Opening Film Sequences

Textual analysis of Kidulthood (Menhaj Huda, 2006)

Storyline

From this opening sequence, it leads us to have a clear assumption of what the narrative and storyline will lead on to develop into. We have already been introduced, by name, to the majority of our characters, and this seems to be a film that will look at different aspects of various characters, and not just stick to one. We cans see:

• two girls standing on the outside of the action, keeping to themselves.
• a man drilling into something
• two girls discussing the party
• boy handing out invitations
• a couple seemingly care free as to who might see them kissing behind a tree
• and a man, easily in his late twenties, scouring the playground looking for 'Claire'.

Enigma Codes

• Why is the teacher unable to hide his clear fear over certain students?
• Who is Claire, and why is he looking for her?
• Why are those two girls clearly being picked on?
• What is he drilling into/for?
• What was hidden in the yellow bins?

Characters


Overall, there are three different types of character who draw the audience's attention in this sequence.

• We feel a sense of sympathy and confusion over the two girls being picked on by the surrounding characters. I think it's obvious that the audience are supposed to feel some emotion for them, and establish them as the 'unpopular' girls.

• The group of older men wandering around the playground, not only stir up emotions from other members of the school, but also the audience. We can see that they are clearly intimidating and that this happens often. By picking on the two girls, the audience will immediately establish them as the antagonists of the film.

• The mysterious character working the drill captures and intrigues the audience. It is not specified what he is doing, so naturally we are curious as to what it is he is up to. Other than that, we remain indifferent of his character, not being able to establish him as a protagonist or antagonist.

General mise-en-scene

Location: set on a school playground/school grounds. This helps establish the age of the characters and the general social status of the majority of other characters.

Lighting: is natural outside light. I think the effect is to not take anything away from what is going on, by distracting us with any fancy lighting.

Cinematography: this is one of the most interesting elements of the mise-en-scene in this sequence.

1. because the camera is constantly on the move, panning the shots of one group of characters, to the next.
2. we have an interesting variety of camera shots; such as the close ups, focusing on characters who might play a big part in the following film.
3. finally, the mysterious man on the drill, although his face is revealed a few times, the camera zooms in so far, that it is quite impossible to really get a clear look of him.

Editing:

Although not completely clear, these types of edits happen throughout the sequence. When the camera is ready to change scene and move on from one set of character, it starts panning, and a figure deliberately walks in front of the camera, to create a cut to the next scene.

Sounds: throughout the sequence, there is audible music playing in the background, something that sounds like hip-hop/rap. This helps support the genre of film and the social setting of the characters. All of the sounds are digetic.

Titles: the main film title is displayed at the beginning of the sequence, I think this is because there is already so much going on, that if the title was incorporated in the action, it would be lost.

The font is bold and in capital letters, presented in white on a black background, clear, dramatic but simple all at the same time.