Essay

The reason why we analyse a range of opening film genres was to get a feel of why and how certain conventions are used for all different kinds of genres. For example I looked at the film opening of “Rebel without a cause” which is based upon a troubled teenager who enrols into a new school, however, before this the audience sees the protagonist “Jim stark” (played by James Dean) being brought into the police station this instantly tells the audience that he is a rebellious teenager that has gotten himself into trouble again. Furthermore, this allowed me to establish certain ground rules that are used in this drama based film. For example the main character is often the main focus.

The conventions used throughout were point of view shots as well as handheld and close up. This was because in teenage based films the director tends to encode a range of repetitive close ups in order for us to focus  on what the main protagonist is up to or simply because we need to see his facial expressions  into understanding how or why he is feeling that way.

 For example, this was present when we saw James Dean kicking and slapping the police station des. This set the foreground of his character being misunderstood as a young man. The actor does this action in a believable and chaotic way in order for his self to let out his frustration and anger. He does this by attacking objects within the room. As an audience member we sympathise with James as well as he just wants to be heard. This was helpful way to analysis the opening of the film.

All in another scene the main character was seen later on in the film fighting with the popular group of the school with knifes as he at the time was the main primary focus. The conventions used throughout were, point of view shots, handheld and loads of close up’s. This was because in teenage drama based films, the director tends to encode a range of repetitive close ups in order for us as the audience to focus on what the main protagonist is doing.

In addition to this i began to look at the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet which is another drama genre that is based around two teenager. Romeo is played by Leonardo Dicaprio and Juliet played by Claire Danes. I found out that the director uses a lot of camera techniques and sound. To be specific, a slow zoom in and zoom out  over the current setting and the main characters in this film. The reason being is that as it is a drama romance the director tends to use of  fast editing and sound motif to create that tense and uneasy atmosphere. This again is encoded in the film in order for the audience to decode the dramatic opening that helps convey, the classic story of Romeo and Juilet set in a modern day setting. This to me allowed me to get ideas from those films to help provide a guide for me and the group.

The opening structure of Kidulthood is conveyed in a powerful manner that instantly

we as the audience  are easily able to establish the settings and anticipate situations that are about to occur. In addition to this the production company are shown across the screen in a timed manner, that only lasts ten seconds each. To be specific, ‘Stealth films’ and ‘Cipher film’ appear across the screen at different times. As the audience i got the  impression that this is a drama based  film that are targeted on teenagers.

As the audience I also got the impression that the company is ‘young’ because of the films that are distributed from their company, and the fact that the film is targeted at mainly teenagers or young adults.  Also the transition and the rolling of the credits come across as blurry and distorted, this to me suggests that the film is unstable, that we will have unsettling and uneasy events over time. From this i have learnt that we should include similar characteristics to our film  that will help reflect the outlook on teenage behaviour. Therefore including our title and credits to be messy and untidy.

Furthermore the credits move in completely different directions. This could again suggest that people are going on different directions and path way through out the entire production. Clearly making this a typical teen movie. This is conveyed through superimposed text and parallel sound bridge that leads through the second title, into the opening shot. Also the second title sequence shown in black and white superimposed technique is the film title sequences ‘KIDULTHOOD’ the director encodes a dark, edgy and jagged font to portray the film’s atmosphere towards the audience. We the audience decode this as disturbing and mysterious as the scene doesn't give much away. From this i have learnt that we should include chiaroscuro lighting in out opening film to help set the atmosphere of the teenagers rebellious side. Additionally, the director encodes diegetic and non-diegetic sound in the opening scene as the sound helped the audience to get a much better feel to the urban genre feel of the film.

The sound was made up of gritty and hard core sound effects this helps to encompasses everything we hear throughout the opening scene. Also the sound scores bridges, help draw the title credits into the opening scene, this to me is very important as it is an element of the film that helps to connect us to the film’s opening in order to engage towards the film. This could also suggest that some characters might suffer pain or lost later on. The soundtrack has a fast and tense low beat which creates a young vibe throughout as the soundtrack progress on, it becomes more apparent that there is an example of non-digetic sound that has a simple but haunting note progression.

In addition to this ambient sound could also be heard in the opening- as you could make out the teen talking but still couldn’t make out what they were saying. The voices heard have strong lower class London accents this further highlights the status of the people in this film and the film’s settings. I also know that the film’s social class is of C2DE due to their language choice of words and idiolects. From this I have learnt that we should include this in our opening. In out film i using sterotypical settings and common accents will help to establish the social class of the teenagers being portrayed in the film.

This is similar to the film ‘Twilight’ as in the very opening of the film the use of handheld and a  range of establishing shots used throughout to create a mythical and mysterious setting. The director encoding of an establishing shot of the forest highlighted with chiaroscuro lighting- as the director allows for us to follow  the deer into the forest until the object or person catches the deer. This is styled in a freeze frame where we see a white flash combined in a still frame to show signs of purity and peace. This also could suggest a sign of a character dying. Fro this i wanted to incorporate a meaning that can be decoding from the audiences therefore using colourful lighting for a club scene in our film will help to set the scene of the teenagers having fun . On the other hand the setting of the film is based in a town named forks. Also the deer in the forest is clearly an icon for the film as it sees a sense if stalking and hunting which already helps us establish that thus is  a vampire teen film. Having said that it can also foreshadowing that the main character is going to be followed by fellow vampires and hunted down in the movie. This tells the audience what the film is based upon. Moreover, at the beginning of the film he director encodes a voiceover of the main protagonist ‘Bella’ which automatically we get to know the characters emotions and feelings in her opening monologue, therefore allowing the audience to connect to her on a very personal level. In our film i have learnt that by adding a voiceover at the beginning of our film will help the  audience to connect to the teenagers, and as well as understanding why they take illegal substances and abuse alcohol.

Moreover as the opening of ‘KIDULTHOOD’ progress on we are shown very repetitive camera editing techniques throughout that helped provide a sense of narrative. It is clear hear that the director conveyed the scene through moving imagery by blurring and staggering the film shots in order to help create mystery as well as a sense of the movie genre. This continues throughout the opening scene that also matches the musical score, adding an additional layer of suspense. Furthermore the film then goes on to  introduce some of school children in the playground in a slow paced and focused lens point. However this then speeds up in to a rapid cut that again creates the jagged movement of a handheld camera. For this I have learnt that in our film by added layering of the moving images will help to se the seen of a chaotic and unstable lifestyle and atmosphere that the teenagers are living in.