Buffy - The Body - How the editing and use of camera constructs meaning.

For this assignment I will be studying a powerful episode of Buffy called The Body in which Buffy discovers the body of her dead mother. This episode is mainly for the long term fans of the show who have built up a relation to the characters and really touches on a subject that many people can identify with in a realistic, respectful way.

This episode really shows off the talents of the creator, writer and director of Buffy, Joss Whedon, with his extreme attention to detail and how he uses numerous techniques to change the audience from merely watching to becoming involved.

I will highlight some techniques he used and to what effect.

The Photo above is taken from one of the first shots of the episode as Buffy goes to the stairs calling after her mother, Joyce, who she believes is upstairs at the time, however the audience is shown what appears to be a body lying on the sofa and given her position implies to the audience that something isn't right. This is very blunt and almost non-dramatic in its showing, however the view of the body on the sofa is intentionally out of focus and leaves the audience to question whether the body is dead. It also allows the audience to share the experience alongside the character rather than giving the audience the full grasp of the situation. The suddenness of the death is unusual for a TV drama as it is very anti-climatic, this is done to emphasise that in real life a loss of a loved one is often unexpected.
Buffy, after trying to wake her mother, rushes to the next room to the phone in order to call 911, this entire section has no camera cuts and is filmed continuously without the use of a steady cam in order to show the sense of urgency of the situation and is displayed in such a way that makes you feel like you rushing to keep up with Buffy, almost following her with the same sense of confusion that we get from the character as it were your own experience. It is an extremely long take (over several minutes) without a single edit, this is done to almost trap the audience in the moment without giving them the sense of relief or allowing them to escape what is happening, this again is another reflection of real life as in a situation like this you cant simply escape from it.

The use of sound is vital to the effect of the episode, as throughout (barring the opening titles) there is only diegetic sounds, emphasising this idea of distance and isolation that the character is feeling. Also the sounds used are almost brutal, as when Buffy attempts to apply CPR and there is this loud blunt cracking sound as she cracks one of her mothers ribs.
There are also numerous shots in which Buffy goes to front and back door of the house and looks outside, and thought we see the sunlight on her pale face we never see a POV of the outside nor do we see her step out of the house, this again gives the audience this idea of being trapped in the situation and though we hear life going on around Buffy for example hearing the neighbours talking, unaware of the situation, we never see them, showing this idea even though the world keeps on turning around us, to us we feel as if we are almost trapped in time and that our world has stopped.

Just before the ambulance arrives there is another example of Buffy walking to the front door, opening it and looking out to the street however again we only see her face, but we hear the sound of the ambulance sirens in the background. when this happens Buffy rather than waiting for the paramedics she returns to the living room leaving the front door open. immediately as the paramedics enter the house the pace dramatically changes it goes from very long takes to rapid succession of cuts as the paramedics try to resuscitate the body, during this we barely see that faces of the paramedics themselves, this shows that she is unable to relate to these people and gives this air of confusion and almost disbelief, emphasising that they are a blur to her.

While the paramedics are attempting to apply CPR a lot of that time we don't see them doing it but instead we see a CU of Buffy's face showing her reaction to what they are doing, again putting this distance between Buffy and these 'outsiders'.

The picture above shows a really brutal moment when Buffy walks to the back of the house and vomits, again you cant see the action itself but you are left with the brutal sound of it, also there is a clear shot of a small window again reminding the audience that the world does keep on going, but its important to note that it is a small window and the angle in which it is shot really emphasises Buffy's distance from it and the outside world.

Also a great use of editing and sound is used when Buffy breaks the news to her little sister, Dawn, while she is at school. Buffy takes Dawn outside of the classroom leaving the camera and the audience inside allowing us only to see the Dawn's reaction through the classroom window without actually hearing it. We then see Dawn collapse in despair and her class mates begin noticing that she is recieving bad news, leaving this very poignant but understanding silence where you know what is being said without actually hearing it.

I think i'll stop there otherwise i'll never stop writing, this entire episode could be written up in this manner as every detail is deliberate and has a purpose, so much so that i couldnt get passed the first 10 minutes of the episode. Without writing an essay on it so ive had to cut it down to what you see here.
:D