Sebastian Black
BTEC 60 Credit Creative Media Monday 26th September 2016
Assignment A: Analysing the Feature of a Single Camera Production
I am going to be analysing the opening sequence from two films; the first film is Children of Men & the second film is The Usual Suspects. Children of Men does not stereotypically represent sci-fi films because of it's lack of change in the settings. Most sci-fi films drastically change the future by creating high tech objects however Children of Men doesn't do that.
Children of Men is a British sci-fi thriller directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Children of Men is a linear film because the events that occur in the film are followed through in chronological order. It is also single strand because we are following one character's story throughout the film. In my opinion, Children of Men has a closed ending however, Theo dies & there is a brief moment where Kee is left on her own & she is approached by the ship. That can be an argument to say that it has an open ending because we don't know what happens to Kee afterwards.
Mise-en-scene:
All the characters in the opening sequence are wearing dark or dull colours this could represent a form of depression. For the audience that haven't seen the film before would subconsciously think that the character's are all feeling depressed which is shown well just by the costume. Theo is dressed in black, this represents evil & mystery. We assume that Theo is the bad guy in the film, he's an alcoholic & he isn't moved by the death of Diego. Another way of seeing the opening sequence as depressing is the colour of the film. The colour is grey & gritty & this makes the audience feel the depression that is going on in the film. The grey & gritty also makes the film look realistic despite it being a sci-fi film. On the monitor in the cafe, we see footage's of Diego, he seems to be the only one wearing a bright colour, that colour being white. The white represents innocence & hope & could represent youth which is relevant to this film because he was the youngest person on he planet. It could also represent an angel & that is really important in this film because the population cannot reproduce & Diego being the youngest person he is seen as God like. In the coffee shop you see an elderly lady holding a dog which is white & brown, again this could represent hope. The characters have pets because they are lonely. They are lonely because they don't have children & they can't do anything about it.
Outside we see that we are in the future because we have futuristic adverts however, the transport is still normal & not futuristic. You see black burnt looking rickshaws, this could tell us that many people aren't using it & it could foreshadow anarchy. There are police officers walking around in their full uniform which is black, this again represents evil or mystery, this tells us that the police officers in this film can be evil. Theo pours some alcohol in his black coffee, this tells us that he could have a drinking problem or that he wants to escape from the problems that are happening in the world. Mixing alcohol with a stimulant is unhealthy so this tells us that Theo has an unhealthy lifestyle & he just doesn't care. He's not exactly hiding the fact that he is pouring alcohol in his coffee.
Around the coffee shop there are loads of full bin bags around, this tells us that the society has given up with taking care of itself. Society has lost hope because they cannot reproduce.; all hope is gone.
Cinematography:
Where we see Theo entering the scene through a sea of people you can immediately tell that he is different from the others. This handheld long mid shot shows us that Theo is not bothered about what is going on because he's just sliding through these people who are seen to be static because of the news they are hearing. The news does not effect Theo. The handheld shot allows us as the audience to feel like we are there in the cafe looking at Theo. Instead of making the audience feel like they're just watching the film, it makes them feel like they're in the film, this is a good way of engaging the audience. Majority of the time we are looking from Theo's perspective or we are following Theo. The point of view shots are emphasised because it is handheld & this makes the audience feel like they're looking from Theo's eyes. The pan outside is used to show the audience where we are. It subtly shows us that we are in the future by looking at the adverts however it isn't made obvious that we are in future in this shot. The audience has to be carefully watching to see this. The reason why it isn't as obvious is because this film is trying to be realistic. As I mentioned before, this can cause a confusion in the genre. After the explosion, the camera tracks towards the cafe however it isn't a smooth track, it is handheld & it makes it feel like you as the audience is running towards the cafe to see if there are any survivors. This could also be seen as Theo running towards the cafe.
Lighting & Colour:
I mentioned the colour in the mise-en-scene section. Again, the colour is gritty & grey which makes the world in the film look depressing. Just by the colour of the film it tells us about the narrative & it gives us a hint about how the film is going to be.
There is low key lighting in this opening sequence which makes the scene look mysterious. Low key lighting is not a convention of a sci-fi however the director used this to make the opening sequence look unhappy. Even though there is a sunlight outside the cafe, the lighting is still low key & this shows the world as unhappy.
Sound:
In the cafe, we hear the news report which is diegetic sound because the characters can hear it. There is slow memorial music playing when the memories of Diego are shown on the tv, it could be argued that it is non diegetic music or it could be diegetic music. In my opinion, I think it is diegetic music because it could be played on the news report to make the viewers watching feel even more upset about the death of Diego. The music slowly fades out as Theo walks out of the cafe & is immediately taken over by the sound of the vehicles. The sound of the vehicles shows us that the world is still continuing on despite the death of Diego.
Editing:
In this opening scene there are three cuts. Point of view, back to Theo & after the explosion. Before the explosion the pace was slow which represents realism. The pace becomes faster just after the explosion. This is because it's action & it entices the audience by being fast paced.
Script & Diaglogue:
In this opening sequence, we are only given information about Diego's death. We get the idea that there's a problem going on since he was the youngest person on the planet. Diego's name is the only name we know so far in the opening sequence. The amount of information we are given in the opening sequence is minimal because everything is revealed bit by bit as the film goes on.
The Usual Suspects:
The Usual Suspect is a mystery crime thriller. The Usual Suspect is nonlinear because the narrative is based off of flashbacks. The film is single strand because it follows the story that Verbal is telling the officers. This film has a closed ending for Verbal but possibly not for special agent Kujan.
Mise-en-scene:
The mise-en-scene in this opening sequence is very crucial because it gives us clues about the ending. Right in the beginning we see Keaton lighting all of his matches to light his cigarette, he does this because he knows that this will be the last time that he'll have a cigarette. The fact that Keaton is smoking shows that he's relaxed, he's not bothered about what's going to happen to him, this tells the audience what kind of character Keaton is. You can hardly see any costume between the two character which relates to the lighting but I will talk about that in the lighting section. The audience's attention is on the fire because it contrasts the scene. The flames are red & orange which tells the audience that it's dangerous & they are expecting something dangerous to happen. We see Keaton's face however we don't see Keyser's face, we know it's Keyser because Keaton says his name. Not being able to see Keyser's face adds to the mystery & it also makes him look God-like because nobody knows what God actually looks like & we see that Keyser has caused everything you see on the ship.
Cinematography:
The shots are between the two characters exchanging their dialogue. The shot sizes are medium close ups which lets the audience see the background & the detail of the character. It also allows us to see Keaton's expressions. As Keyser approaches Keaton, Keaton's facial expression changes, he sighs. It's almost a sigh of relief however it's not at the same time. There is a long shot which allows the audience to see where the setting is however because of the low key lighting you cannot see much so the audiences attention is on the fire because it represents danger. 40 seconds into the opening sequence there is a long shot to establish where we are, this helps the audience know & understand what is going on. Most of the time the camera is still however when Keyser urinates from above, the camera tilts upwards, this represents power. Keyser is higher up this shows the power he has over Keaton. The tilt shot also adds mystery because we cannot see Keyser at all. The camera slowly tilts back down as Keyser is walking down the stairs this builds up tension. The audience wonders what is going to happen to Keaton. After Keaton is shot we get these long shots around the ship to tell the audience where we are again & the fact that there's no one around. We then get this close up leaking petrol, this immediately tells the audience that something is going to blow up, in relation to that we have a close up of Keyser dropping the cigarette intentionally so the audience knows that the place will set on fire because of this. The camera zooms into the ropes which makes the audience feel like there is someone watching this happening, this is how the directors trick the audience into thinking that there is someone behind the ropes.
Lighting & Colour:
This opening sequence is low key & high in contrast which creates a dark atmosphere. This film is similar to film noir & the lighting represents this. You can hardly see much in this opening sequence which makes the audience feel confused however it does not put them off from the film, instead it attracts them to the film. Already by the lighting you can tell that this is going to be a mystery crime movie. You cannot see Keyser Soze however there are hints in this opening scene that relate to the end scene. You have to watch this film carefully & look at the detail to put two & two together. Not being able to see Verbal tells the audience that he's an important character.
Sound:
In the beginning of this scene we hear footsteps, water dripping & the fire, these are diegetic sounds building up the the tension. The non diegetic sound that comes in is the sound of the violin which is stereotypical for gangster movies, this could give the audience the idea that this film is a gangster film. The music gets louder which could indicate power to the audience. The music intensifies as Keyser drops the cigarette, this creates a dramatic effect on the scene.
Editing:
The cuts are quite slow in this opening sequence because there isn't much action going on. It is more focused on the dialogue between the two characters. There are no fades in this opening sequence & there are no jump cuts, the cuts are matching to allow the audience to understand what is going on.
Script & Dialogue:
Judging by the dialogue between the two characters, we know that they know each other because they known each other's names & they recognise each other. Keyser asks Keaton how he is & Keaton whispers Keyser's name. The conversation between the two are casual
