The extract
begins with soothing music played by mainly string instruments to the scene of
an isolated kite playing with the wind, however the background lighting appears
to only be white; the first suggestion that perhaps shows a less detailed view
of the world. We then see a selection of different shots showing two people
sitting on a beach, with one of them (the male character) being in control of
the kite. At this moment, the audience cannot make out which character, if any,
may have a disability to their life which is hindering this experience on the
beach, however the audience can make assumptions that one of the characters may
be deaf from the way the diegetic sound of the breeze can be heard very subtly.
A later shot then hints at the relationship that the two characters may have
with each other, perhaps suggesting that they are together. The scene then
fades to black and re-emerges at what looks like the same beach with the same
male character flying the same kite. The atmosphere at this particular moment
appears to be warm-hearted and positive, seen from the way the sun is shining
and the waves are casually crashing onto the shore. However, it is at this
moment the audience discovers who has the disability (being deaf). This is
shown when the out-of-focus background shot of a couple of teenagers who appear
to be hackling the male character because of his deafness, are abrupted by the
female character who quotes the man as being his ‘boyfriend’, to which laughing
is heard faintly through the ears of the deaf man. From this, the typical
stereotype of having a disability appears to come across negatively, however
you could also argue that it is in fact the complete opposite from the way the
kite (prop) is seen as being free from any negativity, free to roam the skies,
although that could again be argued as being seen as a negative aspect as the
kite is isolated on its own, without company. Brief conversation is made
between these two characters to make the audience feel like a part of their
friendship and for the audience to gain an idea of any brief background story
of the two characters.
The original
female character is then seen watching over the male character and the new
female character, and is then seen approaching them from the distance. As she
gets closer, we notice the pale colour seen from her face, hinting at possible
depression or loneliness and sorrow. A short segment of dialogue is made
between the (original) female character and the male character, at which at
this point the audience now understands that the female character also has a
disability, again appearing to be deafness. Because of this, she perhaps feels
as if her power role or status does not come across very well, especially
compared with the new female character and so she feels useless and turns and
walks away. Jealousy comes across strongly at this point too as she looks down
over the new friendship in disbelief.
The two new
characters then venture onto a ferry heading for France (revealed in a previous
conversation) however their journey is hindered by the man’s psychological
thoughts that he receives in his head, and it appears he’s having some sort of
breakdown (down to his disability) and so he and the girl get escorted off of
the ferry and taken to the police to calm down, where at the scene the original
girl is seen quivering with fear and heads towards the man but is stopped by
the police. Eventually the male character calms down and heads away, briefly
turning back to the girl before carrying on down the road. The scene then turns
to black. When the scene reappears, it appears to be the original shot of the
man fixing his kite on a dull, grey day. The original girl walks in shot and
watches over the man for a couple of seconds before she kneels next to him to
help out, however doing this cautiously. They are both then seen admiring the
kite flying through the sky again, perhaps showing their joy of being free yet
isolated again, as a mixture of piano and string instruments become introduced
again, before the credits appear on screen.
Overall I see the idea of having a disability
generally a negative thing as it appears to take you way from the real world
situations that normal people find themselves in, however there are also
positive attributes that come with this, one being the sense of being alone and
free of hassle, something many people crave in day to day life.
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