Hustle Write Up

Hustle

In this write up I will be looking at mise-en-scene, sound, camera and editing in the tv programme Hustle.

Mise-En-Scene

The opening to the clip is set in a very feminine shop with lots of very expensive clothes I gathered this as the shop owner or person who was working at the shop, who came across as a gay, feminine person due to the way he was speaking and by the way he was acting, said that a £700 dress was at the lower end of their price range. In the shop, we see 2 female characters, one who is in not very in revealing clothes and is wearing a less expensive outfit, compared to another woman who is in the shop who is wearing slightly revealing clothes which seem to be more expensive. This is proven when the women in the less expensive outfit can’t afford a dress worth £700 whereas the woman in the more revealing, more expensive looking outfit can afford a dress worth £3000. The male character also comes across as very two-faced. I can see this as when he is talking to the woman in the lesss expensive outfit he is very up-tight and a bit snobby and rude, but when he is talking to the woman in the more expensive outfit he is very polite and friendly. Throughout the scene we go into lots of different scenes, the second place we go is into what looks like a gentlemen’s bar. I can tell it’s a gentlemen’s bar because all the people there are predominately male and they are all smoking and drinking. This is a very stereotypical way of two men who seem to be upper class to have a conversation and to meet up. We also see another person who is in on the hustle, this character comes across as a very masculine character as he is in a nice suit and has a lot of style.

Sound

Firstly, the male character in the shop is very sarcastic and rude to the first women in the shop who is wearing less expensive clothes. This is because he realises her price range isn’t big enough to buy anything in the shop so therefore is trying to get rid of her. This suggests that he is not prepared to deal with the lower/middle class people who have a low budget but only the higher-class people who have a very high budget which is why he is so nice and friendly with the woman who is wearing more revealing and expensive clothes. Secondly, we see the female hustler who is the person in the expensive clothe who is wanting to buy an expensive dress talk very well spoken and being very polite and proper to the shop worker. This is because she wants him to think that she is an actual customer and not involved in any ‘hustle’. Moreover, there is a constant soundtrack which is played throughout the clip, this gets quicker and slower at different stages of the hustle. For example, in the bit where the woman has ‘lost her ring’ the soundtrack goes very fast. This makes the audience feel as though she has lost a ring and makes the nervous and lets them indulge more into the clip. The soundtrack the suddenly stops as the panic is over and the woman leaves the shop without her ring.

Camera

There are lots of different camera shots and angles throughout the clip. Firstly, one camera angled used was a close up when the male hustler found the ring. This was used because the makers of the programme wanted the audience to know that the male hustler had swapped the rings and that the female character had never lost a ring in the first place. This is also used to make sure the audience know that the ring is going to be the focus of the entire scene, so therefore the makers want to let people know from quite early on. Another shot used is a high angle shot. This was used when the male shop keeper is talking to the woman in the less expensive clothes, this is used because it shows the male is in control and overpowering the female in the situation. Another camera angle used and one of the most noticeable ones was breaking the 4^th wall. This happened because the producers wanted to make the audience feel as if they were in on the hustle, so made the characters look directly at the camera at the audience.

Editing

 One editing feature is a swipe screen to when we get to see different story lines. This is effective as it clearly distinguishes when the story line Is changing making it easy for the audience to keep up with what is going on in the clip. Finally, there are plenty of quick cuts when the man and women are panicking in the shop after the woman has lost her ring. This is to indicate just how much panic there is in the shop between the two.