Grange Hill- Zammo Busted
End- 1:21
A short analysis of age
in “Zammo Busted”
Micro features are very important in the creation of a scene
in TV drama and are used for many different reasons, especially when it comes
to conveying a representational issue.
Sound can be used to demonstrate how a character feels in a
scene. Mise-en-scene can be used to
demonstrate a character’s identity.
Lighting can also give us an idea of how the character feels without the
use of dialogue. The use of different
camera angles and movements can demonstrate to the audience the character’s
motivation. In this scene of Grange
Hill we can see the problems of age, and how even at a young age drugs can be a
problem. Margie Barbour makes the
locker scene where the issue of age in regards to drugs is tackled.
We begin the scene with a
mid-long shot. The lighting is natural
in regards to a locker room, and the children are in school uniforms. We can assume that they are portraying characters
that are about sixteen. There is only
diegetic sound, with the three talking to each other, as well as bags hitting
chairs and footsteps. Zammo, who is the
protagonist of the scene, sits down onto a bench, facing away from the people
speaking to him as he opens his bag.
Through this body language, we could assume that these people are not
his friends, but at least people he knows.
However, from the way that they are speaking to him, they seem to be his
friends. This demonstrates that there
is some conflict going on between them, which is stereotypical among friends of
all age groups, but especially children at school. Since Kevin, the other boy, is speaking in a
calm way, this could demonstrate that they are afraid of him and that he might
do something rash. We see this later on
in the scene, where Zammo ends up punching Kevin in the face. Since Zammo is sitting, and Kevin is standing
above him, as well as the fact that Kevin is speaking much more calmly, Kevin
comes across as much more mature than Zammo and also above him, both literally
and metaphorically. Although they are
the same age and friends, Kevin comes across as passive and yet older in the
way he acts, which from the way they are standing gives the impression that
Kevin is in charge of Zammo. However,
from the way Zammo talks back to Kevin, saying, “I thought you two had
something to tell me”, makes it seem that Zammo is the one in charge despite
being immature. This is once again a
stereotype of school behaviour- people who are more immature are seen as “cooler”
characters and therefore are at the top of the hierarchy, whereas people who
are more mature are seen as boring and are therefore further down the
hierarchy. Jackie, the girl, is yet to
even speak and is hardly shown on the camera in this shot, with Zammo and Kevin
taking up most of the frame which highlights that as she is a young girl, she
is seen as less important than the boys.
When Zammo hears the news that
there are police officers in the headmaster’s office and he realises that they
are for him, he stands up. We cut to a
mid-close up of his face; it is a reaction shot so that we can see the panic in
his face. We can hear the sadness and
defeat in his voice, and this makes him come across as younger and much more
innocent, as youth is often connoted with innocence. This makes it seem like he is innocent of
what he has done- he is the one who is taking heroine, and yet from the way he
says “Me” it seems like he is both admitting that it is his fault, and also
saying that it isn’t. We feel pity for
Zammo because he is so young and we know only bad things can come from him
doing drugs, and the fact that the police are there demonstrates he is going to
be in a lot of trouble. To his friends,
Zammo truly seems like he is no longer doing heroine, which is what they
believe. Due to the fact that we later
see him with heroine, this could also demonstrate how young people are
compulsive liars and good at it.
When Jackie picks up the
calculator, there is a close up of her hand.
This highlights that this is important and a pivotal event as this will
be the point where she finds out Zammo has been lying to her. In a similar way, Zammo and Kevin frame
Jackie in a mid-close up when she takes the heroine out of the calculator. Although we do not get a reaction shot of
Jackie when she discovers the heroine, we can still see her face. She seems shocked and upset, which
demonstrates once again the stereotypical innocence of youth. She can’t believe that Zammo lied to her
even though we can assume that, as someone who is taking drugs, he is a
liar. The fact that she believes that
he wouldn’t lie to her demonstrates her innocence and how gullible she is.
In Zammo busted there are lots of
important things raised regarding age.
For example, we see the problems that can arise in friendship groups and
how immaturity is prized over maturity.
We can also see the innocence of children represented through Zammo but
also why to be suspicious of them. We
also see innocence represented through Jackie as we see her realise how her
friend has lied to her about something so important.
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