Representation of disability Coming down the mountain

Representation of disability Coming down the mountain

In this write up I am going to talk about how mise- en scene, sound, camera work and editing shows disability in ‘coming down the mountain’

In the opening of the clip, there is an aerial shot of two teenage boys room. The side that the down syndrome boy is sleeping on, is messy with different coloured clothes, posters and toys, showing he is immature, and incapable to be tidy. Also his maturity level is shown through the way he is sleeping, as he looks like a baby sprawled, further contrasting his maturity against his brother. His brother’s side of the room is tidy, neat, and mature. His side has a colour scheme of black grey, and he is sitting up acting and looking like a teenager. This shows the juxtaposition between the boys emphasising how down syndrome affects him.

In the closing of the clip, there is a medium shot of Ben on the bus with people fighting around him; the shot focuses on his face looking nervous and him trying to avoid the people hitting him. This creates the impressions that he is vulnerable on his own and feels unsafe. This impression is also furthered by 'Ben's' body language as he is holding on tightly to the handle in front of him, creating the sense of insecurity. This shows that down-syndrome has affected his capability in acting and functions like someone normal, as shown in a later shot of a man just rolling his eyes, clearly not affecting him the same, scared way as ‘Ben’.

The representation of disability is also represented by showing that it can affect anyone. The setting in which ‘Ben’ lives is a block of plain flats, this gives the impression that he does not come from a rich family, and they are normal people, showing that a disability can affect anyone and any family.
This is also shown through the diegetic sound in the scene, as the audience discover that the parent’s jobs are normal, and they lead a normal life, but ‘Ben’s’ disability does affect the family dynamics, since he gets away with misbehaving, and ‘David’ then takes the punishment.

The representation of disability is also shown though what happens when the family go on holiday’s in flashbacks. The editing of shots speeds up, showing snapshots of events that happen on holiday that are affected due to down syndrome. One example of the this is when the props of the ice cream and kite are used to show the hierarchy between the brothers- Ben stands and eats his favourite ice cream, while David is up a tree getting a kite out of it.

Sound is also used to represent that living with someone with down syndrome is repetitive, and potentially tedious. When David is explaining the factors of living with someone with down syndrome, a soundtrack in the background is playing the same song which sounds very repetitive and annoying, suggesting that David’s life feels like this due to the impact ‘Ben’s’ down syndrome has had.

The representation of disability is also represented through sound when ‘Ben’ is at school. At home time, all the children are running around and being loud and having a laugh, whereas ‘Ben’ is standing there, not interacting with the children, or acknowledging the petrol scenario happening. This shows that he is unable to relate with the children’s sense of humour and the way they act due to his diasability.