Case Study

 

Hello and welcome back to another blog! This week we were asked to write a practice essay based on a clip from the show "Agent carter." Here is my essay. 

    Agent carter takes place post World War Two. This clip explorers the inequality women face in the work place. Throughout the clip, we see many examples of this inequality and how peggy works to prove herself. 

    

    At the beginning of this clip Peggy, the protagonist, is in a powerful position. We see her in a control room directing Captain America on landing his ship. This job itself seems like a very powerful position and her make up only furthers this. We see her wearing bright red lipstick symbolizing her confidence and power she has. 

    

    The screen then fades to black and time jumps to one year in the future. We now see Peggy in dull makeup with no noticeable characteristics. This signifies a loss of power and confidence. She is now also wearing a blue suit. This blue suit helps her blend in with her male coworkers. 

    

    The men in Peggy's workplace have little respect for her. The director show the unequal dynamic between Peggy and her coworkers through two person shots. In one scene we can see Peggy working as her boss approaches her from behind and puts his hand on her shoulder as he stands over her. This comes off as condescending comfort. He knows she is tired of being overlooked by these men but he doesn't really understand. As he stands over her we see the inequality and how she feels superior. But as she stands up and walks away he starts to look small proving she knows her worth and will not let the man tear her down. 

    Peggy asks Agent Flinn about going on a mission and he shoots her down. As the camera zooms in we see her upset and fed up face. This shows she is done being treated like this and foreshadows how she is going to soon prove herself. 

    The lighting turns from more of a natural light coming from the windows, to a lowkey lighting as night falls. Peggy is approached by another man leaning over her desk asking for papers with little respect. After she gives them to him she stumbles across a photo of Captain America. With this she reminisce on her old life where she was once powerful and respected. The camera then pans to a group of six men standing across from her this foreshadows how she is about to the job of all them by herself. 

    

    A siren sound effect is played to signify the call of a mission. Since Peggy is the only one left in the office, she takes the job that recommends 3-5 agents by herself. 

    As she reaches the destination, a tracking shot is used to show her confidence as she approaches the job. She is again underestimated and synchronous sound is used to enhance the sound of her fighting the two men. As she fought, the camera panned to the man inside the office who was without worry listening to music. This humorous contrast furthers the idea that she is underestimated. 

    Steve Neals theory that genres rely on repeated elements relates to the idea of this clip. The topic of inequality that Peggy faces is repeatly shown throughout the whole clip. While the differences show the many ways how she proves herself. 

    In conclusion, Agent carter is an empowering story of Peggy and how she proves she is just as capable as any man. Using different techniques the director helps this theme reach the audience.