The director of Hotel Babylon aims to subvert the common stereotype and perception of the illegal immigrants in the UK. He does this by the use of Camera angles and movement, sound/music, editing and mise en scene. He uses ethnicity to subvert this aswell.
Sound plays an important part in the extract as it creates suspense and tension among the audience. The non diegetic sounds/music start immediately as the clip starts. Two police officers walk in and block the door. This foreshadows the end of the clip when an illegal immigrant, Ibrahim, gets taken away to prison or deportation. The tense music starts and has a very strong drum beat, which makes the audience feel tense and alert to the ongoing situation. Both these men are white and are therefore good in the eyes of the law. They have been used to create a barrier between them and the immigrants. 
The camera in this scene plays an important part in the tension, when John Boyak from immigration service’s enter in front of two police guards, we automatically feel as if the immigration service are evil and we are meant to feel as they’re in the wrong, without even knowing that the hotel is harbouring illegal immigrants. This is by the close up of John Boyak, as the camera zooms into his face. We see his facial expression to be fixated and almost sarcastic as if he has ultimate power over there men and women. The facial expression falls under mise-en-scene and the two bodyguards accompanying him give the audience the impression he is powerful. The police wear black, dark uniforms which signify evil and moral wrong. However the hotel concierge wears all white which represents innocence and purity. The audience assume she is doing no wrong in keeping the illegal immigrants when actually it is illegal and against the law. 
In the second scene the hotel employees rush down stairs to warn the head of housekeeping, Jackie, that there is an immigration raid. She rushes down to tell all of the chefs and cleaners and they scramble to escape. The editing changes from slow to fast cuts. This creates a sense of urgency and fear among the audience. They feel a sympathetic bond with the illegal immigrants which is what the director intend from the short clip. When the employees rush down we hear different people speaking different languages which highlights they are not from this country and we assume they’re here illegally. The director wants to change our perception on them. These are diegetic sounds as the cast can hear them. There is also interesting camera work that foreshadows the end of the clip where someone is captured. The director positions the camera behind bars so that we see the illegal immigrants scrambling to hide through the bars. This creates a sense of confinement and segregation from the people upstairs who are legally allowed in the country, We once again see terrified expressions on the face of the immigrants which make the audience feel empathy which is intended by the director. They are all multicultural therefore they are seen badly in the eyes of the British public as they can assume they’re here illegally. This is the perception the director wants to change.
In the third scene the immigrants are hiding in a locked cupboard that reads ‘Staff Only’. The mise-en-scene is clever as the director has done it subtly to evoke the fact that the immigrants are not even classed as staff as they do not have a key to the cupboard. Only the head of housekeeping has one who is not here illegally. The cameraman then zooms onto the key in the cupboard to create once again a sense of confinement as if they were trapped and can’t escape the constant realisation that they are illegally in this country.
When in the cupboard, the music changes to a constant humming. This creates a sense of tension the director has planned. The audience are on the edge not knowing where the police are and if they will find them. The pace of editing also slows down significantly as they’re hiding and terrified of being caught. We can see the facial expressions of all of them, and all look terrified however as if they have done this before, just waiting to be let out. This gives a sense of normality to the matter and we can see the different ethnicities in the room.
In scene four, we see one of the immigrants not make it into the cupboard; he is hovering and cleaning a hallway. The colour of the hallway and the clothes he wears are red, which implies danger and anger. The danger enters and the immigration service tackles him to the ground. We he is on the ground, the camera tilts down to see John Boyak, head immigration officer, looking down on him. This signifies that the illegal immigrant is lower than him in the social hierarchy. This creates a division between societies that the director tries to wipe out. This is reinforced when an immigrant in the cupboard faints and is treated by a ‘cleaner’. The cleaner happens to be a doctor in his home county. This clip is a microcosm of the macrocosm as it represents a wider society of people that these immigrants represent. They are victims of persecution and are killed in there home countries so seek refuge in ours. The doctor in the room stand for illegal immigrants who don’t have qualifications in England so are forced to do second class jobs such as hovering and cleaning after the people who do. However in his country he would be the highest in the social hierarchy as a doctor treating those who are ill and in need. The editing is still slow and the constant humming is still playing to add dramatic tension and suspense 
In the final scene we see the illegal immigrant wrestle with police. He comes out of the shadows and into the light of the public one thing that the hotel concierge did not want to happen as she tries to usher them back down. This proves she is not as good and pure as her clothes make out. She stands for all the people that turn a blind eye and use the immigrants.
The public act innocently and shocked and close ups are used to do this, as if this is new to them. The immigrants were hiding in the dark downstairs and the public are sitting up her in the light. This creates another social barrier that the director breaks. The immigrant that is taken away is black and all of the public in the hotel are white.
The final shot we see Jackie clearing out Imbrahims locked which symbolises that he is gone forever and the foreshadowing from earlier has become true. The music changes completely to very slow orchestral music. This creates sadness among the audience and we can see all the different groups of immigrants eating on their own as if it was a normal day. This proves that this type of thing is regular and happens all the time. In the background we can see the different ethnicities of people which stand for a larger society of immigrants all trying to seek refuge.
The final shot we see Jackie clearing out Imbrahims locked which symbolises that he is gone forever and the foreshadowing from earlier has become true. The music changes completely to very slow orchestral music. This creates sadness among the audience and we can see all the different groups of immigrants eating on their own as if it was a normal day. This proves that this type of thing is regular and happens all the time. In the background we can see the different ethnicities of people which stand for a larger society of immigrants all trying to seek refuge.
