Terminator 2(1991) - James Cameron

We have analysed scenes from Terminator 2, we used a typical exam question to base the essay on however we didn't need to comment on sound or editing as we haven't covered it yet.
The question was:

1. Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs representation of gender using the following:
- Mise-en-Scene
- Camera Shots, Angles, Movement, Compisition

Important points to make about the film are obviously ones that relate to the question, in this circumstance these things are about how genders and the strength/power they show:

In the first scene we looked at where we first saw her in the cell, the lighting is shot to look as if it is coming outside, but the angle of the light creates this intense glow on the muscles and shades the rest of her body, almost as if they are trying to aim the focus towards them as they are an important representation of her. Due to the common expectations from the audience about genders and their positions in films this scene immediately gives the impression that it should be a strong male character, however when the camera is zoomed out and shows a long haired woman doing pull-ups it almost gives a small shock element to the audience as they would not typically expect that from a woman.

We also watched the scene where she makes her escape begins with a security person tying her down, he then goes on to lick her face, as he leans down to do this he is filmed from a low angle which makes him very intimidating, especially the way he is leaning forward because this suggests almost an ‘attacking’ movement that is obviously interpreted as a more intimidating movement. At this point the male is deemed as the stronger character because he is looking down at her who shouldn’t be able to move, as we move more into the escape there is a part where the same man is hit around the face with the end of a broomstick, this causes him to fall to his knees which reverses the male and female strength ideas as he is now lower down. This is then reverted back when she comes into contact with the terminator because she slides down due to shock and terminator is then looking down on her in a very intimidating way.

In the final scene at the factory the stereotypical view of women in action films goes back to the usual expectation when she is hobbling around having to rely on the terminator and her son, two males. This change also shown by the levels that they stand because she is limping she is leaning at the same height as her son which would suggest she is not much more use than he is, however the terminator is standing tall and upright showing that he is in control and of most help, being the man and saving the woman.

I did also discuss some things that were just general points about the film, that wern't necessarily in direct response to the question:

When in the factory the bright red lights around the characters could be a warning of danger and death, interestingly the colours of the background change when the two robots start fighting. When the robots break out into a fight as terminator tries to buy the others some time, the steam and smoke in the background goes to an icy blue, this could be to show that there is less danger involved as they are metal, but i also think it could be related to the fact they are robots as they have no inner emotions or feelings of any type and are plain technology inside. The reason I think this is the use of that colour is because as soon as we refer back to the humans the colour red is introduced again therefor possibly to present their inner fiery emotions of anger and pain that the robots can't feel.

There is a small part from the first scene of the hospital that has the camera close up on her face as it appears above the bars for a pull up, here you can see the light from the window beaming onto her face which almost demonstrates the fact that her hope is outside and is like the ‘light at the end of a tunnel’, the way in which the light is shining on her face creates this cliché in a more literal sense. Expanding on this point i then talked about the windows and how the small window is creating a small sense of hope is then compared to that of the workers at the hospital as they slowly walk past big windows as the light almost covers their whole body, putting the other idea into perspective as that could show the fact that they are not imprisoned therefore do not need to worry about small hope, its free for them to access anyway so the light is not important to them, interestingly the main doctor is male and she is female however she goes on to overpower them.