1. Lauren Jiggins
In the first scene there is a shallow focus, medium long shot of Don Draper. In the
shot Don is wearing a suit and has his hair slicked back. Don is also using a
ballpoint pen to make notes, and this links to the scene and shows his
importance and hierarchy as a character. This is because ballpoint pens were a
new invention in the late 50’s/early 60’s and if Don is using one he is shown as a
forward thinker. In relation to gender, this shot makes Don look like a
stereotypical 50’s man who sits in bars and drinks after work, and he only breaks
convention later on in the episode.
When Don first visits Midge to talk about his problems at work, they sit on her
bed, which has connotations about their relationship and what it’s made of.
Midge is shown higher than Don in the two shot, which also shows what their
relationship is like, as during the sequence of them she is shown as holding all
the power in the relationship. This subverts normal gender stereotypes for the
time, as in the late 50’s/early 60’s women were still quite passive I their
relationships with men, and the power was usually held with the man. The
colour pallet in this scene is quite warm, unlike later on when it is blue and cold.
This pallet shows that all Don and Midge have in their relationship is sex, as once
they’ve had sex the colour pallet loses any colour it had.
The tilt and two shot of Don and Midge when they’re in bed also shows power in
the relationship, as Don has his head on Midge’s chest and suggests getting
married, and Midge is the one who says that she doesn’t make breakfast and
hints to him to leave. Again this subverts normal gender stereotypes, as it is
usually the other way around, and the woman is the one asking to get married.
The next scene shows three men in the lift talking about Pete Campbell’s
bachelor party. The men are shown in a line and with deep focus, which means
they are all as important as one another. They are talking about Pete being ‘tied
down’ by his fiancée and that it doesn’t matter how nice she is while Peggy is
stood in front of them. This shows the stereotype of a typical 50’s man, who
doesn’t care about how a woman feels as long as she’s doing what they want. In
the scene, Peggy is wearing a yellow hat that makes her stand out a bit more, and
this makes her conform to gender stereotypes as although the hat is bright, when
she gets into the office she will be taking it off and fitting in with what the men of
the office expect of her. In Pete’s office there is a pull focus when he is holding
the picture of his future wife, and a phone conversation where he tells her that
he won’t do anything wrong during his bachelor party. This shows that Pete isn’t
a typical 50’s man, as he cares about his fiancée and her feelings, unlike his work
friends.
The tracking shot following Joan around the office shows the type of woman she
is. Her costume and hair colour/style adds to this, as she is wearing a tight dress
and has red hair. These make her stand out amongst all the women in the office,
showing that she isn’t a shy woman or a pushover because of the bright colours
she wears. Joan supports this assumption when she’s talking to Peggy about her
hopes for the future and how to do best at her job. The way she speaks and the
colours she wears show that like Midge, she isn’t a typical 50’s woman, but
unlike Midge she conforms more because of her extreme femininity.

2. Lauren Jiggins
The end scene of the clip shows Rodger Sterling and Don Draper. This scene links
to the opening scene, as Rodger is shown in shallow focus and is better dressed
than Don, showing a position of power he has over him, even though they are the
same sex. In the opening scene, Don is the better dressed man and is shown in
the position of power, but this time it’s because the man he is talking to is black,
and even as a man in the 50’s he would be treated as a second class citizen.