Downton Abbey Evaluation

32 seconds to 1 minute 32 seconds.

Elements of miss en scene:

• bells 
• dirty backstreets
• old fashioned iron 
• ironing newspapers 
• big wooden chair
• paper boy
• Head of the table (head of the servants) 
• grey clothes 
• wooden furniture.
• Very rushed breakfast
• The paper boy tired to read the newspaper like the richer people but get it snatched off of, to show he doesn't have the class to read it 
• The windows int eh servants room is barred up, they are also higher unlike the bedrooms one, They don't deserve to look out onto the countryside they only deserve to see the dirty streets. Stops them from escaping, from their lower class.
• Standing up reading the newspaper, still doesn't have to power to sit down and read the news.
• Lighting is darker.

How it establishes the narrative of class:

• Bell- This is the way for the people all over the house to get the attention of the servants to get what they want done, maybe some food.
• Dirty backstreets- Only the servants enter through the back of the house so it would have to be clean, the front of the house is the clean part. Sets the seen of the time, old fashioned streets of London were ridden with disease and were very dirty.
• Old fashioned iron- These irons aren't used nowadays so it's clear this is set many years ago.  Shows class as lower class people wouldn't have an iron in their home, even though its a servant using it still suggests this is the people with class wouldn't be doing it them self.
• Big wooden chair at the head of the table- Shows status as he would most likely be head of all the servants. He stands with more class as well, you can see a clear difference between the man at the head of the table and the servants sat on the side because the servants are wearing grey whereas he is wearing a black suit with a bow tie. 
• The wooden furniture suggests lower class as they obviously  can't afford "good" furnishing. Accept the big wooden chair at the end of table which just empathises the power of the head of the servants.

Whilst the servants are eating their very rushed breakfast, they are being bombarded with bells as a sign that people around the house want their service. They also only have spoons suggesting that as they don't have much class they shouldn't be worth all the extra washing up compared to the people with power. The fact the person gets the newspaper out the backdoor off of a newspaper boy suggests that if someone doesn't have power they shouldn't go to the front of the house, so all exchanges must be out back. Before the newspaper is taken away from this paperboy, he tries to read it yet is interrupted. This automatically shows class through this because he isn't able to sit down and read the news about people with much power. There is also wooden furniture, yet this is plain wood and isn't patterned, showing they don't need the "fanciness" of the beautiful wood as they wouldn't be eating their for long as soon they'd be severing the higher class. This is soon contrasted through the second clip where the man gets to eat his breakfast in his own time whilst reading a newspaper. However within this clip, there is a head butler at the head of the table in a suit which shows his power above the other servants. Yet in the later clip, he is seen as less significant and stands behind of the head of the house out of focus. This shows how even within the main Hierarchy, there was small hierarchies.

2 minutes to 4 minute 32 seconds

breakfast dishes- silver dishes, china wear 

pews with large stairway

flowers 

big painting with gold frame Covers the entire wall, the can afford to have some one else's painting on their wall

windows

long draped curtains 

widow shutters

embodied wood furniture 

suits and bow ties

All of knifes and forks.

more calm that the servants, reading newspaper whilst eating.

the titanic on the newspaper- titanic is seen to wealthier people

woman's hairstyles

jewellery- class

lace and silk with cuffs 

Large gold candle holder- expensive

Brighter lighting compared to the servants scene.

telegram- someone wants to get contact and can afford to send one, it's normal for him as he gets them all the time so he carries on reading the newspaper

Everyone else is standing yet he isn't, he doesn't need to be higher/ standing up to show his power compared to everyone else in the room, men over powering woman.

Music raises for tension whilst reading the telegram, building up questions to what it says, doesn't tell the woman at the table as they don't have the power (presuming they are daughters) To know.

"Her ladyship"

She stays laying down, she must be important, a servant would stand up when he entered.  

Running theme, those who read newspaper have power. 

Large mirrors covering a wall, in-between to large windows again with curtains, showing they can afford it.

There's a mirror on a mirror.

Large bed with four posts.  Has head board.

White bedsheets showing wealth, gold strips supporting this wealth.

Candle stick holders on the walls, near a fireplace- there can afford to heat and light their homes.

Out side the window its country- juxtaposition compared to the dirty streets from the servants.

Server, bringing breakfast in bed, instead of sitting at the table.

unlimited staff for the house owners