Analyse the ways in which representations of gender are constructed in the extract through the usual 4 micro-elements.
Mise-en-scen: During the first two scenes, the typical costume considering gender is flipped around with DI Alex Drake wearing a suit, with her hair tied up professionally in a bun. Alex Drake is also driving the car, driving fast to get the crime scene - something which would usually be carried out by a male. In the scene on the boat up until the scene where Alex Drake faints (in 1980) she is wearing a short, tight, red leather dress. These aspects together show a seductive image, especially with the use of the colour red for her dress and lipstick, also her purse. The setting of the scene where the man in the grey suit confronts Alex is set in a hidden street corner, under what seems to be a bridge. This is where they would have normally found a prostitute (roaming around after work). During this scene, Alex Drake is limited to movement because the man in the grey suit has surrounded her. This is different to what would happen in the modern day, where Alex is a respected member of the police force. Also before this scene, Alex was seen running from the boat in her red, tight, short dress asking for help by a couple of police women hurrying past. however they ignored her. During the second scene where Alex in site of the hostage, she wearing a business, professional suit. Here she is respected by police officers.
The sound used during this scene was a rocky soundtrack during the time span of the can driving in. This rocky soundtrack, with the set of the 80s would represent a sexual image. There was also the sounds of the exhaust coming from the car, this along with the rock soundtrack pose a very macho image which is exactly what is seen. Represents the representation on men in the 80s - a similar respect to what Alex had in the modern day.
There is also the diegetic sound of Alex's shoes making a noise as she is pushed into a corner by the man in the grey suit. The noise of Alex's heels suggests a ditsy female character who is only compelled by men. There is also the aspect of speech, with Alex not saying much, and when she does speak she whispers her speech as in awe of the the three men surrounding her. Gene Hunt's line of "took a prossie hostage...letting his load off, love" shows more gender representation of Hunt with a macho appearance. The speech used by Alex Drake when she is telling the man in the grey suit what the officers want shows smartness which was not expressed by many women in that same position at the time.
The editing of this extract showed a 180 degrees shot of Gene Hunt with a low angle, this shows great hierarchy to Hunt being superior being the male character. The scene showing Alex reflecting on her image in the puddle also shows an emotional reflection, which is something usually portrayed by the female character. Another shot is the close up on Alex's face when she discovers who she is with (the officers). This also shows smartness as she is able to work out who each officer is. The close up lets the audience become more intimate with the character to show what she is feeling. Although the aspect of feelings is usually female, the smart knowledge is not generally associated with a female, especially someone dressed a short dress.
There was not much use of special effects with this particular scene. There was framing used when Ray Carling and Chris Skelton are introduced due to their position in the policing system in comparison to Gene Hunt. The first frame shows Gene Hunt, the camera pans over to show Chris Skelton and Ray Carling. There is Alex Drake on the third line of the shot right before she works out who the officers are, this places more focus on Alex but also shows where she is, to remind the audience she is still on a side street corner dressed in a non-classy manner. Therefore she is still represented as a women in the 80s on her exterior but shown as women in the modern day interiorly with her knowledge of psychology.
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