ashes to ashes recreative piece

a. Think about our impressions of Gene Hunt (as he is introduced to the viewers) and how they are created. Having filmed and edited the sequence yourselves, you should have a good grasp of what the director did.
Use screengrabs to comment closely on camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene. Make sure you also come up with 4 points on soundtrack. (Detailed bullet point s are fine - also use your home-learning task on gender, completed last week)

b. Now suggest some ways (at least 4) in which we could modify our first impressions of Gene through slight changes in the filming and editing, for instance to make him look less sour, less macho, more serious or anything else...

a) Gene Hunt fits the stereotype of a male police officer in the 80s. He is rude, sexist and quite aggressive judging from this scene and is played up to be an important and powerful character, with the close up camera shots of his snake boots as his feet emerge from the car, and his face just before Alex collapses, a shot which is accompanied by epic, dramatic music. The camera shots even included a 'male gaze' shot and a shot from between Alex's legs, exploiting her sexuality. The mise-en-scene makes it clear that the setting is now the 1980s due to the dress code and the car. The soundtrack is very epic at first when Alex appears after seeing her reflection. A rather typical 80's action soundtrack is used when the car is pulling up. The music turns very dramatic at the end when there is a low angle shot of Gene Hunt, showing his power and status.

b) Our first impressions of Gene Hunt could be changed by using a high angle rather than a low one to make him less intimidating. There could also be less emphasis on his gun. There could also be less of a dramatic soundtrack as he appears, as this makes the scene humorous and over-done rather than serious. There could also be more emphasis on the criminal's bad actions, to show that he is in the wrong, rather than following Gene and making him seem unnecessarily aggressive. The cross cutting shows that he is one in control and makes the women seem as though she is a damsel in distress  this could changed so that editing shows the situation from an angle behind the women to show the realism of the situation. The portrayal of Gene Hunt is quite alarming as the first shot of him is his shoes rather than his face, this puts and emphasis on his alpha male dominance as we are shown his person from the ground up. This could be changed so that we are immediately shown his face to create a more dramatic and fast tempo situation.

By man like Matty and man like Josh