Thursday, 12 December 2013

Cathy Come Home (1996) - Sound and Image




Cathy Come Home is a British Television Play broadcasted on BBC 1 about homelessness from 1996 by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. This realistic drama documentary tells the story of a young couple, Cathy (played by Carol White) and Reg (Ray Brooks) through their journey of life as Reg gets injured, loses his job and Cathy has her children taken away from her by social services. They face life of poverty and unemployment and illegally squatting in empty houses as well as staying in shelters.


Cathy Come Home is a black and white film put on TV and one of the first fictions made on film. Handheld camera is also used which makes the audience pay more attention to what is going on. The mood that is created is very intimate and sad. Cathy is trying to live with minimal money and cope with someone to live with 3 kids. This play is set on real locations with minimal script and natural performances.


Sound and image within Cathy Come Home is simply used. During the play, the main conversation is the one between Cathy and Reg, but we hear voiceovers from Reg’s mum, Reg, Cathy etc. as well as their everyday conversations throughout their struggles. Cars can be heard as an everyday event with party scenes. There have also been facts given out throughout the play as a voiceover and heard unseen interviews. The voice of God has been used.



Paying attention throughout this play is needed to understand what is going on. As for image in this play, the camera shots used makes it look like a documentary style and more realistic than a fiction. Cathy and Reg’s, are intimate, sad, and set on real locations and a minimal script being used which makes the performances natural.








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