How to Get Away with Murder - Representation Essay

Camera shots are used in this clip in various ways, their effects reflecting the different types being used. Right in the beginning of the clip, we get an establishing shot of the venue the scene is going to be held at. This gives us as the audience a basic understanding of what is about to unfold. The location is not confirmed and thus the only conclusion that the audience can pull from it is that it's of a place of importance and higher status due to its complex and almost ancient architecture. Throughout the court scene, we get many close-ups and waist shots. The close-ups are used to allow us as the audience to get a closer look at the characters emotions. This not only allows us to get a deeper understanding of the situation but we also form a bond with the character, we get to see their emotions throughout the scene whether it be due to the result of a win or triumph. This closeness increases the audience's engagement to the clip, due to us feeling like we are there, present at the scene witnessing the court case first hand. The waist shots, allow us as the audience to witness the characters movements whether it be the wide wave of the hand in protest or the fumbling of fingers in nervousness or when the male attorney's eyes start moving side to side in nervousness as he realises that he has lost and is now potentially in trouble. This in addition to all the other shots, really make the clip engaging as we as the audience get to feel like we are there first hand. 

Then sound and music used in this clip fulfil its purpose in serving as a notifier tot eh audience about a  big reveal; or a conclusion. When the clip first starts out, there is no background music being played this could be a method to make sure the audience have their full attention paid towards the opening of the lawyers argument, however, when the revelation comes out that the female lawyer had found the person in hiding, an electronic Bassey background music starts playing. This could potentially be a way for the director to instil anticipation into the audience and could also be viewed as mimicking the pace of the debate in court, evidenced by its pace picking up as the argument heats up. This is most noticeable when the female lawyer starts going on a tangent. The bong/cymbal clash at the end highlights to us that the argument has come to a resolution and that the lady has won. This could also symbolize a dramatic end to a to a rather similarly styled climax. After the court scene, when we see the male attorney confront the female lawyer, we get a new background track in the form of piano music. This once again highlights the lady's triumph and the conclusion to the debate. It could also be seen as a description of the lady's calm demeanour in the face of the man's nervous threats.

The editing in this clip is rather simple. The director uses varying lengths of scenes but he has quick cuts between each one. This is the only transition that we see in this clip and this could be interpreted in many ways. We could see it as a representation of the pace the argument is following, that being quick and we could also see it as mimicking the argument always moving and never stopping for a break. The quick cuts could also represent the quick movement of time and thus the sequence could be seen as being quick but also efficient, highlighting the lady lawyers skill it could also be a technique the director could be using in order for us to be able to see the emotions of all the characters that are important in this scene. We see this being implemented when the policeman is talking but we cut to the shot of a man and two females whilst his dialogue is still going this could be a highlight of the importance of the character in this situation as their presence is important enough to cut that of the speaker.

Mise-en-scene plays an important part in this clip, as it highlights the conformation or challenges to the representations present in this film but it is also important due to the lighting choices of the clip.

The lighting used in this clip is predominantly back-lighting. This could have been done in order to create shadows along with the fact that the lighting is rather dim, this may be an emphasis that everyone here could potentially all be antagonists due to the context of the show itself. It could also be used to highlight that gaze of the audience that is watching the argument take place.

Race/ethnicity is a representation that is challenged in this clip but in some cases, it also conforms to it. The lady lawyer is black whilst the male attorney is white. This case challenges the representation as in the end, the black lady wins the case while the white male loses. This challenges the representation as the black character is usually portrayed as the one that loses whilst the white character is usually the one that is triumphant. A case where the clip conforms to the representation is in the form of Mr Hortua. His character seems Hispanic in nature and when he admits his reason for his actions, he states that it is due to the promise of a green card. This paints him as an immigrant who is here to work and only did what he did due to the promise of citizenship to him and his wife. Another way this character conforms to representation is due to coloured characters usually being the "criminals" in films and television shows.

Gender plays a similar role to race in the fact that the courtroom from the start of the clip already has the feel of it being dominated by the female lawyer. This is explored furthermore when she is clearly dominating in her tangent as the male attorney's rebuttals are portrayed as weak and when she wins and the crowd cheers for her, showing once again her dominance to the point where it seems like the entire crowd had rooted for her from the start. This challenges the representation of gender roles as men are portrayed as dominant over female characters. In this clip, we see a dominant female character and a weak male character up to the point where even when the male attorney threatens the female lawyer with murder charges, she remains calm whilst we can obviously see that despite him making the threats and trying to still seem dominant and unfazed, he is completely nervous and crushed from the defeat.