Ethnicity Textual Analysis: Hotel Babylon

Ethnicity Textual Analysis: Hotel Babylon

We watched a five-minute extract of Hotel Babylon and analysed how the extract studied the concept of ethnicity in modern society, and how the authorities hunt and arrest people who are in the case of the show, powerless. We studied the four different media area that are the use of camera work, the sound (music or otherwise), editing of the scenes and the mise on scene and how the scene looked.

In the opening scene the camera work that is used is an establishing the scene from the warehouse to the reception of the building. Panning shots of the entrance was used to establish the whereabouts of the characters and the situation that they are in.  When the police and the workers of the building are rounding up the immigrants working they uses a tracking shot to establish the contrast between the rich and the poor. When they hide in the staff room the camera is mainly out of focus and sinks in with the hiding characters, this is to give the impression that the audience is involved in the situation.  It focuses on the characters needed and who is the centrepiece of the scene. When one of the immigrants is caught it uses the technique of Dolly Zoom to increase the tension of the scene so we can get a feel of the characters emotion at the time. At the end of the scene the camera tracks all the other workers praying and eating dinner together, this gives the sense of community and peacefulness that wasn’t seen before with the contrast of a hopeless, innocent man was arrested, this could suggest that they are use to the constant threat of being caught by the authorities and now is a way of life for them.  

Intense diegetic sounds are used to bring the audience into the scene to increase the tension, to give the audience a sense of panic of the workers and their allies attempting to hide them. When the police enter loud intense drum diegetic sound are used to imply a sense of danger when they are present as if they are the villains in the situation. The diegetic tune continues to go on until they hide in the staff room where all diegetic sounds stop and we're left with Non- diegetic sounds to increase the tension at act as if we are involved in the situation, the quietness shows they are hiding like animals, trapped in a cage. The scene ends with calm music to show they are used to the constant threat of being arrested and they do not speak or use non-digetic sounds to portray the loneliness of the character even when they are together. 

When immigration and the police enter the building and when they are seen in the lobby the editing is quite slow in pace switching from character to character in a turn taking conversation way. But as soon as the female protagonist begins to hide the immigrants working in the building the shots pick up pace and becomes more intense and exiting, this is to portray the panic of the helpless people. They take hold to the use of a continuity editing keep the viewers involved and to keep them involved in the story and to act as a way to involve the audience as if they were there.  As soon as they are hiding in a room it begins to slow down to give the audience the time to relax with the characters as if we are in the scene with them this creates the emotional attachment between the characters and the audience that it needs.

When the police enter the building you are able to see they ‘re in an expensive and high end location in probably the city, the consumes is mainly made up of police uniforms and suits, the contrast of the rich and the law. But when they begin exploring the building and finding the immigrants they are looking for there is a definite contrast from rich to poor as the workers are seen in only working overalls compared to the other characters who are in suits. When in the staff room it’s very dark and dirty, this displays the dreadful and despite conditions these people are involved in and how they must hide when being hunted by the authorities who should be protecting them, a contrast of who are good and who are bad.