Waterloo Road - Analysis

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.