In the establishing shot the four men are shown walking in a line in dirty green rags in a wide angle shot, this suggests immediately that they are lower class. You then see the lines of upper class shepharding the men and shouting their orders in their shiny, silver armour armed with lots of weapons, this shows the huge contrast in status as the upper class are a lot better dressed and the lower class obey all their orders. The mise en scene as the gladiators walk in is set in a dusty, dirty place with a dull, muted colour scheme consisting of browns and dark colours. This is setting us in a lower class situation. When the gladiators go out to fight, the removal of their rags reavealing the little armour underneath emphasises their vulnerability compared to the upper class who had lots of armour to protect them. The slave makes an appearance in brown coloured clothing this is suggesting she is also of the lower class but maybe slightly higher than the gladiators as they are nearly unclothed. In contrast, when the shot cuts to the rich people they are playing with their jewellery, surrounded by velvet and wearing rich reds and purples which are associated with the upper class and rich, this shows that they are of a much higher class than the gladiators and the slave. When the two men are fighting, one of them is wearing white shorts this could possibly symbolise purity and suggest he doesn't want to kill the other man, this shows that even though he is lower class he is higher than the other man he is fighting as he has power over him. Just before the weapon is thrown at the upper class people there is a shot of red curtains and a red cape in the background. The colour red directly realtes to death and danger, it signifies something bad is about to happen. This shows that he is possibly breaking the status ladder as he tries to have power over the upper class at this point and tries to kill them.
The editing throughout the clip shows a huge contrast betweent the different classes and statuses of poeple. There is often quick cuts of the gladiators fighting juxtoposed with long pauses on the upper class as they have a conversation. This shows the comparison between the two as the upper class are not bothered about the gladiators dying they are too busy talking about other things to care. This immediately persuades the audience to side with the lower class gladiators and presents the upper class as the antagonists.
When the audience is first introduced to the gladiators they can hear the non-diagetic, deep sound of drums and low trombones which are associated to the lower class. The gladiators are aggresively forced into the small cage and treat like animals, this juxtaposed with the diagetic sound of a woman laughing shows that the upper class clearly aren't bothered about how badly they are treating the lower class. The close up shot of the men showing their emotions as upset and frightened with the sound of the rich people laughing over the top shows the contrasting lifestyles of the upper and lower class.As the camera goes to a medium shot showing the two men in the cage while the other two are fighting, there is the diagetic sound of the battle outside. This emphasises the two mens faces and shows their emotions and reactions as the battle is going on. Even though they are portrayed to be animals and have no identity they still have emotions when they are about to fight till their death. The diaegetic sound of the tense music as the fight carries on makes the audience feel sorry for the fighters who are presented as the protaganists. This, shortly followed by the polite applause from the upper class as the dead body is being dragged off, makes the audience feel as though the upper class are awful people and they side with the lower class. In the second fight, that we can this time see, the build up of the frantic strings and trumpets represents the terror of the lower class fighters while the camera then cuts to a shot of the upper class where the music gets much quiter as they are talking about something else as the fight is still going on.This is suggesting that the upper class are not bothered at all that the gladiators are fighting and about to die and shows a complete difference between classes. As the fight gets more intense the diagetic music changes to harsh trumpets and builds up into a cruscendo before becoming slower again during the intense moment when one gladiator is about to kill the other.
The repeated imagery shots of the gladiators through bars or a net signifies imrpisonment and shows the lower class are trapped while the upper class can make them do anything. As the two gladiators are coming out of the cage there is a long shot of the two gladiators who are lower down with three men stood tall above them with their shoulders back and head up, their stance and the way rhey are above the gladiators show they are of higher status than them. One of the men is further forward than the others this suggests that he is possibly of a slightly higher status than them. This shot also shows the upper class stood higher than the three men this signifies their importance and higher status than the three men and the gladiators. The point of view shot from the mans eye as he is in the cage juxtoposed with the close up shot of him giving the man opposite meaningful looks puzzles the audience slightly as to what he is thinking, it also shows how hard it must be for the lower class having to watch the fight knowing they are next. The high angle shot of the fight make the fighters look inferior as the upper class are above them. When the black gladiator is about to kill the other fighter he is standing over him signifying even though they are bioth lower class the black man has more power and a higher status.When the gladiator throws the weapon at the upper class this shows that he is transgending the higherarchy and breaking the classes because at that point he he has more power over the upper class. The long shot of him climbing up the ladder to kill the upper class shows his determination and power he wants over the upper class, he is climbing up through the social ladders to take revenge on them. The close up shot of the red blood squirting onto the upper class mans face is done deliberatley so the audience again side with the protaganists, the lower class.
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