Study Break 1 Homework

Chené Harris 

’homeland’ essay 

At the beginning of this clip, the scene starts off with almost a wide long shot portraying to us the city of Baghdad with a voice-over - not knowing which character is talking. This technique can be used to keep the audience interested as to what is going to happen and where the plot is going to start. The use of diegetic sounds has been used at the opening of this clip to give the audience that city feel of it being overcrowded while the diegetic sounds are being used there is also the use of an establishing shot. This clip also contrasts of both wealth/status and race/regional identification. We are instantly shown how the wealth status is relevant to the clip, because of the buildings and people not being properly dressed/ not being looked after properly - as they would be if the city of Baghdad was a wealthy city (like in America when the scene switches to the African American male who is on a call with our American female- you can see that they are living in wealth). 

Race/regional identification is portrayed when the audience sees two different types of racial individuals. We know that they may be Iraqi or Arabian because of the way they are dressed. The props/costumes are a big clue as to what ethnicity many of them are such as the men always wearing the scarves around their necks/ heads and the woman fully dressed in Keffiyehs which cover their entire body- not showing a single bit of skin. The same foes with our ordinary American female who immediately enters the scene in her car also wearing a long coat and scarf covering everything but her face.

Handheld digicam pictures and more or leas shakey digicam movements in the scenes revealing Baghdad spotlight the strain and uncertainties of the area and it inhabits. The digicam regularly zooms in from a further shot to a better close shot, quite quickly improving the rushed volatile atmosphere. 

As the woman steps out of her car and starts walking - we are able to see the huge quantity of Arabians walking around her, this regarding their lack of finance as to purchase their own personal form of transportation. The diegetic sounds over many of the scenes are quiet and appear to be the sound of their traditional humming.