Analyse how class and status is represented in the opening of White Chapel
Camera shots, angle, movement and composition
The opening is fast paced and uses a montage that includes many extreme close ups of classic crime dramas. For example, the newspaper which signifies a middle class environment and character. The shots were handheld when filming the front line working class police officer which presents them in an inferior way compared to the steady tracking shots they used to present the middle class gentleman in the lounge. The steady tracking shot they used was from behind bars which could represent the working class looking in on life as a middle class chief officer.
Low angle shots were used to present the suspected killer through the working class part of London, these signifies that a criminal has power in a working class society, whereas the police officer in the streets was presented with a high angle showing vulnerability and weakness to the killer.
During the scenes with the killer there was a dutch angle used to show that something is going to go wrong and it was also a low angle tracking back to the killers feet - who is in narrative enigma.
Editing
The opening uses plenty of match cuts between the working class and the middle class group of men. For example, when the youth threw a rock it match cuts to ice falling into a privileged chief officer’s glass for his whiskey. This shows how the middle class are so unaware of the issues that the classes below them go through. Also, during the scenes with the middle class there is plenty of shot reverse shot which is a sophisticated way of showing a conversation, whereas when the working class are shown they are over the shoulder shots which provide mystery to the emotion of characters.
Sound
There is a non-diegetic continuous sound track throughout that adapts and develops between the two classes. During the scenes on the streets the music is tense and unnerving, on the other hand, when we are in the lounge, the music has violins and other middle class orchestral instruments that are relaxing. The accents of the characters heavily show the different classes they represent, the men in the lounge speak very stereotypical middle class, Queens English whereas the woman portraying the police woman had a cockney accent that denotes a poorer background for the character. The woman was much more informal in her speech than her middle class counterparts. For example she would refer to her colleague by her first name rather than her surname.
Mise-en-Scéne
The chief officers have dark hair and formal suits which represent them to be superior to the informal youths on the street in the juxtaposing scenes. The youths have the stereotypical British ‘chav’ outfit of a hoodie and monochrome clothing and they are also presented as aggressive which is negatively presenting the working class community.
The lighting of the street scenes are dark with a hint of green lighting when something negative is about to happen on screen. Inside the lounge, it is light also with green with some of the props. The bright light inside connotes a positive atmosphere but it does also have dramatic irony in the fact that the audience know that what they are talking about does not apply to reality.
The working class section of London has cobbled streets which is unusual in modern day London and gives anchorage to the fact that the programme is based upon copycat events based upon 120 years ago when cobbled streets were more common.
