Clip Analysis

From the start, the camera angles very much represent the differences between ages amongst characters. Protagonist Amy, the teenager who has left school, is generally shot at a higher angle than the adult Paul. This suggests that Amy perhaps has less authority than Paul, and that he has power over Amy. Further on in the clip, when Amy’s secret is revealed, Paul appears at a very much lower angle than Amy, as he is punishing her and therefore holds authority. The high camera angle on Amy could suggest that not only is she young and has less power than Paul, but also that as an audience we should perhaps sympathise with this character as although she has done wrong, she is only young. During the scene of the car crash, the camera pans from character to character to show the confusion between them as the head teacher explains why exactly he is there. This focuses on the older characters more than Amy to portray that they are between them trying to figure out what is going on, and Amy is not so much a part of this as she is revealed to be only sixteen – to them, a child. Where as in the earlier scene Paul illustrates that he has trust in Amy by giving her the car keys to drive - the change in the way he treats her so suddenly takes away Amy’s authority. The music throughout the clip is non-diegetic, the characters cannot hear it but this is significant to the audience as it changes for the different age groups. At the very beginning of the clip, when Amy states that she needs to speak to the young male character, the music is more up-beat and modern to emphasise the fact that they are two teenagers or young adults. The music slows slightly and becomes more traditional on the scenes involving the older characters – they are perhaps much more mature. When Amy is collecting her things and leaving her bedroom, the music slows down a significant amount and becomes emotional and quite tragic, insinuating that we should empathise with Amy as she is clearly upset by her situation, and again that she is only young. Further back in the clip, just before Amy crashes, the other characters are busy sorting out the tools in the van. This is somewhat noisy and therefore distracts the audience from what is about to occur with Amy just around the corner. Also, in the scene when Amy is leaving the bedroom, it is made clear that Amy is being presented to the audience as innocent through the mise-en-scene. The teddy bear on Amy’s bed signifies that Amy is just a young girl who has made a mistake; again encouraging the audience to sympathise towards her. Magazines are in the background spread across Amy’s bed. These appear to be the type of magazines a teenager would enjoy and so this reinforces her youth and innocence. The scene with the head teacher conveys his old age and wisdom as he chooses to drink brandy when discussing Amy’s situation with Paul. The transitions throughout the clip are cuts – which are not rapid or panicked in any way, but are slow and calm which adds to the general calm countryside theme although the programme is clearly a drama. During the scenes in the clip where there is some kind of drama going on the cuts are faster to show worry amongst characters. At the end of the clip, the close-up mid-shot on Paul’s face is used to show his concern about Amy and makes it clear that he plays the adult father figure.