Coming down the mountain- Ability and Disability
This clip focusses mainly upon the ability of David’s brother Ben who suffers from down syndrome. The audience see the idea of a ‘normal family’ that is broken through Ben’s disability. The initial establishing shot and setting of the kitchen supports this.
The very first shot the audience sees is a bird’s eye view shot of Ben and David’s room- instantly this looks abnormal because of their age and it is not expected for older teenagers to share a room. David’s side of the room was very tidy and everything had a place where as Ben’s was the complete opposite and very messy. The divide between the beds not only shows the split bedroom but also the split in personalities and differences between the two brothers. The camera then cuts and pans from a side angle to a front angle of David starting heavily at Ben: his facial expressions suggest an irritation or anger towards him.
Multiple CU shots of all characters in the family have been used to clearly portray their feelings directly to the audience- mainly being irritation/stress. Ben appears to be treated extremely differently to Ben because of his disability, for example, when their mother leaves for work, Ben got a kiss goodbye but David did not. Similarly, if David treated Ben disrespectfully, he would get told off.
Although the dialogue and acting suggest Ben is superior, the camera angles suggest otherwise as the majority of shots of Ben are low angle and David are high angle. This tells the audience that the programme is from David’s perspective which allows the audience to sympathise for Ben. One shot consist of David climbing a tree to get Ben’s kite: this suggest that he is incapable of doing things for himself and always needs a helper. This high angle shot from Ben’s point of view gives the impression that he idolises David and always looks up to him.
Whilst in class, the audience see an over the shoulder low angle shot of David drawing a horse; this informs the audience that he cannot focus in lessons and suggests his mind is elsewhere due to the pressure of looking after Ben which then flips the sympathy onto David.
The editing within the clip consists of mainly short, sharp cuts constantly changing the character the audience is able to see. Whilst at the bus stop, there are frequent changes in shot and angle making it appear quite distorted. This could represent Ben’s mind as being distorted and distanced and how he cannot focus on one thing for a long length of time; at this moment, the audience sees the action from Ben’s point of view.
At the beginning of the clip, there is a small montage of abnormal clips such as odd looking fish, cave men and toy dinosaurs all in black and white in the style of an old film. Again, this emphasises the idea of distortion and abnormality linking to the idea of disability.
Sound within the clip is extremely important and the majority of the way through there is non-diegetic music played. The beginning music doesn’t have a constant beat or rhythm and has a heavy ticking sound. This links in to the well-known idiom ‘mind is ticking overtime’ suggesting David is very stressed and constantly has pressure upon him. The sound and moving image of the explosion which then follows supports this idea of it all being too much for him.
The music which starts non-diegetic but then switches so it seems like its being played in the family kitchen has the lyrics ‘wouldn’t it be nice if we were older’. This is most probably how David is feeling meaning that he would not have to look after Ben.
The dialogue David uses ‘Big potatoes with eye tentacles’ is almost a euphemism of someone with a disability in his eyes so it doesn’t sound as bad even though he is insulting his brother because of his disability.
The voice over of David instantly tells the audience that it is from his point of view and engages them; at times it seems like a moving image version of David’s diary as he tells his thoughts and feelings giving the audience a greater understanding of his character’s and life living with a disabled brother.
At the end of the clip, sad non-diegetic piano music plays that is extremely slow. We see Ben on his own on the bus looking quite scared; his hands are almost gripping onto the bar for dear life giving the impression that as he has been looked after all his life, he is now lost when he’s alone. The echo-y sound of children’s laughter and chatter along with the close up of Ben’s eyes seems like the audience is now seeing the bus journey through his eyes which would cause them to sympathise for him.
Whilst in the park, Ben is associated with a brightly coloured kite and ice cream- both of which could be related mainly with young children portraying the idea that Ben’s mental age is much younger than his actual age due to his disability.
At the school, straight after David gave Ben money for the bus, there was an explosion of fire in the background. This explosion could foreshadow the idea that something bad is about to happen building tension and creating the audience to almost fear for Ben. The fire also signifies the danger and panic that runs through Ben’s head when he’s told he is going to be on his own as he knows he is incapable.
Overall, the main way in which those with a disability are presented is as being incapable of doing everyday tasks on their own and sometimes do not get the help they need. This could relate to society’s lack of understanding of disability and those who are ‘different’.
