Analysis of a Touch Of Frost- Sound

Sound

Opening scene… “I didn’t think there was anything strange about Billy” this implies that her mind has changed and now she thinks that he is. The sound over the top gives a deviant feel; this type of sound is usually associated with horror and crime drama. The non-diegetic sound stops shortly followed by diegetic sounds like barking dogs, leaves crunching, police shouting and cars driving by. Giving a feel that what is happening is real and that he was quickly caught out and stopped of his deviant ways. Billy shouts “I haven’t done anything wrong” the fact that he feels the need to express this shows that he immediately feels intimidated and vulnerable.  The inspector refers to him as ‘sub-normal’ which is corrected by the father as ‘handicapped’. This shows he doesn’t know the correct way to deal with a disabled person showing that they need specialist help and need to be treated with care. The inspector says he needs someone else in the room to “make sure he doesn’t do anything wrong” implying that he doesn’t know how to treat him but also emphasising his vulnerability. This could also imply that he cannot be treated like any other person or that there are too many rules and regulations surrounding this which the inspector feels is unnecessary. Talking to him as if he is a child that needs everything explaining to him, the inspector is giving him various options to try and trip him up, almost telling him how he feels. Inspector Frost keeps checking with the father to get an elaborate and more complex answer; only asking the simple questions to Billy and then seeking the father out for detail and confirmation. We stereotypically see him as ‘childish’ and unable to lie and manipulate. Billy who we think is ‘stupid’ is trying able to protect himself but is unable to keep a sophisticated and fool proof alibi for long. Billy’s lies begin to stack up and he becomes aggressive showing how his seemingly vulnerable character can change in a moment suggesting further that he knows more about 8 year old Trisha’s whereabouts.  The tone of the inspector’s voice changes to a patient tone when Billy stops telling the truth and begins answering with the answer of “I don’t know”. Frost is talking through the father to Billy showing that he is untrustworthy. Billy is the more dominant and is telling his father what he was doing rather than accepting what believes is correct. This could show that he is desperate to hide the truth as he becomes more aggressive and frustrated.  The dad nods from behind Billy when he is questioned, either showing that Billy is the more dominant and the dad just agrees with whatever Billy says or that the inspector does not trust Billy and wants confirmation from someone ‘normal’.

How is Billy represented?

·         Less dominant

·         Appearance is vulnerable

·         Personally is fairly clever.

·         Treated like a child by everybody, he is very childlike

·         Untrustworthy