Waterloo Road Analysis

Today we looked as a clip of waterloo road with the focus being representation of age. Here are the notes that I wrote up...

Camera :

• Conversations with the students and the teachers, the camera looks down upon the students and looks up at the teachers. Making the teacher seem as though they have a higher authority over the younger characters. For instance the first scenes when the students have been mischievous and are being told off by the teacher.
• there's lots of still shots recording conversations. Then the camera moves with the actor when they walk away from he scene.
• when the girl is arguing with the boy about a family scenario it is shot through a door. this shows that they're on their own and doing something that shouldn't be happening i.e. bullying

Mise en Scene:

• Their uniforms are scruffy and not worn correctly, yet the adults have made an effort into what they look like
• Set in a school, clearly an average comprehensive school, middle aged adults and troubled kids attend
• Everyone cares about what they look like and what other people think of them e.g. the girl caring about the way people now perceive her family and the teacher trying on new clothes to impress the other teacher. Displaying that people don't grow out of wanting other peoples approval to increase their self worth.
• The children feel like fighting is the answer to solve everything. society hasn't brought them up well.
• The boys broke the camera, an adult would have taken more care

Sound:

• They use slang words as if they are a part of their vocabulary. The teachers don't showing the different ways they were brought up.
• The teachers talk down to the students with a sarcastic tone as if they know they are better than them.
• A Foley effect is used to add emphasis to the little sounds like the foot steps in the corridor or the clicking of the teachers fingers. This makes every action of the characters more obvious and clear to the audience on how they behave in different ways.
• More childish words are used by the students which shows the immaturity they have compared to the adults
• As the girl is chasing the boy down the corridor a fast passed music comes on. representing the fast thoughts and adrenaline rush that is going through her head. Kids have a lot to handle too and she's expressing her struggle to cope through fighting.

Editing:

• they cut the scenes with straight cuts as it makes the clip more realistic, considering it is representing a school.
• the scenes are quick and change between different characters, due to there being so many kids in a school it shows how they all are noticed
• screen time is another key point as all of the main characters all receive an equal amount of time on screen. Again this shows that they are all of equal importance in portraying a story in the show.                                                                                                                                         -  the teachers are also shown on their own controlling a large group of students representing the power they hold over them.