Trainspotting 'Interview' scene deconstruction

Trainspotting – Spud’s interview scene
Spud is represented throughout the film as the unstable character, who is very shy, weak and isolated. During the scene where Spud has a job interview, these representations of him are shown clearly.

The camerawork is simple, but helps to show the representation of his mentally unstable state, and his isolation as a character. The use of close up, medium, and long shots cut between eachother, to show his slightly ‘crazy’ mental state, and showing the character on his own in what seems to be such a big space, to represent his isolation to others. It creates a contrast to the others in the scene, that of the people he is being interviewed by. There is three of them sat next to each other, in a medium shot, with similar colours to each other and no quick cuts, showing they are more stable than Spud.

The editing isn’t anything difficult. Just simple cuts from shot to shot, but it is quicker when Spud is in the scene, again to represent his mental state, after taking the drugs, and yet for the interviewers, they only have one shot where they are shown, until Spud is in the camera again.

The sound is quiet, to emphasis on Spud being alone, with the only sound being the voices. It has no major impact on this scene, only to relate to it actually representing an interview, where you would only hear voices.

The mise en scene in the shots where Spud is shown emphasis his isolation yet again. He is shown sat in the middle of an empty space, on a green leather chair, wearing brown boots, and a grey suit, with a blue top. The walls around him are plain, with a mirror to represent him being the only one there, and a plain blue carpet to show his life, plain and dull. In contrast to the interviewer’s mise en scene, they also have the same chairs, walls and carpet colours, but there are three of them, in more formal clothes for two of them, and another in more casual clothes, showing that he is less important. They are sat behind a table, showing superiority towards Spud. They have paper, boxes, and similar coloured formal clothing (with an exception to the man on the right side) to emphasis this representation.

So, to conclude, in this scene the mise en scene is dominant in creating representation, and the camerawork is effective in creating the atmosphere and showing the mental state of the characters. The sound and editing has little to offer here, but they have their reasons for it either way.