Genre:
As a class, we worked out the film is a Hybrid Genre, consisting of Action, Thriller, Drama and Science Fiction. We worked this out for several reasons.
Action- In the opening there is a huge explosion from a building then the images of the worlds in chaos give the film a sense its going to have a lot of fast paced action.
Thriller- There is a defiant ominous film about the movie right from the start of, "What's going to happen?" We learn briefly that there are no more children and we learn that the rest of the world is in chaos. The music plays a nice part in this. Its kind of eerie and sad.
Drama- There is a lot of dramatic emotion and also no emotion. The main character (Clive Owen) shows no emotion really to his surroundings. He's become harden giving us the idea that something really traumatic happened and he has been put into this state.
Science Fiction- Right at the beginning of the film, when the main character steps out into the dirty street of London, it tells us this film takes place in the year 2027. There are subtle hints that is the future. Its not like the old 1960's Cartoon the Jetsons when everything is covered in metal and hover cars. They still have double-decker buses but instead of just pictures plastered on the sides, they're moving LCD screens. Same for the buildings. London street looks a little more like Tokyo with all the moving screens around. This is a Dystopia time or bleak future.
Purpose of Opening Sequence:
Like most openings, the opening sets up five things: Main Character, Location, Time, Plot and Theme.
We learn the main character is a hard, unemotional man (played by Clive Owen). You're stereotypical Anti-Hero. We as an audience know from the moment the camera starts solely following him, something is going to happen that forces him to save either the world or some body.
It appears that most of the movie shall take place in London. This is represented through the red double-decker bus that is like London's icon. Then a little later in the clip a proper-gander avert on the bus (another futuristic indication) promotes that Britain is still going strong (despite we can clearly see its not).
This is quite a clear one because it tells us in text that the Year is 2027.
From the opening news report, we learn the plot which is no children have been born in the last 18 Years. Obviously this means something dramatic is going to happen but we don't know what yet. Other than that Clive Owen is the main character.
And finally the whole theme of the movie. This is portrayed through music and color. These two elements set the mood. Dark, dreary colors. Sad eerie music. So we get a sense that is going to be a very serious dark yet sad movie.
How the purpose achieved through Media Language:
Mise-en-Scene- This plays a huge role in setting time and location. Like I stated above, the LCD screens everywhere give away its the future. And then when our Anti-Hero walks into his office, we can see a lot of hi-tech computers that aren't around in modern time. Especially in an office. However, the costumes and buildings are quite normal to what we see today. Not a silver space suit in sight. This gives us a very grounded Sci-Fi. The Mise-En-Scene also shows us how bleak the future is now. Dirty streets, cities in chaos, people dressed in dreary dull colors.
Camera- The opening starts with a high-angle shot of the distressed backed cafe. Unlike normally, this doesn't mean the people are being looked down upon. I believe, this shot was used to give us a better feel of the atmosphere. You can see everyone's hands curled up at their chins, some carrying tissues. When Clive Owen leaves, the camera becomes static and moves with him. The camera following shows he's the main character. In my view, the static camera actually gave me the sense that another person was following him out because when it steps out of the cafe, it scans the city then refocuses on the main character. There are several long shots which establish setting again.
Sound- A Non-Digetic news reporter opens the whole film on a black screen. She has a typical news reader voice. Un-accented, crisp and clear. Once again, this grounds this whole film because we hear the stereotypical news reader voice. The sound also places in the film a bit. After the explosion, a high pitch whistle pulls across the scenes like you're ears are ringing after the explosion (because that's what happens with loud noises). Like I said with theme, the non-digetic music played over the top sets up the sad theme.
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That's all for now. Bye!
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