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How do technical codes create meaning for the audience with regards to character, plot and genre? In the beginning of Waterloo Road, we can gather a wide range of information through the impressive variety of technical codes.The editing process of the boy smashing the window tells us as the audience that drama and mischievous actions occur in the school. This portrays and evident lack of control between teachers and students. This could also show that this ‘naughty student’ (the boy at the beginning) has something to rebel against. Either this is a defensive mechanism, or he prefers to take his mood out on other things. In a differing way, this could be a cry for attention. Maybe because of his bad attitude, the teachers don’t recognise that actually he just needs someone to reach out for him. However, this interpretation could be wrong. His actions could mean that he is a rebellious student and that he doesn’t really care about his school work and all he cares about is himself. Because of the window being smashed at the beginning of the episode, we can sense that something bad will happen because of the way this student has chosen to act. This character was wearing a hoodies over a scruffy school uniform and also he’s holding a hockey stick. The hoodie portrays the fact that he might be a chav or a ‘hard case’ so that maybe the area where the school is located is a bit run down or in a stereotypical vocabulary, ‘rough’. The fact that the student is wearing a school uniform simply displays that they’re in a school, even if we didn’t know this before. This sense of mis en scéne allows us to identify what is happeneing now, and what might happen in the future.The use of both diabetic and non-diegetic sound adds tension and suspense to the beginning of the first episode of waterloo road. The scene starts with the song ‘I predict a riot’ which ironically displays what the audience is feeling. The beat of this song creates a surreptitious mood as its very up-beat and exciting which links to how the students are acting. You

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wouldn’t necessarily say that the students are being joyful and happy; however you would say that they.re being exited and hyper. The music fades in the beginning which generated suspense and then fades out when the characters start to talk (the first conversation) which the drops the suspense as you get to know the characters and you get to know what’s starting

to happen.In this scene, the main character is made out to look like a ‘chav’. The large and baggy top contrasting from the necklace creates a very chav like and ‘rough’ look.

This ‘mid long shot’ shows the main student at this time, and also it shows what he has just done, this being smashed the window. This also shows that he has a weapon in his hand (a hockey stick) and his rebellious actions have an impact on the audience.

Also in this mid-long shot you can see a reflection in the window of a field and young adults in uniforms. This shows that 8 seconds in we already know they’re in a school.

Because this ‘student’ has just smashed the window, we as the audience can tell that some bad and rebellious events will happen in the school. We can tell that some of the students will have anger problems, and that some of the students will behave badly in class. We can sense all of this even though were only 8 seconds into the drama.

In this long shot (with a crane) we can see that for definite it is a school. There are students in groups surrounding the main building.

The effect on this Crane movement allows us as the audience to identify the main aspects of the school. The damp and low-spirited weather has an impact on the way