Silent Witness Representation

In the Silent Witness extract, most of the young black males are represented in a negative way. They’re either involved in gang activity, they just starting or they just stopped. There is only a small number of characters that are trying to make a difference to their community. All of the gang activity is shown in a very stereotypical way, all of the gangs are based in a council estate, young people are sucked into a gang culture because they don’t have any another choice but to sell drugs for vicious and cruel gang leaders like Kennan.
The first sequence in an extract starts off with an aerial establishing shot (possibly a crane shot) of a girl and her paramedic partner in the boat. Medium close ups are used to show the happiness and freedom on their faces as they swim on the river. Cuts are slow and steady, there’s a sound bridge between this and next sequence to establish spatial and temporal continuity. This technique gives us an overview on contrast between surroundings, in first sequence there’s a natural colour palette, the environment that two of the characters are in is wide open to establish the feeling of freedom. Big houses in the background represent the level of wealth.
As I mentioned before a sound bridge is used between the sequences. In the second sequence right at the beginning there’s a tracking shot of Levi and Keenan’s right hand man. Medium close up was used to show Levi’s awareness, he knew that something was wrong and a medium close up explicitly shows his worries. Right after Levi enters Kennan’s “den” medium close ups are used to show Kennan’s angry and ruthless face, this represents a typical thug like mentality .Shot reverse shot showed us just how serious the situation was, it shows us that Kennan is in full control and that Levi has no choice but obey anything Kennan says. There’s a massive graphic contrast between first and second sequence. From peaceful and calm river side to graffiti covered walls in the poor estate area. The sound also represents a dramatic change in surroundings, in this sequence you could hear dogs barking aggressively in the background, there were also some ambient sounds present in this sequence. The way Kennan talks shows us that he’s the boss, from the tone of his voice we can clearly state that he doesn’t ask anyone to do something, he just tells them to do it. When it comes to mise-en-scene there’s also a dramatic change. In this sequence we are surrounded by council flats to represent the economical/social status. There are some flowers against the graffiti covered wall to honour memory of a girl that has been killed by a gang, this represent a clear gang presence and their brutal activities. Levi is wearing a school uniform, this represents that even kids as young as young as primary school age are forced to join a gang. Levi’s schools uniform also represents his vulnerability.
In the third sequence when a press conference takes place, there’s a high angle shot to show a mother which is clearly upset about her son’s murder. A master shot is used to show a whole group anticipating in the conference, this represents a typical press type of event. Simple cuts are used to maintain continuity. Throughout the sequence we can hear camera shots being taken and there’s dialogue throughout. The way that the lawyer speaks clearly states that he is looking for trouble and that he is very argumentative. This type of behaviour represents a very stereotypical view on lawyers. Lawyer’s costume is used to show his status as a solicitor.
In the fourth sequence a low angle shot is used to show a conversation between the mother, the solicitor and the officer. Action matches represent the conversation and the reactions of people engaged in the conversation. The reaction shot was used when the mother was asked if she drank alcohol during her pregnancy, this shot was used in a very smart way, it was used to give us an answer without the need of mother to say anything. There are frequent two shots used, especially when one of the officers is explaining something and the second person is carefully listening. Non diagetic music was used when the mother finds out that her son was only a victim, she also found out that her son was a gang member who’s responsible for murder of a young girl. Again lawyer’s suite is used to reinforce his status as a solicitor.