Thursday 3 October 2013

Analysis of opening scene- Children of Men

Although I haven’t seen the film before, the establishing shot entices you to watch more than the few minutes of this analysis. The establishing shot automatically creates an enigma, as the audience is struck with wonder on why they are standing in pure shock and upset at, what we presume to be the local new due to the news reporter in the background. The enigma is further continued as the use of having the news on the TV in the background, increases the curiosity of the audience on wanting to know more. Using this high angled shot for the establishing shot, makes the people of the scene seem helpless and vulnerable as we are looking down on them, which suggests the audience is more superior to them. This is also effective as it shows all the people who are worried about what is happening in the news, from old to young, to couples and single people.

Having the man barging through past the stunned people, suggests that he is the main character and is certainly part of the storyline; this emphasises his significance to the film. Also as he’s cutting his way through the crowd, his voice is projected louder than the surroundings, which creates an upset atmosphere as his voice his cutting the silence. To an certain extent, using a strong male figure, attracts the ladies, but could also suggest gender roles in society, as men is seen as having more authority than and over women- even in future life as the film is set in future years time.

The use of clothing and props in the first few seconds of the scene concludes the atmosphere immediately, as dark colours stereotypically suggest sadness and despair. Also the clothes are fairly everyday clothes, which shows the normality of the day, which could suggest that the news is a shock as everybody dressed up like usual, expecting nothing bad or devastating to occur.

As the scene starts the use of having the news reporters speaking through the opening credits catches the attention of the audience from the word ‘go’. This again creates the whole enigma, which is generated in the in the establishing shot. The voices are also not shown, which suggest the lack of importance they have for the rest of the storyline, although they are setting the atmosphere of the whole film as giving the vital information. The voices also combined well with the opening credits as the bold white font, contrasting from the background, emphasises urgency and importunacy to the matter commencing.

The close up of the news, shows the importunacy of the news and gives an insight of the film. This also makes the audience have a feeling of confusion as they are saying a ‘baby of 18 years’ has died-however babies are seen as one year olds, aren’t they? This adds further suspense and curiosity for the audience.
The over the shoulder shot of when the man walks out of the café also involves a continuous shot as well. This allows the audience to see the range of people this news is affecting and the emotions they are all going through. Having a policeman in the scene reflects that the people who swore on protecting us, cannot face what is going on in the world- the law has no say in the matter.

The long shot view shows the setting of the film as being the future London, with big high tech screens on buildings and unusual looking vehicles driving past. The huge screens on the buildings emphasises how drastic the news is due to the continuous broadcast of it. This also gives the generalised view on what the future would be like with technology increasing every day, all over the world. Involving the trash bags on the pavement with policemen walking by them with no care whatsoever, in the scene, suggests again that the news is effecting how people are acting and the decreasing amount of respect they have for their living area.
While the man is ‘irishing’ up his coffee, the camera effect of rotating around the character is very effective. This suggests that the film revolves around him and his journey of whatever he has to achieve. It also gives the audience a full sight of the appearance of the character.

The surprising explosion finishes the scene perfectly as all of the audience was encouraged to focus on the man; this would make the audience jump and build up confusion and another enigma on what has just happened in front of them. The camera shot suggest as if the audience was running towards the commotion as the jauntiness and unstableness suggested we were running and stepping forward. This attracts the audience as it encourages them to involve themselves into the scene. The use of the high pitch loud ringing/ screeching noise in the background creates the effect that the audience ears are ringing due to the impact of the explosion, which again involves the audience.


Finally, having the title of the film, ‘Children of Men’, suddenly coming on the screen generates suspense and increasing the curiosity of what is going to happen for the audience.

No comments:

Post a Comment