1. Media: Hustle Essay
During this essay, I’ll be evaluating the television drama show called Hustle and the certain
aspects which are in it, such as: The use of sound, the use of mise-en-scene and character
representation.
Mickey is seen to be the only black character in the gang. But as he is of that colour, the
character represented in this stereotypical view nowadays is that he can be the most
cunning (as it is black people that dominate the population of gang notoriety). Since he is
shown in a suit, what he is wearing supports this view by making the audience believe that
he is the leader of the whole gang in Hustle. We also view him to have a soft side as he’s
with Stacey – a sophisticated lady who also is part of the gang. When they were in the
bedroom staring at the mirror, the lights were light & not dark – symbolising that they’re
having an intimate talk between each other (diegetic romantic sound is heard in the
background too).
Albert, another reliable character in the series. When the intro plays, they show Albert after
Mickey mean that he is second in charge. The reason for which I stated that he is reliable
which can possible because he offered a drink beside someone in the bar & he winks
towards the camera; telling us that we should be on his side regardless of his criminal
background. He also wears a suit alongside Mickey & contributes to withdrawing money out
of the bank, and then he kisses Stacey’s hand – all signs of his character representation. He
was quiet during the meeting about the brokers but the sound heard once Albert shakes
Mickey’s hand represents some sort of bonding between them.
Danny gets himself new to the gang by storming into the apartment without Mickey’s
permission. He usually doesn’t wear a suit but he wore a blazer to mix in with the important
meeting between Mickey, Albert & his associate. What he can pick up by his character is
that he isn’t as important in the gang but he still manages to get his way around things.
Once he receives a punch in the face (non-diegetic sound of Danny falling onto the couch
after an altercation), the scene ends there but with one wink towards Stacey from Danny;
making us believe that all of the hassle was just part of his plan. Lighting is dark as he is
being held captive by two detectives; blackmailing Danny to plead guilty otherwise he goes
down. The lighting goes well with what the scene is about because it tells us about
something negative which is against what the gang wants (evidence of mise-en-scene).
Stacey is the feminine woman in the group, and she is the solo woman so therefore the
audience should automatically take an interest in her because she is Mickey’s girlfriend &
known to be quite seducing with her charming looks as any other woman would be
portrayed to be. Even what she wears shows that she is someone that a lot of men would
want to be with because she wears heels, a grey short skirt & a white open shirt. As she is
left to count the money, Mickey & Albert play cars at a different table showing that no-one
needs to worry about Stacey because she’s trustworthy. When diegetic sound is heard &

2. Stacey is seen, it is usually to change the theme into an intimate one; like in the intro were
the cab driver is seen gazing at her touching up her legs for example.
Ash isn’t really seen as much as the other characters to be honest because he handles more
of the technical factors. One of these is planning Mickey’s fake death because a bullet gets
shot but Ash presses a device which makes the melons on Mickey’s head explode (example
of non-diegetic sound), making us believe that Mickey actually is dead. And earlier before
that, he carries the 2 melons on his chest looking like breasts whilst smiling at Stacey. Their
goal is to gain money roundabout 10 grand which Ash manages to obtain from the cash
machine easily, making a rubbing a mysterious white stick along the edges of the machine
then banging to receive the bank notes. From this, we should pick out the two words about
his representative character: Clever & humorous. This scene is in the middle of the day due
to the fact that it’s outside with fast music to go along with the speed the process. He wears
casual clothing which symbolises that he doesn’t do business schemes but normal, bright
clothes to make him get spotted as a normal individual in the British society.
‘The Mark’ is the victim of a twisted conman such as the 5 members for example. Their goal
is to obviously gain money so they’ll place a mark on whoever has it or preventing them to
get it (an opportunist scam which isn’t totally importable to them). So for the gang not to
make it obvious that they’re willing to scam the person, they will make whoever is the Mark
to trust them, eventually scamming him. They pinned it on Danny so he went downtown to
get blackmailed & in the meanwhile, the gang fooled him with a fake gunshot –
consequence of being a traitor.
Criminality in this series isn’t seen to be a negative thing but something positive because it
strictly circulates around the gang themselves, without any police intervention being
involved. The characters also play it cool, placing the effect of it supposedly being an ‘easy’
thing too, when in reality, people are in risk of going to prison or court if committed by a
citizen. Viewers would want to live that sort of life because by the characters smiling to the
camera, it welcomes others to follow what they do as a living.
The way that London’s represented is mostly of a business capital because the surroundings
mostly consists of hotel rooms & business enterprises. Everyone’s professional because
instead of seeing a diverse, multi-ethnic society, all we see are adults mainly of English
heritage busy doing their tasks similarly to America & their television dramas. No-one is of
working class and so it can be considered to be a middle-class area because only rich
properties are included, nothing less.