In the opening of 'coming down the mountain ' there are many specific details that represent and display disability in such a patronising manner. This is evident in the camera work, editing, sound effects and mise-en-scène.
Ben is the boy who suffers from down syndrome and has an older brother called David. Ben wears clothing that is up to date and modern of which the majority of the students wear. Instead of wearing clothes which suit his disability, such as; elastic armed waists and non-button t-shirts, this shows his parents are desperately trying to fit Ben in with his fellow school mates. However, this creates a contrast with Ben himself, as he wears 'normal' clothing yet he is different to most other people in his school. At the very start of the scene, the image shows Ben and David's room of which they share. There is an immaculate difference in this scene, where David's side of the room is dark, mainly black and white and reasonably tidy. Where, bens side of the room is of so many bright colours, it is messy and has a number of teddies on the bed. This shows that although the they are in the same room, they are worlds apart. This scene also reflects the maturity difference between them both, as bens room looks like a ton child's room and David's suits his age.
Reflecting on the sound effects on this clip, the voiceover at the start of it is David speaking about Ben, telling the audience about Ben and his life with him. However, you never hear from Ben, this portrays that people with disabilities can't speak for themselves. Aswell as this Dave refers to Ben as 'they' when he is referring to 'kids like Ben'. This shows David is segregating disabled people from society, almost isolating them. The scene where Ben is on the bus, the background dialogue becomes muffled and butted with the camera only on his face. This displays another sign of isolation suggesting disabled people are in a constant bubble. Also, the music is slow and sad which is parallel to this scene, this results in us sympathising for Ben as he is all alone on the bus. The dialogue of this clip is very patronising towards Ben, portraying that he only understands speech of an immature nature. This also suggests disabled people have a younger mental age than they actually are. Later on in the clip, David refers to Ben as a 'potato' which is similar to a 'vegetable' which is used to insult people who are incapable of doing many things, which is used to insult people who are incapable of doing many things.
The next specified aspect used for the representation of disability is the camera; the frame, angle, movement and shot. When we first see Ben and David there is an Aries shot of them both on the bed with the camera zooming down on them. The camera then made a pan movement around David's head which showed he was in deep thought about killing his brother. When the camera then goes on Ben it is an Ariel shot of Ben sleeping, displaying he is powerless as he is unconscious and not aware; this is a sign that reflects on people with disabilities, that they are dominated and powerless without knowing. Another sign of dominance is when Ben is standing behind David, clearly smaller than him and the camera is a high angled, over the shoulder shot, which almost disincludes Ben from the scene. This suggests that not only is Ben segregated from society, but by his own family too. There is one powerful message in this clip where there is an impression of a target on bens face whilst David is pointing the gun at him. This is a high-angled, point of view shot where us, the audience, can see through David's eyes. At this point we empathise for David as we begin to see how hard it is to live with someone who has disabilities. Due to the high angled shot on Ben this suggests he is lower in society than other people are. With the layer of the target on Ben, this also displays that disabled people are a target to society as victims of bullying.
The editing of this clip is very clever in the way it represents disability. When Ben is on the bus, the pace of the scene slows down, suggesting his body functions far slower than people without disabilities. This enables the audience to understand and almost sympathise for Ben because of his slower understanding. The narrative order is interesting, we are introduced to David first, then Ben second. This portrays Ben as seconds best and not as important than David. Not only this but David has more screen time gnat Ben which again imitates the same reason, second best is what disabled people are seen as. The fact the narrative is a straight forwards chronological order suggests how simple the lifestyle of Ben and David's family is. The scene shows the routine of their daily life, it is very repetitive and contains an unending responsibility of looking after Ben. The speed of the transitions us very fast and chaotic and almost rushed. This reflects Ben's brain as he looks and is easily confused, therefore these adjectives represent disability as chaotic and difficult to adjust too. The fact that the young boy runs and talks to David about a petrol can, the speech is hard to understand. This is done on purpose so the audience feel the disorientation that some disabled people may feel. Therefore, this initially makes is sympathetic for Ben.
