Waterloo
Road – Barry Forces Fergal to Sell Drugs
In the sequence “Waterloo Road” we are originally
presented with two separate representations of gender and age. The
representation of age is exemplified through the character, named Barry who is
in fact a young high school student who is in fact being controlled by the use
of drugs. Furthermore, the representation of age is being demonstrated by the
character, named Kasey who is a transgender student (FTM) and has chosen to
follow a fellow friend into the male toilets where she thinks she belongs,
however a decision of to this has not be fully made or accepted. The older
generation is clearly represented in this sequence through the character of the
student’s teacher when he enters the toilet to get all three students back to
their classes.
Mise-en-scene is the first aspect in which the
representational issues are highlighted. The setting of the clip is in a male
school toilet, quiet with aspects of natural shadows, which makes the setting
initially seem like an unusual place and the audience may soon suspect that
some issues may start to occur in the presence of the strange, dark setting. At
the beginning of the clip we are first introduced to Barry. He is wearing his
school uniform, with a black jacket over the top of his shirt. He doesn’t seem
to be at ease of his surroundings almost as if he is expecting something
unfortunate to occur. Previously before meeting Barry, we are able to see two
teachers (male and female) sitting in what looks like their staff room. They
are dressed in work clothes including: a plain white blouse with a smart
cardigan (female teacher) and a pale pink shirt with a brown blazer (male
teacher.) As soon as we are presented with both sets of characters the audience
will begin to question how they are both going to become involved in each other’s
own personal settings within the school premises.
Soon after, Barry is presented with what looks
like a male to be of a similar age where he engages in a short conversation,
which highlights some form of tension between the characters as the audience
begin to realise that the character who Barry is first presented with is in
fact a transgender female and due to Barry’s reaction of her being in the male
toilets is finding it hard to accept the issue, this is where we are first
represented with the issue of gender. During the conversation Barry looks both
shocked and on edge, causing the audience to have initial questions of whether
there is history between the two characters.
Mise-en-scene continues to be relevant to the
representation (age) when we see a third character, named Fergal enter the
sequence by swiftly walking into one of the toilets cubicles pretending that he
has just gone to use the toilet where in fact he has gone to hide himself
whilst he takes an illegal substance. The use of the tiny, dark school toilet cubicle
has been used to highlight the differences between Fergal and the typical
teenager who would most likely do all they can to avoid using the horrible
school toilets and get on with their day, wanting to spend time with friends
and improve their education – which suggests that Fergal doesn’t feel as though
he belongs in his current environment as he is presented to be very isolated
and young by not understanding the consequences of drug taking.
Once Fergal is in the isolated cubicle he drops
some of his pills on the floor only for Barry to hear. When Barry hears the
pills fall to the floor he immediately rushes to the cubicle where is presented
with Fergal crouching down on the floor frantically trying to pick up his pills
without being noticed. The use of body language for both characters (Fergal
crouching down on the floor and Barry towering above him) has been used to
highlight the positions in society of both the characters for example: Fergal
is low down due to his isolation, confusion and possible could be a younger
student than Barry, and Barry is high up due to his confidence, popularity and older
age. Fergal’s facial expressions clearly portray him to be distressed, allowing
the audience to be presented with his vulnerability.
Towards the end of the sequence where Barry and
Fergal have stopped conversing with one another, and one of the male teachers
who we first see before has entered the toilets further provides evidence of
both representations of age and gender, and this may allow members of the
audience to feel sympathy towards the characters affected. Whilst the teacher
is amongst the characters is becomes a lot more evident to the audience the
representation of age as when the teacher enters the toilets even the most
confident of characters begins to look very worried and uneasy with presence,
demonstrating the authority that the older members have over them.
The use of editing to provide narrative structure
of the piece is motivated by the characters, the audiences primary confusion of
why Fergal looked so uncomfortable is hidden from the audience until he drops
the pills and is confronted by Barry about his drug use. However, we are then
provided with scenes encouraging us to understand the further state of his
emotions, for example: the fact that the teacher walked in so soon after Fergal
was about to take the drugs and could have got caught into serious
consequences.
During the clip there is a use of both diegetic
and non-diegetic sounds. The non-diegetic sounds being the loud drone of the
school bell at the beginning of the scene, which would typically be associated
with a school setting, and also the sounds of many students passing through the
corridors outside the toilets to make the setting seem a lot more realistic for
the audience.
In addition, the use of diegetic dialogue further
allows the audience to understand the severity of the representation. When
Barry first sees Fergal in the cubicle we hear Barry exclaim: “so you like your
pills do ya?” his voice displays aggression and anger, however, his next tone
of voice when the teacher is present in the scene differs as he sounds a lot
calmer. This highlights how a younger student such as Fergal may not deserve an
older students respect. Surprisingly, the teacher then announces that he has in
fact been looking for Fergal he does not choose to use any dialogue showing his
vulnerability and nature to want to isolate him or hide from those around him.
To conclude through the use of Mise-en-scene,
camera, editing and sound we are presented with a complete sequence, which is
motivated by the younger characters of the students who are dealing with both
the representations of age and gender.
