Mock Exam

Coming Down The Mountain

                From the very beginning of the clip the audience are presented with an image of a childish, disabled teenager Ben, in comparison to a fast-thinking, typical teenage boy, David. The distinction between the two brothers becomes clear as the audience firstly see a bird’s eye view of their shared bedroom. It is noticeable that Ben’s side of the room is incredibly separate from david’s one, as his domain contains a collection of toys, Doctor Who posters and colourful bed sheets.  David’s side, however, involves a dark and dingy selection of posters with plainly coloured bed sheets. This straight away conveys the brothers’ differences, and so already the audience is able to understand how sharing a room couold cause problems. The non-diegetic music in the background is rather upbeat but with a deep bass to it, also suggesting a representation of the contrasting brothers’ personalities.

                As David begins to speak about murdering his brother, the music becomes very fast and suddenly the audience are shown a variety of clips from fish, to dinosaurs, to cavemen. These each convey how David views his disabled brother and this is confirmed when there is a cut to the kitchen, and David’s voice as a narrative describes Ben as a ‘big potato with eye tenticles’. Before this the audience are shown an establishing shot to convey where the characters are; at their block of flats. The non-diegetic uplifting music in the background (‘wouldn’t it be nice’) contradicts how the protagonist, David, feels about his life. This music becomes diegetic in the kitchen as it is quietly played out of the radio. As the two brothers begin to bicker the audience are shown a close-up shot of Ben eating his breakfast, creating a sense of empathy as the idea that he struggles with his daily life starts to be portrayed. The mother’s actions towards Ben cause the audience to sympathise with him as she treats him in a kind and gentle way by kissing and hugging him goodbye.

                When Ben raises the question of how pigs are killed, David begins to tell him an exaggerated story, insinuating that Ben is unintelligent and gullible. This also suggests how Ben looks up to David to educate him. Police sirens begin to quietly ring in the background which perhaps foreshadows David murdering his brother in the future. After the two protagonists have left for school, several clips of Ben and David are shown to illustrate their lives together. The audience are shown a short clip of David aiming and shooting a toy gun at Ben, which could also foreshadow Ben’s death and David’s desire to get rid of him.

                Whilst the brothers are at school, the audience see a scene in which David is away from Ben, in a class, doodling on the table. There is then a close-up of his sketch on the table of a horse connotating his power sa the more able brother, or perhaps his lust for power as he holds almost no control of his teenage life due to Ben. He answers back to the teacher in a snappy and bitter way, suggesting he is a fast-thinkr and learner. When he brothers meet to leave school, David is faced with the decision of leaving his brother or leaving his friend. In this situation, with the company of David’s friend, there is a clear impact on how he treats Ben. The shot reverse shot of David and his friend not only conveys how quick he is to give in to peer pressure to leave Ben, but also show s the audience, through an over-the-shoulder shot, how Ben is affected by the conversation as the shallow focus shows David in the foreground as the more dominant brother, with Ben looking helpless in the background. Before this, Ben appears to be at peace with his relationship with his brother as he is blissfully unaware of David’s frustration.

                Ben returns home alone, as the audience see a slow motion clip of his bus journey. The teenagers surrounding him o the bus are presented as typical and rowdy whilst Ben sits in silence, clinging onto the baras though he feels insecure without David there. The slow motion pace has a sympathetic effect on the audience as they can finally see from Ben’s point of view. He looks rather out of place in the public environment alone where as David conflicts with him, as he is a typical grumpy teenager who appeared to fit in well in the classroom full of other teenagers.