Representation of Regional Identity

Representation of Regional Identity

In the opening of this clip there is a short music intro, this music is very up-beat and also something we would associate with the countryside, this represents regional identity because we would might hear this music and link it to somewhere in the country like a small village. After the short introduction we see a very small darkly painted room and within the room there are two men working on a sink and Doc Martin standing in the background, we can see from this long shot of them in the room that Doc is wearing a suit and he is dressed more formally than the other men in the room who appear to be wearing overalls. The lighting in this room is very low-key which suggests that the place is not very modern and this links back to the music suggesting that the regional identity is somewhere in the countryside. From this long shot we can see that Doc has very rigid, up-tight body language, this suggests that he puts himself higher than others whereas the men working on the sink appear to be more relaxed suggesting that they are more laidback. Docs stance could also suggest that he is from a better background and has been taught to sit up and stand up straight whereas the other men have not been taught the worry about their posture, this would show regional identity because they are from a slightly more relaxed community where it is not essential for you to sit up or stand up straight whereas Doc may be from a more strict community. The editing in the beginning of this scene is very slow, there low angled long shot which is held for quite a long time, this shows the plumbers working on the sink with the Doc standing towards the background, this may have been used to show how the plumbers were very relaxed and also that the Doc has more power due to the shot looking up at him.  In this scene we also hear their accents, Doc is very well spoken, he speaks very formally and annunciates his words very well, his accents also suggests that he is from a very formal background such as a city whereas the other men have traditionally countryside accents. This represents regional identity because we will assume that from their accents they are from a very rural area. Next in this scene the sink bursts, this is diegetic sound because we can see the water coming from the sink and also hear the noise of it bursting. This represents regional identity because the sink may be old and also not very modernised, which would explain why there was no stopcock and it burst and you would associate things that are not modernised with being somewhere rural with very few people. The editing in this scene also speeds up as the sink bursts, this may be due to the fact that the Doc is now becoming rather flustered.

A dog then enters the room and starts barking, the only person who seems concerned with the fact that a shaggy looking dog has entered the room is Doc, everyone else does not react. This suggests that this is not an unusual thing for them however the Doc finds this unusual as he is not from the area and it is not very common for a dog to enter a room without its owner in a more urban setting. Once the dog has entered the room the Doc begins getting very frantic and flustered due to the burst pipe and dog entering the room without an owner. As the dog is barking, there is a close-up, low-angled shot of the dog looking up towards Doc. Similar music as in the intro then begins playing and the screen fades to black then fades back out to show the Doc walking up a street holding the doc on a make-shift lead. Within this tracking shot of the Doc we can see hills in the background and old style houses. The streets in this shot are also very narrow, this represents regional identity because we associate hills, narrow streets and old houses with a countryside location and the asynchronous sound of the seagulls suggests it is near the coast. Doc also walks past a small shop with fishing nets outside , this suggests it is near the coast in a small seaside town. The music which is playing whilst the Doc is walking is very up-beat and matched the pace at which he is walking. In this scene the lighting is very high-key, this represents regional identity because the lighting suggests that the area is sunny and we could associate this with a seaside town. As doc walks through the town the editing is very fast, this matches how he is busy because the use of very short clips of him walking very fast seem to flow very well. This represents regional identity because he seems to be very distinctive and walking very quick paced whereas everything else in the village appears to be very slow in comparison. This shows how the Doc is an outcast and not used to the relaxed lifestyle of a small, seaside village.

Doc Martin enters a building and we hear the sound of a hoover, there is then a close-up of the hoover, which tilts up to the police officer. Regional identity is represented by this because the police officer has nothing better to do than hoover the station because there is so little crime. Dialogue is used when the police officer says “Doc Martin, it’s nice to meet you finally”, from this we can assume that Doc is not from the area which would explain why he is better spoken than other people in the village and why he is also more formally dressed. We can also assume from this that the community is very close-knit as everyone knows everyone and people also know when someone new moves into the area. The Doc begins to shout at the police officer which also suggests that the police is not very strict within this community and normally people would not talk to the police in such a manor. As he leaves the police station there is a medium close-up shop of the police officer who does not seem to react to how the Doc had just spoken to him, this is used as a comparison because he seems to be very calm whereas the doc is very frustrated and aggressive.

The Doc leaves the police station and again walks through the village, he is stopped by a woman and a dolly shot is used whilst they are talking to follow the direction in which the doc is facing. This woman is slightly better spoken than others in the village and she also has a very subtle accent, this might suggest that like Doc she has not lived in this community her entire life. This woman asks Doc Martin to repeat her prescription, this also represents a small, close-knit community because it is not very common for someone to stop their local doctor in the street and ask them to repeat their prescription.  Doc does this, which could suggest that he is beginning to relax and adapt to the close community lifestyle.  In the background of this shot we can see the hills, which again represents regional identity because we associate hills to countryside. A two-shot is used to show the relationship between the Doc and the woman, they are stood very closely and their eye lines match up which could tell us that they are confortable around each other and this again shows the close-knit community.

The Doc then continues walking and as he walks past a slightly larger building he stops and looks inside, from this we can see that this building is a school as there is a women sat around a table teaching some children. A series of close-ups are used to show the Doc and the young women looking at each other, these shots are all very short which makes this moment very intense. This represents regional identity because you can walk down a road and see directly into a school, this suggests that the community are very trusting as this is not common in cities for example. This also represents regional identity because it is also unusual for the teacher in a class to be sat around the table with the children and for the class to also be so small.

Doc Martin then walks slightly further down to street to speak to another women, this women appears to be taking crates of vegetables off of the back of a pick-up truck, the represents regional identity because we can assume these vegetables are locally sourced as she is taking them out of the back of a small truck instead of a supermarket lorry. The women then asks Doc to carry the crate for her and this represents regional identity because it shows the close community as she can openly ask him for help and finally they walk into a very small village shop and this represents regional identity because it is a small, most likely family owned business rather than a chain supermarket.