Representation of Age

How is age represented in this clip?

Throughout this extract of TV Drama, Criminal Justice, we are presented with two main age groups - the first of which being young adults (represented by the male the offender in the court) and the other being middle aged people, represented by the listeners and barristers within the court. In this text, the contrasting age groups are presented very differently, and throughout this essay, i will be analysing the ways in which the producers of the drama have used camera work, mise-en-scene, editing and sound in order to do this.

Immediately, as the scene begins, from looking at the mise-en-scène in the opening frames, we can observe that the young adult male is being portrayed as a criminal offender. We can infer this from looking at his position on the set; sat at the witness box in a courtroom. In addition to this, a master shot allows us to see that there are two uniformed guards stood behind the young male on either side of him, allowing us to make associations of criminality and untrustworthiness with the youthful male character. This is further reinforced by the use of lower key lighting surrounding the character, which carries connotations of darkness and evil whilst a more intense light is used to focus on him as a subject, imitating the aesthetic of a spotlight interrogation procedure.

From looking at the costume of the other primary character in this scene, we can deduce that he is a barrister, due to his robes and wig. This conforms to the stereotype that this type of occupation is usually taken by older individuals, whilst also presenting him as a character that is lawful and righteous, which is also illustrated by the use of much softer, high key lighting. Furthermore, as would be expected, the barrister is shown to hold much more authority over the younger character, and acts dominant in the scene in contrast to the younger male who comes across more submissive. The use of low angle shots to present the barrister, and low angle shots to present the younger male illustrates this to us, as it makes the barrister to appear bigger (as though the audience is looking up to him), whilst the boy appears smaller (as though he is being looked down upon).

The older barrister also asserts his authority over the younger male offender in many other ways. One way he does this is through the use of dialogue. For example, he often speaks to him in a condescending manner, such as when he is asking him questions like 'do you want to change that answer?' followed by, 'are you sure?' in very quick succession, without allowing the boy to reflect upon what he is saying, in an attempt to provoke a quick and exploited response from him. The older barrister also comes across as intimidating when he says 'I can't hear you', again suggesting his dominance and authority.

Throughout this clip, the young male character is also shown as being nervous as well as emotionally unstable. A  series of mid shots of the boy allows us to observe his body language as he is being spoken to, showing that he often avoids making eye contact with the speaker in the court, he often holds his head low, showing his embarrassment and also that he is very restless in his seat . This is further reinforced by the slow zooming action of the camera within the mid shot that is frequently used, and the use of slow paced editing, that allows us to focus on his expressions whilst feeling the discomfort expressed by the boy. This slow zooming shot is used on multiple occasions throughout the scene, such as when the boy begins to cry and wipes tears from his eyes.

Later in the scene as it becomes more tense, an eerie, minor non-diegetic soundtrack is played to compliment one of the aforementioned zooming mid shots. The volume of this soundtrack slowly increases, as the character becomes more emotional and further reinforces the tension in the scene. Not only does this aid to exacerbate the audience's acknowledgement of the young boy's guilt but it also presents him as being emotionally distraught and again, unable to cope with his circumstances. Many of the ways that the boy is presented showing his emotion and guilt in this way gives a wider representation of the youth as often not thinking of the consequences of their actions. As the scene continues to progress, all shots that show the offending boy are much closer up, and the shot types change from mid shots, to close ups. The use of the close up shot type makes the scene feel much more intense and allows the audience to get an even clearer view of his facial expressions and his deteriorating emotional state, such as at 4:48, creating a further feeling of discomfort amongst the audience. This intensity in the scene is further illustrated as the editing in the becomes faster paced.

At the end of the scene, the stereotype that the occupations held within a court system belong to older and middle aged people is challenged, as a mid shot allows us to see a younger lawyer who appears to be defending the offender.