Coming Down the Mountain

The beginning of the video starts off showing the bedroom at a birds eye from a slight angle with
the camera moving in slightly. The reason to the shot being like this is to show the contrast between
the brothers the protagonist likes black and white posters and images and is a dull character
whereas his brother who is disabled has bright colours on his side. This shows the possible
characteristics for both of the characters. It also looks as if the protagonists brother has more space
in the bedroom then he does which may imply that he may be given special treatment. The strips on
the protagonists bed may suggest that he only thinks in one way and isnt that much of a happy nor
creative person which can be
backed up by the lack of
colours on his side of the
room.
As the camera moves forward
slightly, the voice-over of the
protagonist begins with a
backing track of edgy music to
support what he is saying.
Both sounds are non-diegetic.
The video then fades to the next shot of the camera panning around the protagonist.
The whole idea of panning the
camera in a medium shot
allows the audience to see the
facial expression of the
protagonist when he talks
about killing his brother. It
also shows his walls more up
close and as you can see in the
background, he has a few
sketches that have possibly been done by him. The fact he draws may then imply that he doesnt like
to share his talent with others because he knows that it wont be recognised by his parents or loved
ones because his disabled brother gets all of the attention we may get this idea by his brother
having more space in the room. There also may be artificial light in the room due to the camera not
capturing any windows or capturing any rays of light coming through; the light looks equally
balanced in the shots. The objects in the room look average which may give a conclusion that as a
family, they earn a pretty average amount of money.
As he says, but when I guess
you decide to kill someone,
you arent thinking straight,
the shot of his brother appears
and that may mean that hes
aware that he shouldnt act as
harsh as he does towards his
brother but does it despite
that because he may not be
treated in the same way as his brother is; he feels as if its unfair but wants to act spiteful and rude
to rebel against his parents.

The montage of images begin

which has been edited in a black
and white format but the video
has shifted to an old-style to
represent the back in the days
where there wasnt colour on
the TV and that the image would
be distorted.
The protagonist voice-overs
about why people are here as
in earth or are alive. He may be
a confused teenager and cant
think clearly on how life should
be. The shots of the montage
go back to when dinosaurs
existed which can elaborate on
how far back he is thinking and isnt just thinking of the 1900s or from any recent history. The black
and white video may reflect back not only on the fact that its relating to old television but to the
fact that he has black and white images on his wall that montage is linked to him he may only
think in black and white; has a
specific way of thinking about
things such as killing his
brother.
The montage ends abruptly
with the side view of the flats
acting as a sort of long shot. At
the same time, a sort of happy
and family music begin. From
this shot though you can
therefore suggest that the family are working-class which can reflect back to the objects in the
bedroom which were average and didnt look like they had much value.
The next scene begins with the
family all in the kitchen
however, there is binary
opposition. The music is
playing a happy tune but while
its playing through diegetic
sounds,
the
protagonist
continuously thinks about how
horrible his brother is and
becomes obsessive over the negative thoughts of him. The scene also begins with that close up shot
so we can then foreshadow that the protagonist hasnt stopped judging his brother in his head and
that he is the main subject of the scene.

This is the medium close up

shot which is directly after the
close up of his brother. You can
clearly see that he is disgusted
by this brother through the use
of his facial expressions.
Through that shot, you also see
windows in the room which
may tell us that natural light is
being used. This may create low key lighting in some parts of the kitchen depending on where a
character is positioned mainly because when natural lighting is being used, the light isnt completely
balanced natural light cannot be controlled. The dialogue between the characters are also shot
with medium close ups and occasionally they may be medium shots.
This particular shot is the most
important because it shows
the
beginning
of
the
vulnerability for little brother
who is disabled. As you can
see the protagonist is standing
up over him which can
connote that he has more
power over him and has the
ability to make his brother feel bad about himself. In this, we also see the protagonists clothes more
clearly: hes wearing a hood jumper and black trousers which are casual wear that can be additional
information towards the fact that they may be a working-class family. With him in front of his
mother, he is blocking her out of the camera. This may be a sign that she doesnt feel comfortable
intervening or talking to her son whereas the father does.
This medium shot is also
important in the scene
because it shows the father
taking charge. You can
connote that idea by the way
he suddenly stands up while
his children are sitting down
meaning that hes expressing
his higher authority and is the
most dominant character out of the three.
Another display of vulnerability
towards the disabled sibling is
displayed here when they are
both walking to the bus stop.
The distance between them
can relate to the distance that
they may share between each
other and that they dont get
along. With the protagonist

walking in front of his brother, it almost seems like he doesnt care less about whether he knows if
his brother is still with him or not lack of communication between the two. The shot is also a long
shot which is displayed in a public area where you can also see the background of other flats.
These shots and most of them
are edited by the use of match
on action which cuts pieces of
the scene together making it
seem as if it has all happened
at once. During the bus stop
scene, this technique has been
used frequently to view where
they are from different angles
and different shots. For example the shot above is a medium shot and the one below has become an
extreme long shot.
It can be to show the scenery
of where they are and where
they possibly may live. It also
shows what the season is due
to the trees having no leaves;
autumn which can then may
explain what they are
wearing; coats and warm
clothes. This extreme long
shot could also discover that they may live a dull lifestyle and that their routine is on a continuous
loop. Back to the match on action, this technique has been used to cut shots that are only a second
long to make it look as if the protagonist is getting annoyed by his brother and that they may in fact
be more irritated.
The series of flashbacks begin
when the protagonist is
thinking back to the times that
he had to live around what his
brother wanted to do and
throughout this, he would do a
voice over like he did with the
montage. The image is a
medium close up but it shows
him aiming a fake gun at his brother. This is because he sees his parents paying more attention to his
younger brother and isolate the protagonist out of the picture.
The next flashback is when
they are at the beach. Its
viewed as an extreme long shot
of a location where they may
have gone for a holiday. This
may mean that they get
immediate
gratification

because they desire it but are working-class none the less.

Through this, we have then established that Coming Down the Mountain is all about the
protagonist feeling like an outsider towards his family and that he feels as if he isnt loved due to the
attention is brother gets. He therefore takes it out on his brother even though his sibling cant
defend himself much verbally or physically. The disability of the little brother is then portrayed as a
perk towards being loved by his parents but a disadvantage in being able to build a relationship with
his older brother the little brother is seen as helpless and always needs someone to help him;
needs someone to rely on.