How is gender represented in Shallow Grave?

In this particular scene in Shallow Grave the theme of gender is represented in different ways. The costumes that the characters wear give the audience a clear image into whether the character is an innocent or a dangerous. The character of Juliet has quite a provocative costume. Her dress is low cut and about knee length. This could suggest to the audience that she is deliberately trying to be provocative and that she wants to draw attention to herself. Also she stands out from the other females that are at the due as they are wearing bolder colours where as she is wearing plain black. You also notice that the other women are all wearing full length dresses which could suggest that Juliet has a lack of class and elegance. The costume that Alex wears in very casual however they are not in a casual environment. This makes the audience feel more drawn to him as they are surrounded with people who are smartly dressed and then you have someone who stands out from them all because the audience naturally assumes that everyone is going to be elegantly dressed and not in informal wear. However David is the complete opposite to these two. He is dresses quite elegantly and is very professional. This shows the audience that he is very self conscious and that he feels the need to impress all the time which is very ironic as this is quite a feminine thing to do.

The props that are used are mainly the champagne glasses and the champagne. Also there are roses shown during the scene. This shows the scene to be very feminine and quite romantic. This is son as the audience mainly sees a female dominated place. However the audience are aware that the content is not romantic and is quite masculine. The setting is very elegant and very wealthy. This shows the audience that the environment is very dignified and that gives the audience something to relate to as they could imagine themselves in that situation.

The shot types that are used represent gender in a very specific way. The specific shot that contradicts the obvious stereotype is the POV shot when Alex is on the ground. This shows Juliet to be the most dominant character and in a way to be more of a masculine role. You can see this because traditionally the men have a higher authority than the women and this is turned around in this shot. This makes the audience feel intimidated by her too because she is the higher authority and is looking down on the audience.

There is also a two shot. This shows that the characters are close but also it shows the contrast between Alex, Juliet and David. They leave him on his own which could suggest isolation from them. This shows your typical lovers type relationship however we know that they are not. The camera angles make the characters look more aggressive and threatening which is normally why the director uses these types of shots. The point in particular that this angle is clear on is when David is shouting at another man. The angle on David is almost on a slight tilt and this shows authority and aggression towards that particular person.  The framing that Boyle has used makes it clear that when David is having an argument with someone that he is the only one out of the three that is in shot. This could suggest that he is more of a dominant character. However it is contrasted beforehand because he seems to be the more feminine figure as he seems worried and afraid and Juliet seems to be the more masculine figure as well as Alex.

The diegetic sounds in this scene are mainly the talking. The conversation that goes on between Alex and Juliet is very coarse in that type of environment. This is against your stereotypical image of a woman as you would expect a lady to talk properly and have the correct mannerisms. However you can see a clear contrast in our character and our stereotypical woman. Having the conversations in there make it more interesting for the audience because they can relate to the conversation as the characters are talking and joking as someone more common would talk. This could suggest that the film is aimed at working class people and also that it is aimed for both males and females. Also there is a clear diegetic sound in the scene as the main music is coming from the band that is playing in the background. This is obvious as you see the band playing in the scene. The editing differs throughout the scene as the tempo of the music changes and this speeds up the pace of the editing. You notice that it is very slow at the beginning at does a cross cut from one conversation to the other. This shows a contrast in the classes and in the gender of the conversations. 

Overall Boyle represents the men and women as being the opposite in personality. This makes the audience feel uneasy as they are not fully aware of what the characters are about and what their true intentions are. This scene shows the audience that the characters are contrasting to what we would normally associate being the typical male/female.