case study Desmonds

Desmond’s

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Desmond’s is a classic comedy series from the early 90’s which conveys comedy through various ways but mainly through the African culture that resonates throughout the series.  The main characters accent is argued to be the main source of comedy as his African accent fits in just fine with the culture of the series. Stereotypes clash here as the barbers mainly consists of black people however there are also white people within the barbers which show them to be co habiting unlike Citizen khan, the whole competition culture and scenes that take place. There is also a slight hint of taboo lexis in Desmond’s. “pain in the –“ this shows the comparison of the changing times as in today’s modern day and age taboo lexis is freely expressed but in the early 90’s it was seen as disrespectful that’s why Desmond cut his line short when he was supposed to say the word ‘ass’.

This can be shown in the two shot. Here the people of two different races are cohabiting nicely but a funny tone is added to this ad Desmond calls him stupid. There is also a contrast in costume/ clothing which can show the power distance between them as Desmond is dressed smartly which can show that he has all the power in the barber shop and the white character is dressed in denim shirt which is basically just casual clothing. This can emphasise that he is just a worker compared to him. This two shot also reflects that Desmond has power and authority over him.

 

in this short episode, a variety of camera angles are used in order for humour to be conveyed. In this scene, a wide shot is being used in order to show a character has just walked in to the barber shop and shows the surroundings and props. The costume of the character that just walked in shows that he has just come back from school which also plays the part of school being a huge influence upon kids of that age.

 

The shot then changes to medium close up of the boy and emphasis is added on to the bruising on his face. This portrays that he’s been in some kind of fight and makes the audience feel sympathy for him as his injuries are shown up close followed by his sad facial expression.

 

Close ups are also used in Desmond’s In order to capture characters facial expressions. Humour is exploited from this because of his eye bulging funny body language. Also close ups of other characters laughing at jokes that other characters make adds to the comedy aspect of the series because when the audience see a character laughing it’s almost like a trigger to make the audience laugh and feel like their following the story line.  

 

With regards to this medium shot, it shows clothing/costumes they are wearing. Comedy can be exploited from this because for example the variation of costume. Again the stereotype clashes here as the man in white is dressed slightly differently. A sense of identity is also explored here.

 

There is a zoom effect on the bottle of alcohol. The effect of this is that it adds emphasis to it which becomes an iconic symbol of the episode which connotes an event is about to take place. This is correct as they are preparing for Mathews family’s arrival. The effect of this is that it’s a sort of spoiler and gives the audience a hint of what’s going to happen in the next scene.