Waterloo Road - Replication Analysis

In this clip from the British TV school based drama, Waterloo Road, there is a very wide range of different camera shots, to explain the representational issue of teenagers, which is exactly why my group chose to replicate this specific clip. We decided this would be a good idea as having a range of different camera shots shows our skills as a group and it wouldn’t be boring. The clip starts with mid-shots of two male characters, one walking towards the other (who we do not see as clearly), followed by a gunshot sound, so even though we do not see the event so clearly on screen, we know what has happened due to the sound effects. After this main event in the clip, the editing is very much cut at a quick pace from scene to scene, and especially from character to character to show their feelings of fear, building up a feeling of tension amongst the audience. Following this we see a wide and high angle shot of all of the students outside of the school, having previously been evacuated, screaming and panicking. This birds-eye-view shot makes the audience feel as though they are seeing the effects of the tragedy from all angles, as you can see everyone in this shot. This cuts to a slow motion pan around the headteacher – who stands straight and emotionless, staring into space; rather than running around and screaming like the other, much younger characters. This illustrates to the audience that she has some importance as she stands out amongst everyone else – controlled and still amongst the storm. Also this could suggest that she is much older and wiser than the other clueless, panicking school children surrounding her. Straight away after viewing this character it cuts back to the screaming school teenagers to impact on the viewer the levels of panic and distraught brought upon these young people. After this we see Donte, the victim of the shooting, burst out of the building in no calm way at all, confirming that everyone has good reason to be panicked – it is unsafe to be in the building as he stumbles straight out of it and doesn’t look back. We then see a midshot of a girl running towards the character Donte, shouting his name and looking incredibly worried. She is held back by her father and told to run no further, creating a sense of suspense for the audience – the kind of scene that will make an audience sit on the edge of their seats, feeling empathy towards the young girl, despite her young age and stereotypical representation of a not very classy teenager, as she must watch her loved one suffer from afar and is unable to help him. The headteacher remains standing straight and almost emotionless, as she stares at all the commotion going on around her. The camera again pans around her but this time from a much lower angle, looking up at her, suggesting that she is about to gain the audience’s respect as she appears to come up with an idea. The teacher snaps out of her trance and the camera cuts to a midshot of the back of the character’s body as she turns around to run inside the building that victim Donte had previously burst out of in panic. This could suggest that she is about to be seen as the hero of the situation.