MISS SMITH

How is disability represented in this extract?

By isabelle smith

How disability is represented through several aspects such as camera, editing, sound, lighting and Mis en Scene, in the extract from the TV series ‘The secret diary of a call girl’. In this extract camera is clearly and effectively used to depict disability in the extract. For example in the opening scene, when Hannah (played by Billie Piper) opens the door there are two men (Blake and his Father). As soon as the camera cuts to the two men at the door, the camera immediately looks down on the disabled character; Blake who is in a wheelchair. This is done to emphasise that he has a disability but it also suggests to the audience that he is a weaker, less dominant character. However, when the camera cuts to his father, the camera is angled so that it is looking up to him. This is to show the contrast between the Blake and his father, because his father is depicted as being tall and the camera angle also suggests that he is stronger and much more in control than his son Blake.

The music (diegetic sound) used in the extract is predominately used to underline the idea that his disability has really prevented him from doing many things and how it has had a very negative effect on his whole life. The harmonica music used during this scene (the champagne scene after the father leaves) creates a very melancholy mood which helps depict the sadness of his disability to the audience and emphasise the feebleness and how reliant he is on others.

Disability is represented in the extract through Mis en scene (props and makeup) to stress that Blake is frail. For instance the makeup used on the character is very pale giving the character a sick, pasty appearance which indicates illness. Another of example of how disability through Mis en scene is when Blake is put on the bed by his father. There is a long shot of him sitting on the bed. The large bed and the tall bed frame is used to create the effect of making Blake looking smaller and this  idea is amplified by the use of a long shot of the bed on the camera.

 Hannah’s apartment and certainly the room which the scene is set in is predominately a red colour scheme. Despite the red lighting and colour scheme (which typically portrays an intimate or romantic mood) there is a massive contrast to how the use of lighting would typically be used; the awkwardness between Blake and Hannah strongly contradicts how the colour scheme would be used normally.  This strain between them is also shown through the editing. When Hannah is talking to Blake on the bed it cuts and switches back and forth between the two to highlight how uncomfortable Hannah is and distinctively illustrates the awkwardness between the two and the delicate situation they are in.

Furthermore, generally most of the different aspects i.e. Camera, editing ,sound, lighting and Mis en scene are used to emphasise the weaknesses and negatives which come hand in hand with disability. In general they are effectively used as a device to make Blake’s character seem much more humble and less in control than his father and Hannah.