Grey's Anatomy Essay

 

Essay:

The scene begins with a two shot showing the doctors at the door to the hallway behind it. With some brief dialogue, “sir, you can’t go in there”, some information about the situation is given. Something is happening and the particular doctor can’t go in because of it. However another is allowed through and the ensuing dialogue between the two doctors is shown with over the shoulder shots and shot-reverse-shots. There is no music in the scene at this point as the atmosphere is still being set.

The setting is obvious from the start. It is a hospital. What becomes apparent as the scene moves on is it is in the hallway to an operating theatre which a patient is going to go in. The scene moves to the other side of the door and we see some doctors find out why they’ve been asked to stand where they are. “A patient needs all of them.” This implies that the patient is going into a very serious operation and needs all the support that they can give. There is a shot of the doctors and nurses lining up against the wall and then we get to see the patient in the bed.

The doctor with the patient asks if she’s ready, and she sees the line of doctors and nurses on either side of her all the way down the hall. After she sees this she responds “yes”. This shows the support given to her is getting her through this. The scene does not explicitly explain what her problem is but it is implied that it is quite serious and the operation she is going into possibly won’t work. This is why she needs all this support. What becomes very clear in terms of shot techniques, is the constant use of shot-reverse-shots. This is mainly switching between shots of the patient in the bed and point of view shots looking down the hall. It does this a few times as the bed is pushed down the hall.

In terms of sound at this point in the clip a mellow, emotional song begins to play in the background. This matches the emotional tone that has been set for the scene and also gives a wholesome feel. The audience feels sympathy for the patient and supports quietly as they watch. The line of doctors stretches all the way to the lift symbolising the fact the support given goes all the way to the ‘end of the line’ as it were.

There are tracking shots and more point of view shots as the doctors guide the bed into the lift. As the doors closed it gives the impression that the rest of them can’t follow any further but the memory of their support is enough now for her. The setting changes ever so slightly as they move to the operating theatre. This is the moment that the scene has been building to, actually going into the operation.

Here there is more dialogue between the surgeons talking about what they just did for the patient. One says it was not protocol, the other tries to apologise but the first said she was right to do what she did, and that it should be protocol. This shows a respect for her actions and it shows their continued support for the patient as they operate and it concludes the clip on a hopeful and positive note.