In the first clip, the scene opens with focus to Donna
opening the drawer for her pills by using a close up. This at first does not
draw too much attention to her condition as for her, as women could be taken
for conception pills. On the other hand could draw attention to viewers,
because of the amount of medication and what they look like that the character
taking them is unwell and takes the medication on a daily basis for whatever
their condition. Immediately after this, a cut is used to make the transition
into a mid-shot and show that she is physically disabled representing the
everyday life for them of taking medication on a daily basis which is not
considered the "norm". Secondly, in the same clip when Fatboy enters
the scene and the use of dialect start to represent disability furthermore when
Fatboy says "not the way to treat a lady" and Donna responds with
" I aint a lady Fat". This is awkward dialect being used by her as he
tries to make humour out of her disability as self-defence as she feels
vulnerable most of the time. This is
the way they would be represented normally in TV dramas as, this is what they'd
expected to feel because they feel as if they are not normal to everyone else
in their surroundings. In this whole scene, Donna is being represented in
countertype way; disabled people are not usually seen as sexually active
because they feel as if it is something only done by "normal" people
and is not done by them. Where as the character of Donna is going against that
as she has sex with Fatboy. This would not seen as the "normal"
lifestyle for a woman who is disabled. Donna is seen to have a different
attitude towards this and does not feel like she’s any different.
The second clip when
Donna is speaking to Nancy; the conversation becomes argumentative and shot-
reverse- shot is started to be used alongside close up shots towards Donna to
show her reaction to the conversation as it is mostly likely to give her a
traumatic shock. Donna discriminates
against Nancy by saying "not all men go for perfect blondes you
know", Donna's attitude becomes cocky towards the subject of her and
Fatboy as this can be because she wants to feel normal about the situation and
not feel as if it is wrong because she is disabled to have sex. Representation
of disability is seen here it shows that if they are physically disabled, they
are the ones that are always going to be looked at or treated differently which
causes them to have unpleasant behaviour to take pressure off themselves. For
Donna to find out that Nancy has a disability herself, her reaction is focused
on through the close up shots during the conversation, which her reaction is
shown to be surprised and breath taken by the news.
In the next scene,
the camera starts off in a mid-shot as Donna is making her way over to Nancy to
apologist to her. Because of this shot, it suggests that they are on the same
level and that they are both equal to each other. Eyeline Match is used during
their conversation as they speak about their experience and again make their
disability into humour which is a way for people who are disabled to find
comfort in their condition or to speak about it.
PEER ASSESSMENT:
COMMENT: good understanding of the scene and explorations of possible representations of the character - well done!
IMPROVEMENT: try to link your analysis back to the question to make it more relevant. Also try to use more terminology within your explanations.
