Disability

An Arial shot is used to make obvious distance between David and his brother in addition to how different the two are from each other. A voice over is used permitting the audience to become aware that the story is being told from David’s point of view. The theme tune of the show is used to set the mood of the scene; makes what David says more light hearted “last summer I decided to kill my brother”, the teen light-hearted music makes the audience assume David is joking about killing his brother. 

The pan shot used to introduce David allows the audience to make assumptions on the character; the black and white posters on David’s side allow the audience to assume David is rebellious and doesn’t think twice before acting...the audience start to assume David isn’t joking about killing his brother when the pan shot moves to David’s expression, which is still and motionless. The dark lighting on David/his side of the room mirrors how David might be perceived as untrustworthy/dodgy as he talks about killing his brother. The shot is then moved to David’s brother Ben; where then the shot is zoomed in to Bens face allowing the audience to get a closer view and realise Ben’s disabled. Ben’s part of the room is light and colourful connotating Ben being childlike and innocent.

The continuity editing allows the audience to understand the characters more; creating a sense of reality which permits the audience to empathise with David therefore letting the audience create a personal relationship with the character. 

A montage is used to illustrate how evolution has failed David’s brother, leaving him to be “a big potato with eye tentacles.” The montage is used to describe David’s brother’s disability; down syndrome, helping the audience understand more about why David isn’t pleased with his life. 

The Diegetic sound ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ by the beach boys creates irony in the clip; David has just finished talking about how he had planned to kill his brother. The continuity editing carries to the next scene where the audience is introduced to the rest of the family. Jump cuts are used to reflect the family’s disorientated lifestyle. The audience is allowed to get a glimpse on what David’s goes through every single waking moment he spends with his disabled brother; the audience starts to empathise with David. David’s voice over begins once we see a close us shot of Ben eating breakfast; the flowing commentary of David’s feelings towards Ben start to become more noticeable when we hear David’s voice over complaining about how the “recipe changes and you end up with a brother who is a big potato with eye tentacles”. Hearing this the audience immediately recognises the disgust David feels towards Ben. The continuous noise of the kitchen utensils and plates reflects on the chaos that goes on in their home. There’s a close up shot of Ben as he eats his cereal, this gives us a clear view that Ben isn’t ‘normal’ due to the way he eats his cereal. David accuses Ben for finishing his cereal when he says “you ate the bloody Weetabix”, furthering more the hatred he feels for his brother. Gary and his parents are continuously shown in mid shots whereas close up shots are used for Ben reflecting his innocence. David’s mum interferes before David can go on to further insult his brother and light-heartedly tells Ben “that was a bit selfish”; doing so we see that Ben gets away with a lot of thing which would most likely frustrate David, which is when we hear David immediately disagreeing with his mum exclaiming “a bit selfish??”.

The Kitchen is shown as a negative place when a long shot is used, the audience start to notice that the kitchen is most likely where most of the family’s arguments are; the kitchen is where the family comes together and eats when they’re not in their rooms.

David tries to steal some on Ben’s cereal; we hear Ben come out with a simple “no!” to the audience’s astonishment the mother ironically sides with Ben once again “oh can you just grow up please!” The audience starts to notice that Ben is the favourite child/well treated child as the dad stands up giving Ben a loving squeeze while he looks up to gives David stern look. We hear David give off a loud sigh connotating that his parents siding with Ben happens frequently. We see more of the division in the family between the two brothers as before, the mother walks out she giving Ben a kiss on the head on her way out while David sits there watching. Throughout the clip we hear the non diegetic sound of the Beach Boys ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ in the background while the family argue, furthering the irony. 

The theme song is used in the background as the two brothers make their way to the bus stop. An establishing shot is used as the two brothers walk to the bus stop while we hear the theme song in the background. Diegetic sound is used when we hear a dog barking and cars going by once again reflecting on the disorder David and Ben go through, the dog barking reflects David’s violent thoughts towards his brother. This reflecting on how wherever David goes with his brother he’s always going to have chaos surrounding him.

A visual effect is used which allows the audience to see through the gun, giving insight into how David’s brain works; his thoughts on killing his brother that seemed to have turned into somewhat of an obsession. The audience commence onwards to assume David has major issues with his brother moreover likely to detest Ben. 

A flashback is then used to show earlier events of David and Ben on their family holiday; allows the audience to become aware of David’s life being surrounded by what his brother wants, as their parents put Ben as their priority, taking Ben to the same place for their holiday because Ben likes it there. The audience is permitted to take a walk in David’s shoes and notice how life with Ben can be a pain. During the flashback cutaways are used to show establishing shots of where the boys go on their holiday.

More continuity editing is added to the clip letting the audience know that the clip is moving on to how David's everyday life is normally like.

In the next scene a close up shot is used to show the school; once again the theme song is used to create familiarity as the boys go to the school on weekdays. We see David outsmarting the teacher letting the audience recognise that David is smart and possibly misinterpreted by his family and everyone around him; people don’t take David into consideration when his brother is around...David lives in his brothers shadow and the only time he can be himself is when he’s away from his brother. The long shot of his friends helps us see their body language so the audience can make their own assumptions about David’s friends…the people who influence him. David’s friends talk about David having to babysit his brother connotating that even they think Ben is a burden. This helps us understand how the people in David’s school might not accept disabled people as fellow friends. David gives his brother bus money/money to buy chocolate in order for Ben to not tell his parents about David letting his get on the bus alone.

Cross cutting is used to show the other kids on the bus with Ben, illustrating how different Ben is in comparison to other ‘normal’ kids. Creating tension; the audience fears for Ben’s safety as he’s on his own, he might not be able to get home safe. The cross cutting reminds the audience that Ben isn’t an ordinary boy who can cope with everyday life; while other kids on the bus can manage to get home safe it’s not the same case for Ben. Ben’s safety is unpredictable...can’t be foreshadowed, the audience is led to make their own assumptions as to whether or not Ben ends up getting home, thus ending the clip on a cliff hanger.