Jemmah Rattley
This episode is based around an indigenous teenage boy who has just won a scholarship into a prestigious private school. A rule at this school is that you have to sing the Australian National Anthem every morning and Joel, who is the teenage boy, doesn't quite understand why is has to sing and what the National Anthem is really about. Keep reading to find out why this particular episode showed us that standing up to people in power is a thing we should do often.
Before this shot, Joel’s dad demanded him not to stand up during the singing of the National anthem. Joel listened to his dad and didn't stand up; this is the shot that you see. It is a long shot; all the students standing and Joel is sitting down with a straight face that is very noticeable from this angle. This shows that Joel is starting to stand up for himself and it may seem like a bad thing but in the end, it comes out as a good thing. Keep reading to find out why.
In this shot, Joel decides to put the middle finger up at some boys who were teasing him about moving to a private school. This close up shows Joel is being sarcastic towards the boys. It also shows that his face goes from a happy smile to an almost angry sort of annoyed face. This shows us that standing up to your bullies or people that seem to have more power than you do is the right thing to do, even if it means giving them the middle finger.
At the beginning of this shot, you can see that Joel is standing up. He has a confused look on his face and then he decides to sit down while everyone else is standing singing the National anthem. It starts of as a long shot moving in on Joel and then changes to a side shot of Joel sitting down while all the other students are standing. This shows us that even though there are consequences that come with things you do, you don't let anyone else decide what you want to do and stand up for yourself.
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In the last gif, you saw that Joel sat down during the assembly, which is a strict violation to Clifton Colleges rules. He broke that rule, twice, and that led to him being expelled. In this gif you see him going back into school after he gets expelled, which shows that he is standing up for himself. The first shot you see is a car door closing which is close up. By doing this shot it makes the audience think that okay so he’s going somewhere, it leaves a kind of wonder when someone is watching it. Then it goes to Joel who is walking down the hallway to his class, this we see through a tracking shot. It shows how determined he is about coming back to school. This shows us that you should do something that you think is right, even if it means standing up to those in power.
After Joel keeps walking into the school after he gets expelled, people start to realise what he’s up to so they start to follow. At the next assembly, some students decide not to sing and sit down like Joel would do at the assemblies. This led to the principal making these students stay back to talk to them. The students tell the principal “We are not leaving the hall until Joel comes back to school” and they sat there until the principal reasoned with them and started to understand. The shot is a tracking shot that is following the side of the principal from a far distance and you get to see the students sitting down. You also can see the frustration on the principals face when sees walking through the aisle looking at the students. This shows us that if you do something that shows people that your standing up for yourself they will start to follow you and realises that standing up for themselves is a really good thing.
This last shot shows the principal who is realising what she has done and goes to pick up Joel to take him back to school. When Joel goes to the principal’s car, he realises that he’s won over the principal and smiles at her. The principal gives him no emotions due to the fact that she has lost. The shot is a close up shot of Joel and goes to a close up shot of the principal. This shows us that if you work hard enough and keep standing up for yourself, great things will come out of it.
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