Hannah Hall: AS Media: November 2012

Monday, 12 November 2012

Disability In A TV Drama: A Touch Of Frost - Billy.

This episode of A Touch Of Frost features the character of Billy, a young man with Down's Syndrome.
The clip shows a lot about how people with disabilities are portrayed and how they are viewed as by society.
The clip illustrates that people look down on those with a disability -which is shown by using a lot of high angle camera shots, making the viewer feel that the character of Billy has less power and control over the situation, and shows he has a lower status in society. Billy is also treated like a child as the detective talks down to him, causing the viewer to feel sympathetic toward him as he is treated differently.
Another example of him being treated differently is the detective stating that he is "mentally sub-normal" which clearly shows that some of the other characters treat him differently as he is not seen as "normal."
Billy is also seen as vulnerable as Frost looks sinister with his darkened silhouette in the foreground and Billy sitting down with a higher angle over the shoulder shot, making him look a lot smaller and more innocent. This again creates a lot of sympathy from the audience.
However, the clip shows that Billy is untrustworthy as he appears to change his story when being questioned, and when that is put together with the fact he stated that he hadn't "done anything wrong" after he was chased down by police at night in the woods suggest that he has something to hide, make the audience feel uneasy about him as a character.
This clip featuring a disabled character does mainly conform to the idea that people should feel pity to characters that do have disabilities, and makes Billy seem vulnerable and helpless - which is how they are stereo typically seen. And yet, it manages to play on the idea of his innocence by making him seem more involved in the crime than previously thought - challenging typical views of people with disabilities.

Monday, 5 November 2012

The Street: Representation Of Social Class

Difference in class can be seen in this clip from The Street mainly through the contrasting characters of the husband and the lover.
The husband appears to be working class as he swears a lot in an argument with his wife. He states that it it is himself that has to earn the 'bastard money' which suggests that money is tight and his family cannot afford many luxuries. The shot of the argument itself is filmed with the couple though a door in a different room, which would imply that they feel trapped or enclosed in their live and cant get out of the situation that they are in.
Mise-en-scene portrays the family as working class. The house is quite dark and is made up of colours such as greens, blues and browns. The furniture is mismatched and looks to be rather cheap, suggesting again that they dont have much money. The next scene shows the husband working in construction doing manual labour - which is typically thought to be a lower class job. He is seen to be hammering something aggressively, which indicates frustration and lack of control.
The lover appears to be middle class. He is first seen wearing a smart suit and tie, loading things in to his reasonably expensive silver car. This shows that he most likely has some sort of office job that involves no manual labour, unlike the husband, and he appears to also play a more important role - he rushed to get to work on time showing that he would be missed if he was late. This suggests he earns a lot more money than the other family.
Mise-en-scene portrays the lovers family as much more wealthy that the other family. The house contains colours such as creams, whites and golds, and it contains much more expensive matching furniture than the other family - showing that they are of a higher class.