Analysis of Children Of Men opening.

Children of Men opening.

Representation: Where is being represented?

London is being represented as an extremely modernised city. It is set in 2017. London is being represented very negatively it is shown as loud, polluted, unfriendly dangerous city, it is shown through the characters behaviour and appearance, camera work, lighting sound and editing.

Who:

The man portrayed, as our hero does not fit the established ideas of what a hero should be. For example, the stereotype of a hero is a friendly, strong, handsome man or beautiful woman whereas, this man is not considerate of other people around him nor does he care for the negative news report on television in the café. He is not bothered by anything around him even when the bomb explodes he does not run towards the café or towards those injured he simply jumps and slowly walks towards the café still emotionally detached.

How are women represented within the extract?

Women are represented in the film ’Children of the men‘ as weak due to the fact that they can no longer produce children which only women could do in the first place which is also, a negative representation of London 2027.

How is the future represented and are there any other social groups or places that you notice?

The future is represented as a negative world it shows failure, a dirty polluted world that has modernized way to far, from to much new technology. There are no visible social groups represented in the opening scene as it its only a few minutes long and mainly focuses on our ‘hero’ and the bomb explosion. The places that are shown are way to busy possible in central London where business/working class citizens are commuting to work.

This representation is constructed by central London’s culture for example, black cabs, red buses, the infamous red telephone box, historical buildings in sight. The lighting within Children of the men is very dark and dismal possibly to blend in with the typical English weather of clouds.

Media Language: there isn’t much dialogue in the opening scene apart from the negative new report therefore, the dark lighting could be blending in with the negative text. This could affect the audience by encouraging them to feel the negative vibe that the characters within the scene seem to be feeling so, that the audience relate to the film. The camera work within the film is constantly focusing on the man who could possibly be our ‘hero’ and quite obviously a main character for example, when the man is in the café surrounded by other members of the public he is still the centre image.

A lot of the camera work consists of mid shots and close up shots to mainly capture the characters facial expressions but, also capture some of the background within the setting. The camera appears to be on a crane zooming into the man alleged to be our main character/hero not disturbing the picture. However, the camera work unfortunately does not confirm any expectations of a major feature film. The editing in the opening scene works alongside the text and setting. It affects the text by showing short, sad moments.

The sound in the opening scene has been constructed in a particular way because; the street doesn’t appear to be as busy as it sounds which implies non-diegetic sound along with a diegetic sound. As well as thus music has been added to the news report on the death of ‘baby Diego’, which constructs the films story line.

Mise-En-Scene: Everything within the scene, props in the café; coffee maker, televisions, cups, a dog, glasses. Outside; buildings, cars, motorized rickshaws, electricity boxes, telephone boxes, street lamps. The locations have been created to look natural, to look as the future major city, London, is imagined or alleged to be, busy surroundings, working class people, polluted and very modern.

What type of film do you think this is, from the clip you’ve been shown?

-  Mystery/Fantasy: Plot of human infertility, film set in 2027.

-  Drama/Action: Bomb explosion and intense character development.

Narrative: What is noticeable about the narrative structure?

The narrative structure is the opening scene of a film. It is noticeable that in the narrative structure for Children of the men there is no image only dialogue of the news report in the café. All the reports we hear are negative stories.

Does it fulfill your expectations of what an opening scene should be/include?

I think it includes what it needs to,  it increases anticipation to see what is being heard however with a plot such as this you expect to see continuous action or action right from the beginning.

Audience: Who is the target audience?

Young adults to 40-50 year olds. Particularly 18-21 year olds as that is the age range focused on within the film and age is the main focus within the plot of Children of the men.

What is there to attract different audiences for example, age, gender or lifestyle?

Gender: Women/girls attraction to the film’s intense fantasy plot. Without women children would not be created and born and vice versa for men/boys. The attraction to this audience would be witnessing such a loss, the end of humanity.