How far do the opening sequence of the films you have studied for this topic introduce their key messages and values?

In both the films studied, there is a prominent theme throughout which ranges from aspects of revenge, gang culture and violence in the UK, however both film portray these themes through different lights.

The opening sequences of both films set the themes and give the audience am insight into the rest of the film.

The opening scene in Bullet Boy shows our main character and semi-protagonist Ricky in a jail cell awaiting his release, alongside clips of his younger brother Curtis cramped inside the boot of a car. Both of these images presented give the impression of entrapment within the two brothers with the juxtaposition that even though Curtis looks closed in and trapped, he is not yet aware of the situation his living condition has him in whereas Ricky, despite not appearing as trapped in a spacious, brightly lit room is aware that when he leave the jail cell into freedom, he will once again be more trapped than he ever was in custody, this allows us as an audience to begin sympathising with Ricky. As the entire film focuses not only on Ricky's dilemma with gang warfare and escaping Hackney, but also Curtis following his brothers lead and beginning to involve himself in the same culture his brother is in, the opening scene becomes more interesting as we are able to see the difference between them portrayed through their attitudes and mannerisms. A good example being Curtis imitating Rickey by chewing a piece of grass whilst Ricky smokes weed. It shows how the mindset these youths have start at a very young age and it links well to the statistics showing the steady rise in gun crime starting within the younger generations. The character of Curtis is a good representation of childlike innocence being sabotaged depending heavily on the area that you live in. Another key aspect of the opening sequence is when Ricky is released and steps up to the desk to state his information. Not only are all the members of authority we see white, but they also treat Ricky with hostility and patronisation, reinforcing the stigma against young black males in today's society.

The opening sequence of Get Carter takes on much different approach by introducing our main character in a much more mysterious light making the audience question him. The first scene used dark tones and slow pace in order to set one of the themes of the film which falls under 'the treatment of women in the 1970's' as well as a different approach to gang crime in England. The train montage in the opening scene gives us a good character introduction and also gives us a glance into the ever prominent 'north/south divide' which was a huge issue in the 70's and also a running theme throughout the film. We get to see the brightly lit countrysides of London slowly morph into the heavily industrialised, gritty wasteland of Newcastle whilst also watching Carter do multiple drugs but also reading novellas on the train in his attempt to appear of higher status that any of the other patrons on the train.

So whilst both of the films focus heavily on gang culture and warfare, we get to see that trope being handled in two very different ways starting from the opening scenes. As the underlying message in Bullet Boy is that once you're in the type of environment that encourages gang warfare, it's very hard to get out. It ultimately paints a completely horrible and realistic portrayal of the gang world and we see from the opening scenes in which Ricky is in jail looking miserable, it gives no false messages about the type of world these characters live in and how much they despise it. On the other hand, the image that Get Carter paints of the gang world is slightly more unbelievable and ultimately looks better which is first introduced, once agin in the opening scene when Carter and other well dressed men are sitting in a dim room sipping expensive alcohol and watching pornograpy. Ultimately, Bullet Boy aims to show the complete realism behind gang life in which the no matter how hard you try, once you're involved, you're involved forever and Get Carter shows that you can get far relying on your own sheer manipulation and intimidation for a while until it must ultimately come to an end.