bullet boy textual anylsis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hWhO_rmz3I Bullet boy opening sequence


The film I am analysing is bullet boy. The film was released in 2004 and directed by Saul Dibb. It starts off with advertising who created the film: 'BBC films' then fades to another logo indicating 'UK film council.' It then fades into a black background with BBC Films and UK Film Council in association with portman films then again fades into another background with the main characters name “Ashley Walters."

Cinematography
We start off by seeing a boy lying in a back of a car with a torch looking around trying to find where he is and he looks confused. The name of the film then appears in a white background with black bold font. This is in my opinion a clever idea as the title really stands out to me, an opinion coming from an audience. A transition is then used to fade out into a different scene, located in a prison cell by. The camera is faced in the mirror so that the audience is viewing the loaction through the mirror. A focus pull is suddenly in view focusing on a character. We automatically predict that this is the main character as he appears at the beginning of the film in a prison cell. The character gets up as he hears the door opening, followed by a police officer coming inside and tells him 'it's time to go.' The excitement on the character's face is undeniable as he writes down his details, claims his stuff and leaves.

We see a wide shot of the surrounding from his point of view showing that his options are unlimited. Then we go into a close up of the driver smoking, representing stress and is in need to relax. We go back to the beginning of the kid being in the boot of the car we know this because of the movement of the camera. The close up of the boy in the car is interesting because t makes the audience wonder why he is there and what has he done to be there. The movement causes the viewer to feel disgruntled for the boy and this leads them to be pulled in to effect of the opening scene.

Mis en scene
There is an extremely slow focus pull from the reflection in the mirror to later reveal the character at hand, this is effective because it causes the viewer to anticipate excruciatingly and makes them feel connected to the character. The prisoners costume causes the viewer to foresee his situation and feels as closed of as he is for the time being. The cigarette shows the audience how the character is feeling at this point in time, this can relate to anyone who smokes because they can feel the same way due to stress and anxiety.

Location
The location they used was a long field with one car path that can lead anywhere, therefore putting the viewer in an adventurous state as they don't know where this character is going taking the viewer with him. Not knowing causes exctiement and tension.
editing
The use of editing in this opening sequence is called parallel editing, which causes the viewer to feel that they are in two places at once which causes curiosity and confusion. However t also puts the audience in a previledged positition as the viewer gets to see whats going in two places as the same time, when the character themselves do not get that oppurtunity.

Sound
They use a non diegetic strings instrument to build up tension from the start; creating the audience to feel intense and excited. They use a sound bridge carrying on the strings to the next scene so the cuts would seamlessly go by even though the scene doesn't have any connection to the non- diegetic sound - this is incredibly confusing to the audience and may mislead them.
Conventions
Breaking the law
Fugitives
On the run
Smoking
Prisoner
Conclusion
This opening sequence made me think about what I wanted to add into my opening sequence. It inspired to consider including parallel edits in my own film because it had an effet on my as the audience, feeling confused and at the same time excited at knowing what is actually going on and what will happen and I would like to have such effects on my own audience.
By Adam Ayyadi