Age in this clip is represented in a number of interesting ways. Waterloo road is a very popular British TV Drama which follows the lives of students and teachers in a high school. We become a part of the characters personal lives and school life, which to me builds relationships between the viewer and the characters, which usually helps the programs run smoothly and keeps the viewers interested. In this essay I will analyse the representation of age in terms of mise en scene, sound, lighting, camera movements, camera angles and editing.
In terms of mise en scene we see the use of common general age related stereotypes throughout the clip. The props and setting of the scene are highly effective, with the use of very well known layouts such as corridors, and classic teaching room set outs which all add to the realism of the clip. Straight away we can tell this series will be quite dramatic as school dramas commonly are, including such things as rebellion e.g vandalism, arguments, fights and bullies. When the characters are introduced we see clear differences between the characters costumes in each age range. Speaker 1 and speaker 2 are two young boys in their teens who look quite scruffy, with their top buttons undone and their ties loose. This is a common relation between stereotypes of youths being quite rebellious, hormonal, rude and lazy. The third speaker Grantly is an older teacher. As soon as he enters the scene we feel a sense of authority and wiseness which fits in well with older people being quite well educated, keen, experienced and quite important/authoritative. Grantly doesn’t seem to be that smartly dressed, in the common tweed jacket, casual pants and cosy jumper, he doesn't seem to care that much about his appearance which is a common stereotype of being old aged. When Mrs. Chowdry enters the scene we begin to see more colourful costume which is common in media as it relates to young professionals being smart, well dressed, concerned about how they look and being highly organised, she stands out in the scene at this point which could to the audience be a false sense as her presences and her personality as soon as she is visible seems to be quite egotistical, organised and confident until Grantly counteracts that with the fact she hadn’t taken the insurance out, which then strengthens the audiences view of Grantly being an older aged stereotypical professional who tends to tease and make fun out of younger peoples inexperience. In terms of the use of make up, as always, young teenage females have stereotypes for caring huge amounts about their appearance and are known for putting on large amounts of make up to achieve their desired look. The use of eccentric make-up for the younger characters adds well to the realism of the scene and the natural tones used for the middle aged teachers also goes well as it gives them a professional look.
In terms of sound we see both diegetic and non diegetic sounds in this extract. Firstly we hear the footsteps of Grantly , this is commonly used signifying importance, interrogation and has predatorial connotations which links well into stereotypes of elder people being patronising and quite wise. The students use slang words such as ‘chill out man’ which fits in well with the realism of the characters and stereotypes of teenagers being quite lazy, rude and rebellious. All through the extract we can hear background sound like chairs moving, students talking in the corridor, its never really completley silent, just like a real school, this then obviously adds to the realism of the series and connotates well to stereotypes of younger people being loud and distruptive. Grantly seems quite sarcastic and patronising when he talks which is quite humorous to the viewers when he sort of makes fun of Mrs. Chowdry’s mistakes as older more experienced professionals are known for doing this. The non diegetic sound in this clip is a sort of hip hop, heavy beat music extract. When conflict begins to outbreak between Amy and Stewart as soon as Amy comes into shot the music hits off, disturbing the natural sound of the scene, linking quite well into how teenagers are stereotypically quite disruptive and hormonal. The music is bridged over shot, which tells the audience that this is happening at the same time and gives a sense of continuity. As the action increased we see more instruments being added such as drums to represent high amounts of tension and action. I think it works well as it engages the audience into what is going to happen next.
The cinematography in this clip is effective. We start with the close up of grantly’s feet walking which automatically engages the audience that something interesting is going to happen. As Mrs Chowdry enters we get a close up of her as she seems quite confident and professional. This suddenly changes as the shot goes on with Grantly being patronising, her facial expressions change and we begin to feel like shes quite worried and unstable in this situation. Slight low angle shots are used for Grantly which goes well with the authoritative and predatorial sense we get from Grantly’s entrance. Low shots are used to make someone or something look important and this is achieved by using them in this scene. Close ups are also used for Grantly which show him looking quite smug and amused about how he has patronised Mrs.Chowdry. We also see the use of Close ups in the shot where the recently announced student mother and her boyfriend are discussing in front of the class whether they are happy about the baby. This is stereotypical because teenagers are known for being very socially influenced and gossipy. The girl says ‘ of course i am ‘ whilst in close up showing quite concerning and anxious facial expressions, whilst also having eye contact with the male student in-front . This is effective as it leaves the viewer with many questions circulating about what will happen next time we see these characters. When Amy and Stewart are in the store room arguing, the shot reverse shot and fast camera shots/movements create tension. Stewart looks to be quite scared and quite short on breath. The constant fast camera shots could symbolise his discomfort in being in that situation. This could link well to stereotypes of teenagers yet again being hormonal and insecure.
In terms of editing, We see high amounts of continuity editing and se get the sense of how it is all running one after another, and there is successful bridging between shots aswell which allows the scene to run smoothly. We can see that match on action is being used in the scene of Amy and stewart as it goes from the corridor to the store room. The continuity shows relationships in areas such as classrooms, corridors where we see the two friends gossiping and also between teachers. We can see the students walking in groups or pairs in the shots which links well into teenagers being in friendship groups and also teachers being friends aswell, and in this series it seems that elder teachers such as Grantly may not bother as much with the younger teachers. The continuity of the scene is disrupted as Amy enters and then shots become more fast changing and short, creating a sense of tension. This is a common link to teenagers being disruptive. To me shots with adults in such as the teacher in the boyfriend and girlfriend being pregnant scene and Grantly and Mrs. Chowdry scene seem to change shots a lot slower, and run more smoothly, which is quite clever as it shows how older aged are more mature and have a certain degree of control and understanding about situations, whereas the younger characters seem to create high amounts of tension which leads to camera shots being changed a lot, disrupting the smoothness of the scene.
Throughout the 5 minute clip we see high amounts of stereotypes being used for different age groups such as: eldery professionals, young professionals and young students which makes the series very interesting to their target audience.
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