The different camera angles and movement, selection of film footage, background music, voice-overs and word choice are examples of techniques used to enhance the narrative elements in the story such as characterization, point of view, setting, structure and many more. The two main production codes I will focus on are technical and audio codes.
The characters of this story include the current affair presenter, Stacey the 15-year old girl, her mother Kerry, a family friend, South Australia Disability Service Minister and Chris Hill the on-spot reporter and interviewee. Various shots such as close-up, longand panning shots are used to show the main character of the story Stacey behind her “cage”. She is shown clinging on to the “wire cage” like a prisoner without freedom. Viewers are in this way positioned to feel sorry for her. We normally associate imprisonment with crime and wrong doings. Here, we are presented with an innocent victim suffering from Down syndrome, being denied the basic human right of freedom through no fault of her own.
There are also shots filming interviews with Stacey’s mum, Kerry. The close-up shots showing Kerry’s weary and desperate face suggests to viewers that she is also suffering from locking her daughter up in the cage for her own safety and this allows viewers to observe the physical effect of the stressful situation. This makes viewers feel sorry for her as the mother of a handicapped daughter. The shots showing South Australia’s Disability Service Minister busy flipping through his pile of work tells viewers that the minister is very busy and he has other community issues to look at. It shows that the need to help Stacey is low down in the minister’s listed priorities. Viewers react by feeling angered because the government cannot provide these services for families in need. Seeing the Minister in his city office environment contrasted with the rural setting of the Stacey’s “cage”, viewers can see the huge gap in the importance placed in addressing this problem. The melancholy background music, designed to raise emotions, is also played whenever Stacey appears on the scene, further emphasizing the sufferings of the mother and daughter.
The setting of the story is also enhanced by shots showing rural South Australia and Stacey’s “wire cage”. The long shots are used to show location as isolated and deserted from the major town centres and the voice of Chris Hill further enhances it. There are footages showing the surroundings of the Stacey’s house, suggesting the danger Stacey faces if she is let loosed. The close up shots of the wire cage and the faces behind the “cage”; and the repetition shots of the opening of the “cage” reinforce the “prison” setting Stacey has been living in for the past seven years.
The point of view in the story is 90% focused on Stacey’s mother, Kerry and their family friend. Viewers are persuaded to side with them in arguing against the government for the lack of disability services such as day care programs, transport services and other disability services. The footage showing Stacey interacting with the camera as she interrupts the “normal” narrative flow of the camera work by covering the camera lens show her behaviour as uncontrolled and undisciplined. It also demonstrates clearly to the viewers that Stacey has a lack of understanding of the appropriate behaviour and responses in the world around her. This reinforces the viewpoint of Stacey’s mother that this problem is not exaggerated. The current affair presenter also commented on the “lack of support provided”, further enhancing that the government is not doing anything.
The sympathetic tone is created through the selection of words chosen by the voice-over and presenter. For example, Stacey home is described as a “domestic detention centre”. This emotive language is normally associated with asylum seekers arriving in our country. Other selective words and adjectives used include “barbaric” when referred to the action of locking Stacey up and “Wire Cage” when referred to Stacey’s house. This colourful language is used to make the story seem more interesting and touching. There is also a personal testimony recounting an incident from the past to demonstrate the past and present difficulties faced by Kerry and many other interviews to make the story more truthful.
Values and attitudes of the Australian government are also reinforced using technical and audio codes in the story. The Australian Government likes to think of themselves as caring, helpful and supportive. They believe that they have one of the best healthcare systems in the world. This story sets on to show one of the examples of the system failing to provide services for all in the community.
In conclusion, the current affair story is put together using the different narrative techniques such as characterization, setting, point of view and tone and it is reinforced through the use of television production codes such as technical and audio codes.
