Mr Bean’s comedic talents can be seen in the very first act of the pilot episode of Mr Bean the TV show labelled The Exam. Filmed inside a studio complex and in front of a live audience, the sound is mostly diegetic apart from the laughter of the audience. In fact, due to this, the audience is less receptive of facial expressions than sound effects made by the actors due to their distance. There isn’t a focus on dialogue in this scene, as Rowan Atkinson delivers most of his jokes through his actions. That is not to say there are no spoken words in this scene; the examiner and the man sitting next to him both have dialogues but their purpose is instructions for the sake of the audience that would otherwise be difficult to convey visually. For example, without the initial confusion between the subject of the exam, the punchline of Mr Bean taking the wrong exam paper would be underdeveloped.

The production design of the scene can be seen in the props as they not only serve a functional purpose but also sets up the final punchline. The number of pens that Mr Bean carries with him as well as the number of gadgets he brings with him ultimately came to embarrass him. The props were used to show the eccentricities of his character at the start, and they were utilised at the end to deliver the punchline, where the loudest cheers and applaud were. Of course, the props would be useless without the fantastic performance of Atkinson who utilises physical comedy for characterisation. The audience could determine what his character is thinking just by looking at his expressions and body language. At 6:11 for example, from his glances, we can see Mr Bean wanting to copy from the man next to him.

The lighting for this scene is from the top left side of the set to simulate the windows that are also on the side of the room. This can be seen from the shadows that are cast beneath the characters and onto the table and that the left side of Mr Bean’s face is more lit than his right. Set inside a studio environment meant that camera angles were limited as to not reveal the audience behind the cameras. As such, there are 4 types of shot constructions used in this scene: a medium shot of the two at the table, a medium shot from the man’s side that captures both of them, a medium shot from Mr Bean’s side that captures both of them and a medium shot facing Mr Bean where the man is not in view. I believe the use of medium shot is used to capture both the actions and the expressions of Atkinson more clearly.