Y13 example

Representation of Disability in Touch of frost

In the TV drama, Touch of Frost, they use camera angles to help represent a disability that a character has within the show. First, they use a long shot that shows the character of ‘Billy’ walking through the woods at night. This seems to be suspicious, because the audience doesn’t know why someone would be walking through the woods late at night. Meanwhile, they also use low-key lighting to help aid the audience see the character as sinister and that they think that he has been up to some sort of trouble. This may also make the audience see this clip as a sort of horror genre, as it looks very wary and menacing. 

After this a close up of Billy is show when the police spot him in the woods, the close up shows him to look scared and vulnerable. Nevertheless, at the end of the clip when Billy is talking to the inspector, Billy becomes quite aggressive because the inspector is accusing him. Billy replies with ‘I didn’t see her… I didn’t see Trisha!’ This shows that Billy isn’t always seen as childlike because of his disability, now he shows that he can stick up for himself.     

Good example from 2013

A touch of Frost-SOUND

Sound

Opening scene… “I didn’t think there was anything strange about Billy” this implies that her mind has changed and now she thinks that he is. The sound over the top gives a deviant feel; this type of sound is usually associated with horror and crime drama. The non-diegetic sound stops shortly followed by diegetic sounds like barking dogs, leaves crunching, police shouting and cars driving by. Giving a feel that what is happening is real and that he was quickly caught out and stopped of his deviant ways. Billy shouts “I haven’t done anything wrong” the fact that he feels the need to express this shows that he immediately feels intimidated and vulnerable.  The inspector refers to him as ‘sub-normal’ which is corrected by the father as ‘handicapped’. This shows he doesn’t know the correct way to deal with a disabled person showing that they need specialist help and need to be treated with care. The inspector says he needs someone else in the room to “make sure he doesn’t do anything wrong” implying that he doesn’t know how to treat him but also emphasising his vulnerability. This could also imply that he cannot be treated like any other person or that there are too many rules and regulations surrounding this which the inspector feels is unnecessary. Talking to him as if he is a child that needs everything explaining to him, the inspector is giving him various options to try and trip him up, almost telling him how he feels. Inspector Frost keeps checking with the father to get an elaborate and more complex answer; only asking the simple questions to Billy and then seeking the father out for detail and confirmation. We stereotypically see him as ‘childish’ and unable to lie and manipulate. Billy who we think is ‘stupid’ is trying able to protect himself but is unable to keep a sophisticated and fool proof alibi for long. Billy’s lies begin to stack up and he becomes aggressive showing how his seemingly vulnerable character can change in a moment suggesting further that he knows more about 8 year old Trisha’s whereabouts.  The tone of the inspector’s voice changes to a patient tone when Billy stops telling the truth and begins answering with the answer of “I don’t know”. Frost is talking through the father to Billy showing that he is untrustworthy. Billy is the more dominant and is telling his father what he was doing rather than accepting what believes is correct. This could show that he is desperate to hide the truth as he becomes more aggressive and frustrated.  The dad nods from behind Billy when he is questioned, either showing that Billy is the more dominant and the dad just agrees with whatever Billy says or that the inspector does not trust Billy and wants confirmation from someone ‘normal’.

 

How is Billy represented?

·         Less dominant

·         Appearance is vulnerable

·         Personally is fairly clever.

·         Treated like a child by everybody, he is very childlike

·         Untrustworthy

 

A Touch of Frost ~ representation of disabilities

How was Billy represented?

Throughout the clip sound was used to represent the disabled character (Billy) in various ways. Firstly it was the use of dialogue, in the clip Billy slurs his speech regularly and struggles to say certain words, this shows the audience that he has some sort of mental disability. He also pauses before he speaks, this suggests that he really has to think about what he’s saying and he struggles to have normal conversations. Before meeting Billy, Inspector Frost refers to Billy as being “mentally abnormal” which differentiates him from other ‘normal’ people.  Further on in the clip Billy’s father speaks for him, this shows that he must be there to support Billy which suggests Billy isn’t capable of answering for himself or simply doesn’t know the answer. Furthermore, Billy also lies in the clip which breaks the stereotype that disabled people are more trust worthy as they haven't got the metal capacity or are manipulative enough to tell lies. When talking to Billy Inspector Frost is quite calm and he speaks to Billy as if he is a child which is very patronising. This suggests that disabled are weak, powerless and more vulnerable than the able-bodied and have to be supported by others. However, once inspector Frost realises that Billy is lying he becomes angrier and starts to put pressure on Billy to get the truth. Frost knows for certain that Billy is lying as he has information that Billy was seen with the girl but due to regulations Frost could not be as direct as he would be with an able-bodies/minded person. This makes the audience feel like disabled people are weak and are unable to deal with stuff.

Sound Anaylsis of Disability in A Touch of Frost

Sound
Diegetic Sounding that can be heard during the short clip of " A Touch of Frost" of disability when Billy is speaking during the clip. The language of Billy, is sometimes not that all clear and understandable to other character, take for example when Inspector Frost is talking to Billy in his parent's living room with his father being in the room at the time supporting Billy. The inspector knows that he is getting simple words out of him although its very child-like. Also the inspector could mannered to understand what he is saying; implying that some disabled people with speak problems can't be understood clearly enough unlike normal speaking people.
Furthermore, Billy's language represents that disabled people with speak problems can be seen to be sinister as they are trying to act incident with a hidden thoughts within them.
Even more another example of diegetic sounding is heard in the clip is when the police are shouting to Billy at the start of the clip, forcing him to stop. In the clip, the police shouts "Oh stop!". This implies that modern day's police treated everyone even if they are disabled or not the same, showing that everyone can be capable of doing the wrong things in today's world.

Disabillity - Representation of Billy in "Touch of Frost"- Ryan Parsons

In the clip from the TV drama series "A Touch of Frost" we see the inspector talking to Billy who has Down syndrome and show how disability is represented. By the use of sound in this clip the viewers can decide on what Billy is like. When we first see Billy we see him walking and wipes his hands, The non-diegetic sound which is playing has an eerie music which could be related to the genre of horror. This could symbolise that he has done something bad such as murder. When Inspector Frost speaks to the parents of Billy the way that Frost speaks is very ignorant when Frost says "Mentally abnormal" and shows that he does not fully understand Billy's situation. When Frost begins to interview Billy, he speaks to Billy childlike with the slow speech and describing the situation in not much depth and little description. This is used when speaking to smaller children who do not understand. This shows that Billy has a limited mental processing when being spoke to and needs help to understand. When speaking to the Father and when he is speaking to Frost they are patronising Billy using a patronising tone of voice but when Billy speaks he is louder than the other characters and shows that Billy is in control. Through This we can see that billy has been represented as a typical disabled person but he has some power over the two characters.     

Analysis of Disability Representation: A Touch of Frost

The Touch of Frost clip represents disability in a variety of ways. I have looked at the way it is shown through camera shots and sound, and analysed the effects upon the audience.

The clip begins with a long shot of a dark woods, of the character we can infers name is Billy, as it was aforementioned.Billy begins to brush himself off, which hints that he has done wrong, shown through the shot to give the audience a perception of what is happening, without revealing too much. The shot is then cut to a mid shot of a police dog, which immediately gives the audience a feeling of urgency and worry, as it is clear someone is in the wrong.  Billy is revealed after to have downs syndrome, leading the audience to understand he has a disability in the mid shot of him. As the police dog is shown straight after Billy, we can understand that there is a connection. This may lead the audience to think that disability is represented as dangerous, as police dogs tend to investigate serious cases and appear to be within the same woods that Billy was shown in previously. There is then a shot of Billy's reaction as he hears the noise of the police officers and dogs - he is depicted as vulnerable and weak, which aids the audience to view Billy at this moment, as a scared victim. The scene quickly gets fast-paced, with a panoramic shot, showing Billy running away from the police officers, this helps the audience understand the scene and makes his apprehension that he feels a lot more dramatic. The police officers tackle Billy to the ground, which is shown using a low-angle shot, with the police officer clearly having force over him whilst Billy struggles furthermore showing him as overpowered.

Analysis of 'A touch of Frost' Sound usage

Sound was used a lot in effect in the extract. This was mainly done with the use of dialogue. Billy, (the disabled), slurs his speech to indicate his disability, and also delays before every piece of speech. His father clarifies Billy's speech for Frost, showing he must be there to support Billy. Billy also lies in the extract, showing not all disabled people are going to tell the truth as they haven't the capacity to tell lies. Before meeting Billy, Frost talks about Billy as 'abnormal'; differentiating him from other people.  Frost begins quite calm, and speaks to Billy like a child; patronising him. This makes the audience believe that disabled are quite weak, and have to be supported by others; Billy's dad. However, once Billy lies, Frost becomes much more angry; putting pressure on Billy for the truth. This is also because Frost has information that Billy was seen with the girl, but due to regulations unmentioned, Frost could not be as direct. This makes disabled people much weaker as certain regulations must be set against them.

Bradley Roberts

Textual analysis of seven.

I will be looking at a popular thriller/crime film that was released in 1996. The film gained a huge amount of praise due to its mass fan base and diverse subculture. It tells a story of a serial killer basing his murders around the seven deadly sins. 

Directed by: David Fincher

Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt & Gwyneth  Paltrow  

Release date: 5th January 1996

The textual analysis of the film seven 

A Touch of Frost - Disability discussion

Please post your paragraphs below by responding to this post. 

Some excellent blog sites from last year

Have a look at how some of the students from last year who achieved the highest marks in research and planning (16 out of 20) did theirs. The later posts are to do with the evaluation (which comes later in the year).

Tom Flaxman

Emma Laird

Remember - it's for inspiration not for nicking!! (which would be a bit stupid as I marked these last year....)

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