In Hotel Babylon the binary opposites of ethnicity is clearly shown as they have represented them with a group of foreign migrants and a group of British migrant cops. In the first shot we see one of the hotel works doing his business, it starts with a close up shot which then zooms to a mid shot to show his work place, straight away we are introduced to the British immigrant cops, they are dressed in matching classic suits with a stern voice that order the worker.
The scene then changes with a swift cut to the hotel seen and the main workers at the desk looking busy. This is now when the music starts up, and gets fast pace and dramatic, this is because the migrant workers have now entered the building, and we are zoomed to them out the entrance. All of them are wearing suits which present them to be in authority. The camera then uses the effect of a shot reverse shot to show how powerful affect of the entrance of the migrant workers have on the hotel worker.
They are first seen out the entrance of the hotel, last seen at the same entrance and again at the entrance of the elevator, this gives us a mise-en-scene that they are only in the presence of doorways, because they are in power and control over who gets in and out, which reinforces the fact that they are imprisoning the workers.
The migrant cops also have a front man, as he is the only one talking and gives the orders out, he has a stern voice that addresses the hotel worker and no expression which is shown by a close up shot worker and no expression which is shown by a close up of his face. Despite the fact that they are hardly seen in the clip, still shows their awareness in others as you see all the migrant works are running and hiding from them. When they do appear the camera always uses a mixture of long shots, then quickly cuts to a close up of the main cop to show his powermeant. They are binary opposites because the migrant workers are seen to be the bad guys and the migrant workers , good guys which is a character role reverse as they do not live up to the cultural highenamy as it actually makes us feel sorry for the migrant worker, we are bias to take their sides. We are then presented with a shallow focus shot of the missing migrant worker with his headphones in his ears to show that he is unaware of the presence of the cops in the background that lets us see this. Again the music picks up because the police are in view and taking away the migrant worker, which shows their power over them.
In the final scene we are brought to various cuts of different angles on the camera takes a long shot which follows the main cop around the room right o the exit of the hotel. A close up is then followed to show that they have won and are taking away the migrant. The sympathy is on Jackie now as a shot reverse show is used to show the conversation. The migrant cops leave, as the whole way they are shown in brightly lit settings with a high light camera placed on them.
From the first scene we see how the migrant workers are presented, as soon as the migrant workers enter the building a state of panic has been alerted as not only the music is fast pasting to show the workers, we are now introduced to the different culture groups of migrants in their workspace. It is stereotypical that we find them there; however this does show the reality of what we would expect. The music and brightly lit room gives us a sense of realism as everyone is rushing around. The camera is then moved to a high angle shot that is placed behind bars, it then gives us the perspective that they are in then moved to a high angle shot that is placed behind bars, it then gives us the perspective that they are in a jail and all impression and running towards the door. The camera then zooms to the door where it says staff only in capital letters to show the importance. The gangling of the keys are a non diegetic sound which then shows a sense of urgency. When the entire migrant workers are in the room the music calms down to a low bass to show that they are safe, yet still in danger. The room is dimly lit to show the distress of the way they are always living in the dark. One of the men helps a woman that has collapsed and the camera shows a series of close up to show the man, saving her life. This gives us a new positive view of how the migrant workers are underrated because they are not all stupid. Because the room is so silent the knock on the door creates an urgency which shocks them all. The camera deserves a fast zoom towards Jackie’s force to show her concerned expression.
The next scene shows the devastation of Jackie in the hotel lobby as a shallow focus is used, which highlight the loss of her worker, it shows that she is caring as she pleads with the man. The music now clams to a sadder instrument as a violin and bass are playing as she packs up the missing workers things and a back shot to the remanding workers to show their sadness of a friend. The action of Jackie is much slower as she is taking her time to take each object from the locker out into a black bad. The door closes with a loud bang, as the camera takes an extreme close up of Jackie closing the locker door, and the key turning, signifying that it is now locked forever.
We are now taken to the final scene which seems to be happy; the violin plays still, as we are now moved to a canteen scene. The camera has cleverly been placed a few meters away from the takes. We see different cultures of people sitting together, eating their dinner, and how happy some are, all talking and mixing in well, the camera tracks past them, group by group, till it gets to the last table where it finally stops. Now we cut to a shot of the two people sitting down eating, however they do not talk, they are praying because they knew the migrant worker who had been captured. Then they start eating, and the shot ends with the two looking at each other in a sorrowful yet thankful way, as it cuts to an extreme close up of the girl’s eye.
