Children of Men Essay

How effectively does the opening sequence from 'Children of Men' (2006) use the forms and conventions of film openings? What is your personal response as a member of the audience?"

Opening sequences are extremely important. They help the audience to get an overall idea about films in a variety of different ways. We are introduced to characters, we establish the narrative structure, we are made to be interested in the rest of the film, we establish core themes and core iconography is introduced and finally our expectations are established through the use of generic conventions.

The typical conventions of an opening sequence consist of narrative functions, audience expectations, generic tropes and how we establish characters. I will be looking at how effectively the opening of ‘Children of Men’ uses them.

Firstly I will begin by looking at the way in which the narrative function is used in the opening to be effective. The colour is the first thing that immediately strikes the audience. Throughout the opening colour is dull, we are constantly shown dark tones consisting of greys, browns and blacks. This could be hints of the world’s industrial past which is why everything is murky. The dark grey colours hold connotations of stability, as the colour is half way between black and white. This contrasts greatly with the state of the world’s current situation in the film, as it is far from stable. All of this is effective as it is another way the audience are helped to establish the time and place of the film. The light throughout the film is again quite dull and dreary and the only light that is used is natural light from outside and obviously the only artificial light seen is from the televisions that the people are watching the news on. Props in the opening play quite a big part in terms of helping the audience to start to understand characters and setting. Firstly in the coffee shop at the beginning there are people in the shop who have props and costumes which help us to understand who they are and their significance to the situation. There is an old lady at the front with a dog which helps us to see that there are still animals living on the planet despite the fact that all humans have become infertile. Also there is a policeman in a typical London police uniform, at the back of the shot which helps us to see that the film is set in London. Another way this is shown is through the traditional red buses driving past the window of the coffee shop. Outside the shop when the man leaves, firstly we see the bike types of transport which look as if they are from China or India, which gives the impression that what has happened with the world has in some ways made it merge into one big country. We then see who we believe to be the main character putting some sort of alcohol into his coffee which forces a variety of questions into the audience’s minds. For example; Who is he? Is he an alcoholic? Is there a reason for him drinking? We start to want to know who he is and are immediately drawn into what will happen in the film. All of these elements of the opening all contribute to the audience’s expectations of the film, if the film has a good opening the audience will assume that the rest of the film will also be good and will therefore want to watch it.

Audience’s expectations are established through generic conventions, through the opening we are able to establish the genre of the film. At the end of the opening we obviously see the main part of action which is the explosion of the shop where we see a woman walk out holding her arm, which has been blown off in the explosion. The audience now can see it is clearly of the horror/action genre. The sound used here is non-diegetic and it also reflects the genre as it is a loud screeching sound which immediately makes the audience think of horror. Another way the audience forms expectations is through the use of characters. Firstly, the actor who plays the character is very important as this will make them have preconceptions of what will happen in the play, as they will link it to any other films the actor has been in. Props, Costume and other mise-en-scene, all contribute to the expectation of the character for the audience. As in Children of Men, we see the main character, who is played by Clive Owen, with alcohol which immediately helps us to try and understand his situation.

The camera movement throughout the extract is mostly hand held which could reflect how the world has been made unsteady from all that has happened with the population becoming infertile. At the beginning of the extract sound is used in a clever way which grabs the audience’s attention and informs them that the information being told is important. It is diegetic sound of a news report revealing to the audience the worlds situation which helps them to establish the setting and time. It is played on a black screen which means there is nothing else for our attention to be on other than the sound.

My personal opinion on the opening would be that it is extremely interesting and grabs the audience’s attention immediately with its confusing television broadcasts and unusual storyline. I felt like I could relate to the story as it was set in London, but also felt a bit strange because it wasn’t London as we know it today, it was future London. I loved the use of enigmas. My mind was swarmed with questions, how is the youngest person on the planet 18 years old? Why did London look so different? Who was this man who we assume to be the main character? Why is he drinking alcohol? Why did an explosion happen? The film opening is clever as it draws me in and makes me want to find out more.