Analysis of Opening Sequence to Kidulthood.

Title: Kidulthood
Genre: Socail Realism
Director: Menhaj Huda

Narrative Context:

Similar to Bullet Boy, so far not much is revealed. You soon become aware however, of the more dominant characters over the less signifcant characters, certain things are occuring before school is starting, what looks like victoms of bullying are shown, and cuts back and forth of a young teenage boy making a gun. The issue of violence which is shown between the two girls beating one of the girls up, and the other boys causing trouble with another group of boys is presented as a major problem.

Engima codes:
The engima codes which are raised consist of the following:

- What is the boy actually making with the machines? (it soon becomes obvious it is a gun, but you cannot be too sure) and why is he making it?

- Why did she beat the girl up?

- Why does the girl who is getting beaten up recieve no help?
- Why are the boys who are not in uniform causing trouble?
- Why is the boy who is not in uniform looking for claire?

How characters are Established and Represented:

The main characters are preety much introduced straight away. The appearance of the main characters gives us an idea of who is seen as "popular" and who is looked down on, the girls have their ties loose and short and are wearing gold hoop earings, this instantly paints a picture for the audience as these girls are seen as "chavs". The way in which they talk comes across as qutie common, and it soon becomes obvious they are from the city. Both of the girls seem happy with the way they are and are shown as fairly confident, this in itself illistrates the status they must have.

The boys who are not in uniform but on the school site are then shown, the fact that they are not actually at school and are seen wearing what they want, shows us that others view them as higher than themselves and portray them as tough.

The use of dialogue helps the adiuence understand the status of these boys, as they talk down to almost everyone. The fact that the next group of girls shown are the innocent victoms, who are conveyed as less "superior" than the rest, and the vicious girl group who states they want to beat the other girl up, shows the difference between them through appearance and dialogue. It soon becomes obvious that repuatation to most of these characters is important, they want to be seen as "cool" and stive to be well liked, this is shown through violence. On the other hand, you have the two girl victoms who don't care about anything but being left alone.

                                     

Location and mise-en-scene

The location within the opening sequence is set in a run down school in a city like run down area, it seems like it is working class,this being a typical convention of a social realist film. The appearance of the characters is how this is shown, also by the use of props- The games console and the phone appears to be a big part in the opening sequence as it conveys how bad the bullying is, especially when the boy uses his phone to take a picture of what he is making the other boys do.

The way the girls have their hair being scraped back and the traicksuits which the boys wear also portrays their class. The lighting seems natural which is also shown in most social realist films.

Editing Techniques, Camera Techniques and their Effects

At the beginning, the use of slow motion and making the camera going in and out of focus demonstrates the reality of the film. It speeds up instantly when new characters are presented through the use of a long shot, and then slows down focusing on certain significant characters, you can then tell these characters are significant as they seem to have alot of camera time.

The use of quick simple cuts give an on edge effect, keeping the audience intrested and assertive. Techniques such as the shot/reverse shot which is used, gives the effect that something is going on between them characters.

There are a few long shots and established shots, to enable the audience to see the type of characters in the opening sequence and the location, therefore putting these both together. The use of close ups, for example on the girls who are beating the other girl up, are used to show true emotion so we can sympahise for the victom, the close ups are also used to create engima codes for the audience. Once the camera moves onto a new set of characters it pan's, this instantly creates a tense atmosphere and makes the audience think something dogey is occuring. Aswell as close ups, extreme close ups are also used to show true emotion and feeling

Also, when the girl is being beaten up, there are point of view shots. This enables the audience to feel like they are in that position, creating a realistic and honest effect. It makes you feel the fear the victom is going through, and the pain the other girls are causing her. The cut of when the bully punches her in the face makes the punch look and sound ten times worse, this again creating sympathy on the character. The use of the high angel shot is perfect in showing the power the bully has over her.

Finally, the cuts of when the boy in no uniform is slapping the over boy, shows on going energy and the power he has over the other character.

Sound (diegetic/non diegetic)

When the opening sequence starts, there is non diegetic music playing in the background making the atmosphere tense, which could possibly foreshaddow future events. Even through the dialogue, the music is carried on to carry on creating this on going effect, but then slowly fades out once we have met all the main characters. As soon as the opening sequence starts, there are diegetic sounds of people in the playground and the machine, this creates the effect that things are already happening, which makes you want to know what is going on striaght away.

Titles

Just like Bullet Boy, the titles are presented through the use of white font on a black background, however, the style of the font for the title isn't boring block writing, it's different and could be portrayed as aggressive and extreme, just like the film. The title suddenly fades into the opening sequence so we understand how realistic and serious it all is striaght away. The sound throughout the titles sounds intimidating, it is almost letting the audience know what they are due to see.

Intended Target Audience

I think this film is mainly aimed at younger people, therefore between 15-25. The reason being that people of this generation can easily relate to a situation like this, such as violence and bullying. Where as, the older generation would most probably find this effensive. I would say it is more aimed at males as they are intrested with the issues raised within this film, working/middle class people would most likely enjoy it.

Below is the opening sequence: