they are high up in the social class ladder, him being a doctor automatically pushes them down a level so he is shown to be superior to them, which is done by him being higher up than the others, therefore showing him looking down on them. Editing during the scene helps to represent the different social classes, especially by the conversation between Harry and his father as it is carried out using shot reverse shots which illustrates the father's harsh reaction to his son wanting to learn, which also shows the authority that the Father holds compared to his son. Whilst the shot is focussing on the labourers, the shots have a use of motivated cuts between them and the flowers to show that even though they are of a lower class to the people who own the house, they still are much higher than Harry and his family due to their relevance towards the social event that is about to occur at the house.

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