Pride
The representation of national identity in the Pride trailer displays the Welsh identity. The trailer mainly has two representations, negative and positive. At 1:00. the LGSM group are targeted by a woman who says "we are being backed up by perverts". The use of dialogue here represents those in Welsh small towns as small minded. Also at 1:07 during a speech by the LGSM group, several older men stand up and leave the room, this mise en scene suggests that the Welsh miners are homophobic and against LGBT people.
From around 1:00, the trailer is edited with quick cuts of people talking about "gays" in a negative way, and the lighting in these clips is mostly low key. The combination of low key lighting and swift cuts helps to present the idea that Welsh residents and miners are quick to judge negatively and fast to deny the progressive state of the world around them, representing the Welsh national identity as negative.
However, the positive representation that is displayed progresses throughout the trailer. For example, at 1:30, a miner moves towards the LGSM group threateningly, and the music drops out to silence, which adds to the threatening nature of the miner. However, the camera soon changes to show their hands in a mid shot at equal heights as they shake, with the added dialogue of "thank you". This represents Welsh miners and small town residents as kindly underneath the rough and sometimes threatening exterior. Later in the trailer, we have high key lighting as an older woman asks "where are my lesbians?" before several girls all hug her. The use of the high key lighting represents the positive outlook that the small town woman has upon the term "lesbians" rather than a negative one.
The Only Way Is Essex
In TOWIE, season 10 episode 1, there is a portrayal of regional identity of Essex. At 1:08, the music becomes very club like and party-ish. At this point, the mise en scene also changes to people with beer bottles, laughing, throwing up, showing off their bums and dancing. This portrays people from essex as party maniacs and not concerned with their 'dignity'. At 8:00, there is a part where several girls are in a pool with very tanned, slim bodies, portraying women from Essex as concerned with their looks. They go on to say that they could "totally be show girls", which portrays Essex girls as confident with their sexuality and their bodies. We also have mid shots that display the women's bodies, further representing them as sexual and concerned with their appearance.
However, one of the girls then says what exactly do you have to do?" Which seems ironic after she agrees that she could be a show girl, representing essex girls as being stupid or with low intelligence.
At 15:00, the boys begin to talk about girls and the fact that they want to "pull together", representing Essex men as confident with their sexuality and concerned about their ability to appear attractive to women. Here, the camera is at a mid shot and the men are standing above a few women. This use of positioning and camera helps to display the men's power over the women , representing men from Essex as primarily interested in women rather than anything else.
This all represents people from Essex as concerned with their appearance and sexuality, party animals and with a relatively low intelligence.
