'Mad Men' analysis

Mad Men

At the start of the scene, it showed a women getting dressed. It started with a pan shot of the dress; this implies that woman are seen as an object as we do not see her face straight away but rather her dress/body. There was then a dissolve to show another woman getting ready to emphasise that woman take care of themselves and worry about their appearance because they aren't valued for anything other than their appearance to the opposite sex. The next dissolve went on too a men getting ready with his wife's assistance; implying that he demands attention and has the upper hand and his wife is inferior to him. The sound used for this scene, was upbeat and contrasted with the slow paced actions by the characters. The music furthermore shows that it is a necessity to take care of themselves which they have become accustomed too. We know this because if the music was dull then we would know that it would be more of a chore and burden too them.

There is parallel editing between a women on a horse and the man at the doctors. This is too show what different genders do at the same time. It is shown that men are more independent than women as even doing something she enjoys, the women is still getting told what to do. Furthermore, the women at the doctors is used to do the 'dirty' work and is dismissed by the male doctor when he arrives. Showing again, that she is inferior to the male characters in the room. It could be said that men don't like to admit that there is something wrong, we know this as the man at the doctors is being secretive towards the doctor. While at the doctors, there is ambient sound to give the scene a sense of realism.

Throughout all the scenes, we know that the men are more superior to the women as they are on the screen longer than the women. Furthermore, when the woman is helping her husband get ready, she is off to the side whereas he is in the middle. This is the rule of thirds and with him being in the middle, we are more likely to look at him. Again, at the doctors, even when the women nurse is speaking; the camera still focuses on the men in the room. The women was barely on camera during the scene although she played an important part, whereas both the men shared equal camera time. We would think that the doctor would have more screen time because of his job, therefore this conveys the idea that the man must have an equally important job or because he is the main focus of the episode.