Coming Down the Mountain PEEs

The representation of disability in Coming Down the Mountain is shown through the use of editing, sound, mise en scen, and the camera.
The camera makes Ben seem weak and insignificant in comparison to David (his able brother). The camera creates this through using constantly having David at the foreground of the scene and Ben behind him. Additionally the camera is always angled at a higher view, at the top of David creating David to look tall and Ben to look considerably smaller. This can be seen in both the holiday scene (In which David is high in the tree and Ben is on the floor behind him) and the party conversation scene - whilst David plans going out that evening with his friends, Ben stands behind David, seeming smaller than him due to the high camera angle.
These methods of camera work do make Ben seem weak and insignificant in comparison to his brother, David, due to Ben seeming considerably smaller and not at any use. This therefore creates a negative representation of disability.

Secondly, the camera work makes Ben and David seem separated and complete opposites from each other. This is seen in the first shot of the clip - a birds eye view of Ben and David's shared room which is split down the middle, clearly showing their differences and opposite personalities. This birds eye shot creates the perception that disabled people are mentally effectively opposites to able bodied people. This is shown through Ben's side of the room having child-like and colourful objects, toys and furniture which make him seem effectively younger than his actual age. On the other side of the room, David's half is decorated in a mature/ adult style with minimalistic furniture and neutral toned colours.
Therefore, this birds eye camera shot of the boys' bedroom creates a perception of disabled people complete opposites from able bodied people.

The editing in this clip creates the audience to feel sympathetic for people with disabilities. This is devised in the last shot of the clip of Ben seated alone on the bus. The editing in this clip forms the sympathetic feeling from the audience by slowing down the pace, making a shared focus on both Ben sitting alone and the group of friends behind him. This split focus creates a larger contrast between the social, and the alone. This makes Ben seem more lonely than he already was, creating the audience to feel sympathetic for people with disabilities.

The use editing also creates disabilities to be compared in likeliness to cavemen and less developed and evolved than able bodied people. Editing creates this conception by placing the black and white montage of evolution (which shows cavemen, fish, dinosaurs etc, but not modern humans) consecutively before a clip of a close up shot of Ben staring at his food for 4 seconds. This close comparison created by the editing makes Ben seem caveman-like and less developed
This conception created by editing makes a representation of disabled people being less evolved than usual.

The use of mise en scen creates disabilities to make people appear younger than able bodied people. This is shaped in the beginning birds eye view of Ben and David in their room. The effective use of mise en scen is this shot is seen where Ben is wearing child like pyjamas, in comparison to David who has slept topless, with just shorts, which is a significantly more mature form of sleepwear than Bens childish pyjamas. This makes people with disabilities seem less mature and developed, which is a negative representation.

The use of mise en scen additionally makes life seem miserable for a family with a disabled family member. This is created through the use of lighting/ colour correction throughout the whole clip. The lighting is dimmed and made to seem gloomy to reflect the family dynamic and make it seem miserable. It creates an added aspect to shape the whole clip, creating a pathetic fallacy throughout, emphasising the depressed feeling which David is expressing which he feels.
This makes the audience feel as if having a disabled family member is a burden to family life, making a negative representation.

The use of sound in this clip from Coming Down The Mountain creates Ben to seem unable and incapable of having fun with his able bodied peers. This representation of disability is created during the bus scene, where Ben is shown sitting alone in front of a group of people in his age group behind him experiencing fun. This is shaped through the use of sound by the kids behind Ben's speech being exaggerated by having the highest volume and being the focus of the clip. This is in comparison to Ben sitting alone in silence - the contrast creates the idea of disabled people being unable to have fun with able bodied people.

The use of sound in this clip from Coming Down The Mountain creates the conception that disabled people are an underlying burden to people who have them in their daily lives. This is created in the clip with sound in the first shot where David says, in narration "Last summer, I decided to kill my brother". The use of the verb "kill" provides the audience with an initial shock - especially due to this being the first speech heard in the clip. This use of sound enables the audience to shape their own implications regarding living with a disabled person, believing it must be an extremely agitating experience based on David's strong statement. Overall, this use of sound/ speech creates a representation of disabled people being a burden to live with.