How is gender represented in “The most beautiful thing” (4mins).

Mise-en-scene strongly represents gender in this particular short film. The young boy named Brandon is presented as the “uncool” intelligent boy in school. This stereotype is proved due to the boy wearing glasses, having some facial spots and is dressed very dull and scruffy. He also wears a rather large black backpack, indicating that he does a lot of school work, making him stereotypically a nerd. The girl is also stereotyped as a feminine teenager. She is seen with a bright pink backpack, wearing a normal amount of make up, and also wearing bright summer clothes throughout. Her appearance and image clearly identifies her as a stereotypical teenage girl. Also, the backpack itself has princesses all over, portraying to the audience that she is very immature for her age. However, the fact that she is deaf countertypes the traditional representation of teenage girls. Normally girls are perceived as very talkative, therefore her not talking at all challenges this particular stereotype. Later on in the film when a teenage couple is seen kissing, the girl is wearing a tiny red vest. The revealing vest is sexualising women, highlighting that within society, many women use their sex appeal to become successful and achieve their goals. Also the colour of the vest is red, this colour connotes a seductive nature, highlighting the mediation that teenage girls often take part in sexual experimentations through puberty.

Throughout the short film there are mainly mid shots and close ups when watching Brandon. This allows the audience to discover the boy's facial expressions and emotions. Normally boys are represented as tough and emotionless in comparison to girls. However in the piece, the close ups shot highlight the challenge of this stereotype. Brandon is seen to be quite emotional, even almost crying at points, highlighting that he is in fact an emotional teenage boy who is easily hurt emotionally. Also he is seen in some mid-shots to be smiling at things that remind him of her, portraying that he has feelings for her,counteracting the normality of a boys cold emotions.The long shot that zooms into a mid shot of the boy walking in the train station also reinforces the representation of gender. The fact that he is travelling on his own at nighttime illustrates to the audience that he is a rather dominant and tough character, this conforms the idea that men are strong within society and aren't intimidated when alone. In a scene where Brandon is sitting on the bench, the camera angles allows gender to be portrayed to the audience. During the mid-shot of the two teenagers, Brandon first looks and notices a girl, which then leads into a close up of his reaction to her. This reinforces the idea the that within society, boys tend to acknowledge and notice girls due to their appearance before girls do the same. This highlights that the boy is in fact “eyeing up” the girl before she has even noticed him.

Furthermore, Brandon is presented as an independent individual throughout the short film.  During a series of jump cuts, he is seen doing different tasks and travelling everywhere on his own. This reinforces the concept that boys tend to be more independent than girls. Also, in a montage of reaction shots, Brandon is seen to be too shy to talk to girls who are in the scene. This conforms the idea that boys aren't as talkative in comparison to girls. He is also seen to be nervous when talking to the deaf girl, highlighting that he struggles to make conversation. Throughout the whole piece, Brandon has the most screen time. This symbolises that within society men have more power than women, therefore he receives the most screen time. During the scene where Brandon asks why the girl doesn't try speaking,the audience see an emotional response from the girl which reinforces the stereotype of girls being very emotional and gentle characters. The quick moving shot reverse shot shows the girl beginning to look upset and shaking her head. Due to the editing technique increasing in speed, this highlights the fact that girls are easily upset and when they do get upset, it's a lot more emotional than boys.

At the beginning of the short film,there is sad non-diegetic sound to suggest that Brandon is lonely and unhappy. However when he meets the girl, the non- diegetic sound is then more upbeat and happy. This challenges the fact that boys are seen as independent. This is due to, Brandon now relying on the girl for his happiness, and actually falling in love. The lack of diegetic sound and dialogue throughout the piece, highlights that Brandon isn't happy emotionally which illustrates that he is in touch with his feelings, and could be seen as not very masculine. This is clearly countertyping the concept that all men are masculine and emotionless. Brandon dialogue of “I’m sorry”, reveals his sensitive and nurturing nature, something that isn't normally a characteristic in a male character. Therefore the use of dialogue in the most beautiful thing, argues the stereotype that men are cruel within society.