Brief explanation of a film opening:
The movie Children of Men is a representation of a good film opening as the audience is engaged and it has given the audience information about the film within the first 2 minutes, while including Enigma and Action codes.
As the credits of the production company is played, the voice over of the news reporter allows the audience to acknowledge the dystopian features of the film from the following information:
- Day 1000 - Siege of Seattle : The director's choice of setting a Siege in Seattle lets the audience know that something has gone wrong as Seattle is known in modern day as a calm and peaceful city.
- Army occupation of Mosques
- Closed British boarders for 8 years
The director plays with the concept of contemporary fears which allows the audience to somewhat relate to the film.
The audience acknowledges the disruption in equilibrium of the film by the facial expression of the people in this high angle shot in response to the voice of the news reporters reporting the death of "Baby Diego" an 18 year old who was the youngest person on the plant
^Gif edit
The date and location "London 16th November 2027" can be seen in this clip allowing the audience to know that this film is set in the future which further reinforces the sense of dystopia. As the camera pans following the movement of the an asian-looking vehicle, a helicopter can be seen in the background. This suggests the element of oppression as people may be monitored by the helicopter. The appearance of the asian-looking vehicle conveys the sense of cultural diversity as vehicles seen in the clip are not found in London nowadays. The dirty environment of "London in 2027" lets the audience question why London appears to be less developed and why it lacks organisation and care as the street are not clean. These factors contribute to Enigma code.
The shot on the left allows the audience to know that the actor Clive Owen (who plays the man) is the main character as he entered into the coffee shop wearing darker colours looking unshaven and scruffy, meanwhile other people wore lighter colours and stood still watching the news on Baby Diego. This makes him become the centre of attention for the audience. The character is perceived as cynical as he does not care about the news on Baby Diego. As he leaves the shop his back is faced towards the camera while other people stood towards which again makes him stand out. He also later adds an alcoholic drink to his coffee (the shot on the right), which may suggests that he may be an alcoholic who wants to forget and does not accept the reality.
Enigma Code at work : Questions
- Why is the death of Baby Diego a big deal?
- How can he possibly be the youngest person?
- What caused the explosion?
- Who?/Why the coffee shop?
- Who is this man?
- Why is he drinking?
- Why doesn't he care about Baby Diego?
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