"A touch of Frost" Asessment practise

In "A Touch of Frost" disability can be portrayed through the mise-en-scene. In the scene, the character "Billy" who appears to have Down syndrome has numerous wounds on his face. This creates a sense of sympathy towards the character. This is different than it would be to an abled-bodied person as a viewer would just assume that they got up to trouble and that they were an evil character. By portraying Billy with cuts on his face could make an audience feel sorry for him because he is a disabled person who is injured and a viewer would be concerned about his wellbeing.

A high-angled shot is also presented in the clip as Frost talks to Billy’s parents, the lighting is low-key with only Frost and Billy’s father being shown in the light. These two features create a nervous and anxious atmosphere which shows that the detective doesn’t know quite how to handle Billy. The high-angled shot makes the characters inside the shot seem small and inferior, as if making the detective look less professional. By having low key lighting it suggest that Billy’s parents don’t have much money, this could suggest that they are struggling to make a living and care for Billy which gives the impression that caring for a disabled person is difficult and can make life hard for parents.

As Frost goes to talk to Billy he automatically seems to talk down to him at first, he pronounces his words simply, slowly and more higher pitched than usual as if Billy cannot understand him if he was to talk normally. This would be different than if he was to speak to an abled-bodied person as he might sound more interrogative and passive-aggressive. By speaking in a slow and calm tone Frost is still doing his job a as a detective by getting the answers he needs but the way he speaks to Billy suggests that he thinks will not be able to understand things as well as an able bodied person.  

As Billy walks through the forest, a long shot is seen to be used as he dusts himself down and walks with a slightly arched back. From this, we see that Billy is acting suspiciously and uncommon to what a disabled person may do. This in turn creates a sense of mystery and an unsettling atmosphere in what is going on in Billy’s mind. The non-diegetic music in the background is sinister and mysterious which suggest that something bad is about to happen and Billy is in some way caught up in it.



From this assessment, we can get more of an understanding on how to develop our characters in our own thrillers.  In our thriller, the main character, Rosa, is a serial killing psychopath.

through mental disability, we are able to develop her character further and make her seem more believable