Discuss the ways in which the extract creates representations of gender and lifestyle.

Hollyoaks is a television soap that is broadcast every weekday on channel 4. It is aimed at a young audience from teenagers to people in their mid twenties. It is a very successful soap even though it is on a small budget and is filmed faster than most soaps. It targets it audience by using mostly young, attractive, identifiable characters and by using relevant and interesting storylines such as drug abuse and relationships. The Hollyoaks extract I am deconstructing is from a Hollyoaks later, an episode from 1.37 minutes to 4.36 minutes.

The extract begins with Irish music being played and long shot of a girl river dancing in the front room of a house, this is very stereotypical showing the audience that it is a typical Irish family. Everyone in the shot is wearing black as they have just been to a funeral and this is the wake. It then cuts to an eye level medium shot of three characters on a sofa talking. As the music and dancing continues through out this shot her legs are in the foreground. She is wearing heels and a short skirt which represents a typical female character in Hollyoaks. As they are girly and appealing to viewers however this female characters weight is highlighted when a character says “ who does that Flatly think he is saying she is too fat to river dance”, adding humour to the scene. She is also in the centre of the framing when she is river dancing and stands out as she has blonde hair where as the other characters all have darker hair colours showing she is a vibrant character.

Later when Kris enters the room and announces he is a cross dresser and bisexual, everyone in the room is in shock but the audience doesn’t know what has happened creating enigma as the music stops and a loud high note is played as the camera zooms in on his mothers face as she sees what is happening. This is done to show the shock and the unacceptance of his lifestyle choice. There are also other reaction shots for example a panning shot across the bands faces which then cuts to an eye level medium shot of his mother, brother and friend on the sofa looking in shock at the direction of the door. At this point the audience doesn’t know what the characters are looking at creating suspense. Which then cuts to Kris standing in the middle of the room dressed in white whilst everyone else is dressed in black, so that he stands out and this represents how he is different from others in the room. There are then more cutaway reaction shots where the editing becomes faster as this shows the drama of the situation to more effect as it shows the tension between characters. Such as the close up of the grandmother as we hear a cup breaking and we assume she faints and his mother who does not look happy. During this scene ambient sounds are playing in the background such as bird song and a clock ticking this intensifies the awkwardness between the characters.

There is then a sound bridge used to cut to another scene where the mood is similar so the sad music is used to link the two scenes. Where there is a medium close up of Mercedes staring straight into the camera, this then fades into a flashback , memory of the past for Mercedes. We know this because the colours are faded with a white tint and there is also a blurred effect used suggesting she cant quite remember what happened. This then fades back to reality as the colours are normal again as the sad music fades out and ambient sounds fade in, such as chatting in the background.

There are representations of gender and lifestyle choice through out the scene. As the younger women in the scene generally where modern clothes and skirts with heels creating a young and modern image. Compared to the mother who is wearing a high necked reserved costume creating an older representation. The lifestyle choice that Kris has chosen is shown to be shameful in this extract and not normal as there are gasps when he reveals this and his grandmother faints. This shows that mise en scene is the most influential on representations of gender and lifestyle. This is shown through what Kris is wearing such as the white dress which imitates a dress Kylie Minogue is famous for wearing which requires previous knowledge.