Mad Men: An Analysis of Editing and Mise-en-Scene

Within any television drama, editing and mise-en-scene are used to emphasise both similarity and difference between the genders. This extract of “Mad Men” uses the characters of Joan and Don as representatives of their respective genders. As a result, the ways in which they act and are placed together in post-production speak volumes about the state of gender representation and ignorance both within the context of the show, 1960’s America, and in modern day.

Cross cutting is employed throughout the extract to demonstrate the power and influence of men over women- particularly that of Don over Joan. Initially, the switching between their two scenes suggests their equal importance but the overlap Don’s non-diegetic (though diegetic in his scenes) narration onto Joan’s shots suggests that the influence of his work and perceived needs linger over Joan- and mayhap other women-suggesting women to be workers controlled by the men surrounding them which is suggested in the opening and closing scenes between Don and Joan that imply she always circles back to him. Furthermore, the content of Don’s narrating sales pitch indicates that men desire control over women. The chosen tagline, though denoting a car, suggests the described to be women; “At last, something beautiful you can truly own.” Here, the use of cross cutting doesn’t implicate the two scenes to be occurring at once but rather Joan’s actions to be the result of the situation coming to a head in the boardroom. As a result, the tagline becomes associated with Joan and her promiscuous behaviour. The tagline suggests women to be nothing more than objects of beauty toward men (the only gender present in the boardroom). In extension, it represents men as wishing to “own” and control such objects. The cutting from the tagline reveal to Joan leaving Bob’s bed, however, suggests that women can never be owned and instead have the power to use their beauty to get ahead of the men who are so distracted by it. Resultantly, men are represented as flawed due to their lustful desires which leave them ignorant of the true power of women which is further implicated in the cross cutting throughout the extract as if the unusual side of Joan shown- and women in general- is a constant distraction to the actions of men. Nevertheless, exception to this representation is seen in Don. As the creator of the tagline and narrator over Joan’s shots, he appears as knowledgeable of a woman’s inability to be owned, hence his reveal to Joan that he does not wish her to lower herself. Therefore, the use of cross cutting hear represents how there is often an underlying respect between the genders that is too often overlooked.

Nevertheless, the use of colour and costume suggests Joan to be held captive by men, by association, the same can be said for all women. Bob gives Joan an emerald necklace. In the opening and closing scenes of the extract between Joan and Don, Joan is wearing an emerald green dressing gown suggesting that her interaction with Bob was both inevitable and lingering. The colour green connotes feelings of sickness and money as well as suggesting the presence of money. Combined, these connotations imply that Joan is sickened by her actions and jealous of how Don would never have to commit such an act to get ahead in his career which is motivated by a lust for fortune and prosperity, hence the want to gain the Jaguar contract. On the other hand, when meeting Bob, Joan wears a tight, low cut black dress which suggests that she is in mourning for herself. By behaving in such a way her morality has died, the seductive nature of her costume indicating how she has lost sense of self and now has nothing left to lose. The weight of her choice is also seen in the combination of diegetic sound and the necklace. In the final scene, Joan removes her gifted necklace and drops it into a bag. At this same point her mother knocks on the door. The knock aligns with the necklace dropping, suggesting it to have a much greater weight than such a simple object should. Here the necklace acts as a metaphor for Joan. As a thing of beauty, it is implied to be a burden of both men and women who must live with the choices gender differences force us to make. The final dissolve of the extract rather than a jump cut suggests the repercussions of Joan’s actions to not yet be over, further representing how the guilt over her actions is something she will carry with herself into the future.

The similarity of gender is also represented in the use of lighting. In the boardroom, the lighting is slightly low key but cut through by a strong backlight of natural origin. The light from the backlight hits only Don, creating a halo effect around him suggesting him to be the moral centre of a shadowed group of men- possibly a visual metaphor for the whole gender. In extension, the scenes between Joan and Bob use low key lighting, reflecting the immoral situation, but Joan is also often backlit from another natural source-a lamp- which creates a similar halo effect. The over-the-shoulder shot of Joan stripping is the only instance of the backlight vanishing along with its halo. These similar lighting effects on the lead characters suggest to the audience that the genders are naturally similar and it is instead the way we behave that alters the differences in gender representation.

The cutting rhythm in the extract is used to make the situation of the narrative appear common. Throughout the scene, each shot is around 7-8 seconds long- a convention of television editing- and this doesn’t change. As a result there is no adjustment of pace to induce tension. Therefore, despite how the events of the extract are massively out of character, the audience is made to feel as if Joan’s actions aren’t that shocking. Resultantly, it is suggested that a woman such as Joan using sex to aid her career isn’t uncommon, especially in such a patriarchal age as 1960’s New York- this is further connoted by the title ‘Mad Men’. Therefore, through the use of a conventional cutting rhythm women are represented as pawns in the affairs of men. Furthermore, the extract both opens and closes with a reaction shot of Joan in response to Don leaving her apartment. The cyclically structured editing emphasises how her life is controlled by the requirements of her work or rather her need to support her friend, Don. However, the use of bookending also suggests Don’s care for Joan; representing some men as protectors of the women around them, such as a husband to a wife. Nevertheless, the use of long shots for both of the reaction shots clarifies Joan as distanced from the power of men like Don so despite her best efforts to support him, and the other men at the agency, she will never be their equal or treated as such. This is also seen in the use of cross cutting which makes it clear she, like any other women, is not included in the boardroom dynamic, or any world of men.