"When they see us"

Media Studies
Representation Essay
“When they see us”

In the clip from “When they see us”, it begins with a dark low angled shot. The audience is looking up at the figures (two shot) in a room filled with shadows and uncertainty. The two characters can clearly be shown to be in some type of dismay and are possibly related, we can gather this from their body language as they are in a close proximity to one another showing displays of affection. A mirror used in the first couple of seconds used as a symbol of confusion. The boy (emphasis on the word boy) is staring at himself in the mirror as if not recognising the person staring back, an unfamiliar face. This adds to the mise-en-scene of the film growing the anticipation of the audience who are left pondering what the young man has done.

We can hear the non-diegetic music playing in the background adding mournful suspense. An effect of scarcity has been created through the sound of a single toned note playing over the footage. A voice over of a woman's voice can be heard speaking within the first 10 seconds, a female’s voice adds a maternal and loving instinct, allowing us to sympathise for the characters through the worry and hurt we can hear coming through. It is stereotypical as a man is seen as harsh and abrasive where a mother/woman is seen as kind and soft spoken, increasing the element of sadness when thinking that is someone's child. This is a good way to draw in a different dynamic of viewers parental figures may relate to this as well as the youth consumers.

The attention is then taken off the mother and son and switches to an establishing shot of the courthouse room. It is a high angled shot showing us the whole picture contrasting to the dim lighting show in the scene beforehand. Soft, melancholic piano notes are introduced stirring up emotions of sadness, practically acting as a preview of the bad news about to come. An array of close-up shots are used to show the young men rising in the courtroom. Each one standing, coming into the shot as if coming into their future. One by one each is informally introduced and we can get a sense of the extreme emotion being portrayed through the cacophony of blank faces and forced in tears. All the characters are shown to be minorities and ethnic young men. This a stereotypical scene where boys are seen to be more destructive when criticizing both genders. It is a racist attack against people of colour or ones with cultural backgrounds, they are portrayed as violent dangerous beings whereas people of pale skin are seen in a higher power/standing.

Through the use of editing a montage is used between the sentencing, courtroom scenes. It shows the boys being normal teenagers, living their lives as if they didn't know what was coming or what was about to be. We empathise for them as one day they were normal kids relating to some of the viewers, then the next they are being convicted of a life sentence. As we are shown these happy times the non-diegetic music starts to intensify playing heavy orchestral music with sudden drum beats in the back mimicking the audience's heart beat as it starts to heighten. The diegetic sound of the judge’s dialogue carries over the good times as if making them come to and end knowing their lives could possibly be over. Through continuity editing the pieces of film have been put together in order to show the contrast between the happiness and sadness. The dark ambient lighting may mimic the emotions of the people in the room. There are a lot of dusk and blue hues throughout the clip, disguised as natural lighting making the verisimilitude more realistic and eye-opening for viewers, as if it was happening in real time.

Slow prolonged shots are seen of the parents which is ironic as it is coming from what looks to be loving family point of views. Tracking shots are used to get the full atmosphere of the room increasing tension as each child's name is read out. Lawyers of pale skin are seen to be sitting comfortable while the people of colour are clustered together fighting for their future. The legal enforcers are shown through a low angle shot as if they sit higher both physically and mentally, as if they are more important than anyone else seen in that room. This can be seen as conforming to the ways of white supremacy and how they are there to put people of colour in what they may think as their rightful place.

As we see the conviction take place they are confirmed guilty, the camera then moves to the parents seated. Tilt shots are used one by one as if they are being slowly lowered into their graves portraying the fact as their lives very well may be over after being sentenced. Snippets of film to the boy playing a trumpet is used in editing as a flashback. It's reminiscent of what was in contrast to what is to be, they are being buried in an early grave.