Kes Introductory
Textual Analysis
Micro
elements from the categories of sound and mise-en-scene have been employed to
construct a representation of a specific social group. A family from the North of England are
depicted as suffering from the effects of poverty and the key area of
representation in this extract refers to class and status.
Poverty is established through the mise-en-scene. The initial first sequence of shots, reveal a tired small bedroom that depicts one bed shared by two brothers. The room is need of decoration as the walls are dull and grim and the paintwork is dirty, especially around the door handle. The costume design for the young boy, indicate how he has outgrown his pyjamas. The curtains hanging up at the window were not long enough and their shabby appearance enforces the realism of the issue of poverty that the lower working classes are often associated with.
The regional identity is conveyed through the older characters dialect when he mentions about going down the pits. The Northern coal mining areas of England were subjected to depict the hardship and vulnerability faced by its residents. Young boys were expected to join their older brothers and fathers down the mines when they left school, so that they could contribute earnings, to help their families to survive. The actual location, in which the film is set, is visually described by the narrative in this introduction. The young protagonist is depicted as running through a typical council estate, set in the rural suburbs, obviously close to the mining areas. The realism enforces the notion of poverty and possible isolation, cut off from mainstream society.
The lighting in the bedroom scene, when the artificial light was switched on, conveyed a dull colour design, which focused on the damp, musty and mundane colours of the wall. The colour design employed, emphasised the bleak atmosphere and mood surrounding the young character.
The silence in the first scene creates negativity, whilst the diegetic sound of the alarm clock almost alerts the older brother to physical and verbal abuse the young male. Establishment of regret and jealousy prevail, enhancing the stagnant life style the boys have inherited. Realism of this is depicted from the older bothers dialogue and decoded through his body language as we see him almost struggling to get out of bed and the fatigue endured, as his rubs his eyes.
The colour palette offered is dull and immensely pasty
and combined with the low key lighting when the young protagonist is getting
dressed, evokes sadness and a sense of sympathy, but when accompanied with the
non diegect instrumental music, the mood slowly becomes less subdued. The music
in several places, picks up pace and a merrier tone, that decodes the
protagonist has choices.
The macro codes within this
introduction, establish the genre, narrative and audience expectations. The
themes and issues decoded relay the realism, of poverty, deprivation, abuse,
isolation and lack of education to combine to portray the representation of the
economical lower social class and typical male gender expectations, to follow
their older counterparts done the mines.
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