PM Magazine: I decided to give this a mark of 38/60 which is a low band 3 mark. I believe that the mise-en-scene of the piece was one of the factors not properly adressed. There seems to be high-key colours on one page, then low-key on the next. Also, not much imagination seemed to be used with the images on the print, they are all quite conventional, as is the text font used. However, the headlines used are quite eye-catching, and there is variety in the images used in terms of shot distance. All images used are appropriate to the piece too.

Musicking Magazine: I decided to give this 34/60 which is a high band 2 mark. The front page is not very eye-catching and seems rather bland. There doesn’t seem to be much originality in the piece, and the contents page is also an example of this. There is not many different bright colours in the magazine, and the fonts seem quite orthodox. However, the feature page uses a good collage of pictures, and the interview clearly seperates the questions from the answers so the reader can easily negotiate the article.

For Mondays lesson with Mr Cole, we were set a task in which we had to input our own ideas into a script and then pass it around the room. This resulted in a few continuation issues, obviously, but here is the script that i ended up with (underlined is the input from the class).

Sarah’s eyes opened as she looked around, all she could see was fields. It was clear Sarah was in emptiness. She heard a dull thud. It was a falling object hitting the concrete floor, but where was it coming from? As she set off to explore this noise, she tripped on a soft object. It was getting warm and she was worried about her shoppping. Just then, a wizard appeared for some reason and she was knocked to the ground, where she lay unconcious.

I would like to point out i didn’t write any of the above.

Images that first come into my mind on the subject of disability: some form of support (wheelchair/crutches), hospital, learning disabilities, abuse.

First impressions of extract of ‘Inside I’m Dancing’: set in a care home, none of the disabled seem to be standing up, not a very happy place, disabled treated almost like children (watching kids shows on TV).

I think that following the main characters arrival, he will not manage to settle into the environment of the care home very well. I think there might be some kin of disruption shortly after the start of the movie, and a resolution may be hard to come by.

Image of Michael in the living room – Denotates: diabled sitting in a living room with carers standing up around them. Michael is sitting away from everyone else. Connotates: That the people standing up are more able and in control, also that the disabled have no identity anymore and are treated like one of a herd. Michael seems very lonely as he is sitting away from everybody else. He also has a dreamy expression which shows he isn’t very engaged.

Image of Rory in the van – Denotates: Rory is sitting in the van, he looks quite unhappy and we can see the headrest of his wheelchair in the background. He has a piercing and spiky hair which makes him stand out. Connotates: That Rory is unhappy in his current situation shown by his facial expression, and that he stands out and is obviously not worried about being different.

Image of Rory and the other disabled people – Denotates: Rory on one side, with lots of colourful clothes etc, and the bland, uninterested others in the background on the other side of the screen. Connotates: Rory seems separated from the others due to the positioning on screen , and the fact that he has colour to his costume could suggest that over time in the care home, the other people’s conditions have deteriorated.

‘Mise-En-Scene’ of the extract: The lighting t=is low key and rather grey in the extract, which could reflect the mood. The disabled characters are all in very bland clothing and have no make-up which could suggest they live very mundane lives. Also, there are many weird noises in the background. Close-up shots of the disabled people show their low facial expressions. Rory, however, who is a new arrival to the care home has a colourful costume showing he has maybe not been affected by the life in the care home yet.

Discuss the ways in which Disability is represented in the extract

Opening Statements: Society has many pre-conceived ideas and stereotypes of disability, some of which, are represented in the clip of the film ‘Inside I’m Dancing’ through methods such as ‘Mise-En-Scene’, camera work, and semiotics.

Mise-en-scene: In this clip we can see that the colours of the scenes are very drab and it uses ‘washed out’ colours like brown, grey and black. This is trying to show us that these sorts of disabled people’s homes are boring and sad and that nothing exciting is happening. The clothes that the people are wearing also showing us that either the people who dress them are the old fashioned, not modern people, or the people in the home are.

The close ups on Rory in particular enables us to fully see his emotions, full facial shots take the focus off the surroundings and purely on to the character; this helps the audience to fully appreciate the emotions Rory is feeling when he’s entering the home. The long shot of the home helps us to get a better picture of what the home is like; the long shot helps us to appreciate where they actually are; they aren’t in some horrible home but actually a lovely building. The camera work inside the home is very useful; a mixture of shots helps us to see a broad range of the content, the residents and also the interior decor.

The sound of this extract has plenty of impact on the feeling of the piece. The diegetic sound in the background, including that of the sad theme music and the music coming from the television show that they have a very depressing life style and that they are very over controlled. There are also other selective sounds later in the extract such as the accent of Rory being very harsh without taking the piss.

The editing in this clip is such that it portrays the contrast in styles when Rory enters the premises, as it skips from a calm shot of the people in the home who look relatively ordinary, to the completely different shot of Rory who is wearing a nose ring and fashioning a punk-style attire.