M1: Texual Analysis of Doctor Who

The Mise – en - scene is used to describe the aspects of film production; the key aspects are lighting so how is lighiting going to be used to emphasise characters, costume is what are the characters wearing emphasising the time and how important is the character, set design is applied to set the genre of the film or the mood of the film and etc.The costume that was worn by the ‘Master’ shows that he has authority and intelligence. The security guards were wearing armour, protective clothing and the use of guns made them responsible giving the impression of physical strength. The women were wearing a maid costume representing that they serve and did not have any authority at all. Martha had a bold and reinforced look representing that Martha had authority. The women in the red dress show us that she was like a trophy for the man in authority. This was how gender represented in that specific scene of 'Doctor Who'. Sci-Fi genre was represented throughout the scene; the location of the interior looked more like a spaceship than a normal room. The props that was used really emphasised the sci-fi genre for example when 'Martha' walked into the room and the other character asked for a 'teleport device' another example would be 'The Master' when he was trying to kill the other characters he used a 'sonic screwdriver'. The cinematography which is the creation of the camera and lighting used to create a scene for television. The 'Master' and 'Martha' both had the exact amount of screentime between one and another so it can lead the audience to believe that the 'The Master' was going to kill her but she then tricks him by having a plan all along. The low angle shot in the beginning shows the 'Master’ having all the power and being the more dominant character when he ordered 'Martha' to kneel. This then follows onto the high angle shot of the character 'Martha' emphasising that she was powerless compared to this dominant character. The timer was used to create dramatic tension between the characters showing us that she had to think fast to stop the timer from reaching zero and that she also did not have a lot of time left before the world end. The atmosphere of the particular scene was almost depressed with the 'Master' about to end the world; in contrast, it then becomes cheerful when the 'Doctor' is growing. Shot reverse shot is a type of continuity editing, used to show the viewers that one character was looking at another. This type of editing was used almost through out the whole scene because of the two characters rivalry this was also used to sense realism and engagement, the use of this technique saves time. Crosscutting was used through most of the dramatic scenes to build tension that the world was going to end for example crosscutting was used to shorten the current scene to build up tension and also to show the power of the villain with the field of missiles. Crosscutting was shown in this extract by showing us people from all around the world having hope for the 'Doctor' once the countdown was ended these images was from India, United Kingdom and etc. Flashback editing especially fade to white and an ellipses editing showing us her journey through dialogue how 'Martha' travelled the world spreading stories of this particular person the 'Doctor' it is also used to shorten time building up that she now has power. Visual effects were used to show the ‘Doctor’ growing and that he is not human, he is more higher being than any of the characters for example bright light that was surrounding 'Doctor' showing a higher power than the other two characters and any other character that was in the room. A action match was used to keep an eye on the timer so that it can remind the audience that it was the end of the world also building up tension. Some of the sounds of 'Doctor Who' were applied to build up the tension as you could hear through out the whole extract. Low tones and slow place was used to build up tension and low choir voices suggesting the funeral sense of atmosphere between the two characters. A  drum beat was applied to build up the scene’s pace, excitement and emotion. The voices of the alien/robots had a mechanical sound which could of been added through a mixer to impersonate a sound of robots. The choir’s pitch became much higher and the steady drums showing us that 'Martha' is now taking control over the situation. The music that was used when the ‘Doctor’ rebirths and becomes himself gave the impression that you can have hope. The melody speeds up and also the editing pace of the scene where the 'Doctor' is being rebirthed kind of like a power more worthy than god himself.