‘Lip Service’Representation of lesbian relationships

Mise-En-Scene

Costume, Hair and Makeup

Frankie (assumed protagonist) has short boyish hair.She also often wears boyish clothing, along with Tess (right hand corner). This follows many stereotypes of lesbians in TV, as they are often portrayed as masculine.

Continued…

However, there is a contrast. Some of the lesbian characters have long hair (Tess and the girl in the bottom left photo). Also, Frankie and Kat (right photo), and the girl on the left, are all wearing makeup: Frankie being more heavily made up. This contrasts to the boyish look which could follow the stereotype of there being a masculine and a feminine partner in any gay relationship.

Camera Work

Camera Movement - Pedestal

They use a pedestal camera movement to move up Frankie’s body to follow the gaze of the other girl; looking at Frankie’s body. This shows the girl’s sexual attraction to Frankie, and could suggest these characters are sexually orientated.

Another pedestal movement is used to follow the length of Frankie’s; starting at her feet and finishing at her head, so the audience can see every part of her, and see the mise-en-scene around her too. From this, the audience is able to notice her boyish clothing and recognise the boyish stereotypes.

Over Shoulder Shot

Over shoulder shots are used to show Frankie looking at certain women. Here, the audience is able to follow her gaze and see things from her point of view, and in this circumstance, they can see that other woman catch her attention. This links to the stereotype of homosexual women having many relationships and failing to remain monogamous.

Medium Close UpIn this medium close up you are able to see Kat’s tattoo. It’s not in the centre of the frame which could suggest it is out of the ordinary, and a contrast to how she is ‘supposed to be’; much like the view of homosexuals decades ago.

Editing

Short Takes

• Throughout the clip, the takes are only on the screen for a short amount of time. This is because there is a lot of dialogue, so there are lots of switching between shots, and shot reverse shots. Another reason is, when there is no dialogue, there are lots of things happening, for example when Frankie is doing her photoshoot.

Sound

Non-diegetic

• From 0:00 up until 3:18, there is slightly up-beat, rock-ish music playing, which cooperates well with her boy-ish character.

Dialogue

(8:48) Tess describes Kat’s perfect woman as ‘butch’, which links to one masculine partner in a gay relationship, and follows many stereotypes.

Diegetic

A diegetic sound of a chat room noise is used. This can give the audience an idea of how homosexual couples meet; while allowing to create a sense of the type of character Kat is.