Analysis of the opening scene of the 'Kidulthood'
The film starts of with a close up camera shot, of a teenage boy playing football in a slow motion effect, then everything starts moving in a normal pace (real time). The use of the slow motion editing effect, could be linked to teenagers taking drugs. This is because, some drugs makes teenagers very hypoactive, where as some drugs makes other teenagers feel dozy; this shows a contrast between slow motion to real time effect. Also, the clothing being worn from the three older boys in the opening are hoodies and tracksuits, which could suggest that everybody feels intimidated by them. This suggest, that they do not value their education and shows delinquency behaviour. This could be representing teenagers in today society, as many of them wear the same clothing. Moreover, this stereotypes and gives a negative representation of black teenage boys in society, as many adults would look at them as being harmful and deviant to our society. The mood of the film, is based around the diegetic and non-digetic sounds in the opening. For instance, the muttering and conversations between the different groups in the playground which keeps the audience engaged and focused.
Furthermore, the opening highlights a class divide and also conveys a stereotypes within the group of girls. For instance, the quiet, white middle class girl was being picked on by another girl, which we could infer that she is from a working class background; this is because of her verbal behaviour. This highlights, class differences and represents working class teenagers as being unruly and disobedient where as, middle class teenagers as being respectful to others because of their upbringing. Moreover, it challenges the audience view on society and how much gender roles in society has changed. This is because, in the classroom the 'tough' girl punched the 'innocent' girl in the face and you would not expect a girl to behaviour in that sort of way. Also, in that classroom scene a high-angle and a point of view shot is being used on the girl when she got punched. This is effective because, it makes the audience feel sympathetic to her and feel her pain as well.
The uses and gratification from the audience theory for Kidulthood, would be;
- Personal Identity - the audience could relate to some of the characters and their position in the film.
- Entertainment - audience can escape from their ordinary life or problems and release emotion such as laughter or crying.
- Surveillance - provides the audience with information that young people might experience.
WWW: A detailed and insightful analysis - you've picked out some very relevant aspects.
ReplyDeleteEBI: Your analysis jumps through several aspects of film language (shots to costume to sound, for example). Try and organise your ideas, either by aspects of film language or by concentrating on a few 'rich moments' in the clip.
LR: What would you say is the most significant moment in this opening sequence and why?
LR: I think the opening of the film is really important, because it gives the audience an insight of what the film is going to be about. The most significant moment in this opening sequence of the film, would be when the teenage girl committed suicide by hanging herself in her room. This is because, even though the opening of the scene contains many elements which are important to the audience, such as introducing some of the main characters of the film and highlighting their personalities; the part when the girl commits suicide makes the audience feel shocked and sympathetic towards her family. Also, from watching the opening, the audience would be able to recognise that the girl was being bullied by the other students, therefore some people could relate to her. Moreover, another reason why this specific part is significant to the opening, is because it gives a true picture of what some teenagers experience at school, without their family knowing and the effect it has on them.
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