Merlin Essay

Throughout the Merlin clip the class and status representation pull and push against the typical stereotypes.

The music used at the start of the sequence is eerie and atmospheric, creating a dark tone to the scene. It builds as Merlin is in the room for a longer time, getting louder and building to a climax as there is more of a chance he will be caught and he picks up more objects. The women enters the scene and the music suddenly changes to a more scary sound and then comes to an abrupt stop when she enters the room and sees Merlin- this shows the women's high status and authority in comparison to Merlin as she has the power to stop all sound and drive the narrative with her presence alone.

The way in which Merlin addresses Arthur as 'My lord' sarcastically shows that he knows that Arthur is of a higher class and must play along with his role as a peasant. However he rebels against this stereotype, as he is well spoken and speaks in a clever manner and he is also not afraid to undermine authority and royalty which highlights his bravery.

The fight scene is shot with a stedicam, which gets the audience more involved in the scene with the use of unsteady camera movement. There is also a lot of over the shoulder shots to show binary opposition between the two characters; the thought that Merlin is the poor peasant and Arthur is the powerful knight.

The key incite to the class and status of both Merlin and Arthur can be seen through the low and high angle shots of both of them. Stereotypically Arthur is above Merlin in the fight scene showing that he is more dominating and superior, however it is strangely reverses when merlin uses his magical knowledge to belittle Arthur with the camera panning down onto him. This differentiates against the typical stereotype that lower class people and not intelligent and the upper class people are the greatest.  

High angles can also so be shown at the start of the scene with Merlin looking down on the old women in the mirror. This connotes that the women is scared that merlin will find out that she can perform magic too. This also contrasts the theory that upper people are above lower class people.

In this sequence Merlin's clothing connotes that he is of a low status and highlights his role as a peasant- as he is dressed in scruffy, dull clothing. This contrasts to the women at the start of the scene who is dressed in a long gown made from nice material and with a sophisticated hairstyle- which suggests royalty and that she has more authority in the castle than Merlin does. Arthur is also used as binary opposition to Merlin as he is dressed in armour and knight like clothing- making him seem powerful and heroic in comparison to Merlin's thin, scruffy top which doesn't provide him with any protection in the fighting scene- showing he is vulnerable.
At the start of the sequence when Merlin is collecting something for the woman in a room belonging to her, the decoration is fit for royalty and uses warm colours and objects to make the room inviting- this shows her position in the castle is high up. This contrasts to the closing scene where Merlin and his teacher like friend are discussing magic after the fight, the room they talk in is dark and gloomy, creating a cold atmosphere and simplistic as there is no decoration or warm colours- it is only a bare room. The two contrasting locations reflect that the two peasants are more practical and only need their conversation to drive the narrative, whereas the woman in the castle is more attached to material objects. The lighting in the opening scene is dark and scary, showing he feels nervous, but as soon as the women enters the room the lighting automatically gradually gets lighter- showing her presence is powerful and significant.

Editing is used to show the audience that despite Arthur being of higher status than Merlin, he is still his equal and Merlin does not see this as important by the use of Shot-reverse-shot at eye line level, which allows the audience to understand Merlin is just as powerful and clever as Arthur. Also the use of SFX in the scene helps to show Merlin has an advantage over Arthur and is just as or more powerful than him. This is shown by how his eyes glow, which gives the audience privileged information showing Merlin, is powerful. Match on action is used to show Merlin's reaction when his teacher sees him fighting. It then shows his reaction to his teacher, which expresses his worry, showing his teacher has some kind of authority over him. Shot transitions are used to move the scene from the castle grounds to the streets, which show and emphasises the difference in status and class. Also Merlin appearing in both settings suggests he has some form of power, to be in the castle setting, which signifies with high class and power.