The way that regional
identity is shown in this clip is through one place with the people who live there
and the character Doc who has moved there.
There is an obvious difference between the people who live
in the town which is most likely the south (Cornwall) with the town being
called Port Wenn and the Doc who is most likely from the North e.g. London. I
can tell that it is set in the south through, the technical codes of mise en scene.
With the setting being the countryside and secluded rural areas, another indicator
that the Doc is from the North because of his costume he is wearing is a navy
blue business suit, a pale blue shirt, and checkered tie because of this
costume which is stereotypical for Northern people from area’s as London.
Another factor is through the dialogue, we know he is a
doctor which shows he has a higher education and is business forward, and we also
hear how in his dialogue he refers to himself as a ‘Londoner’. This contrasts
with the ‘Large Boys’ who are just clearly dressed for their plumbing work in
navy overalls, dark jackets and a green hat. They look very basic with a casual
approach and it is evident that not a large amount of effort was made, representing
their town Port Wenn to be simplistic and laidback, which was the first part of
mise-en-scene which separated the two regional identities.
The showing of regional identity is carried out throughout
the clip as there are several close ups of Doc Martin after the plumber bursts
the water pipes water pipes. While Doc Martin is engulfed In anger and stress the
other characters in the room are having a conversation as if nothing is going
on, so whilst he is big in the frame and shelters part of his dialogue “well
why don’t you go home then?”, it makes his difference in personality emphasised
empathising on the stereotype that Londoners are typically more stressed out .
In addition to this, Doc martin has a lots of screen time, so it suggests he is
the most important character and perhaps is more significant than those of Port
Wenn, but one of the ‘Large Boys’ has equal amount of screen time when in the
shot together, so it emphasise that their regional identity is just as
important as Doc Martin’s
Another example of this is when Doc Martin is centre frame
as the window, and despite looking powerful and dominating the frame because of
the high shot angle, he seems to be alienated from the 6 girls walking past,
wearing miniskirts, well-made-up and revealing T-shirts or vests, as one of the
girls says in her dialogue ‘Definite Bodmin’. Because of being a complete outsider
with the young girls all laughing at him we as an audience sympathise and feel
sorry for him as he is an outsider in Port Wenn. After all these factors of
regional representations as all his differences are highlighted, so he appears
to be in a town different to normal from his normal settings, making audience
feel sorry for him.
