SSC Film Studies

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

The opening sequence in Get Carter promotes the ideologies of a north-south divide, this is due to the cinematography of the sequence. Ways in which the opening sequence reinforce this ideology is due to how different the north and south are to each other, as the south is displayed upon screen as a high key lighted area, in which everything is green and not over populated. The north is shown as a place with low key lighting, which is over populated and polluted, due to both regions being represented in these ways it suggests there is a north-south divide in which the south is better off.

The opening sequence also suggests that the swinging sixties is over, due to being made and set in the seventies, but also due to the drugs that are abused within the opening sequence, this promotes the ideology that people are now dependent on drugs due to them being abused in the sixties, and that the people who consumed drugs in the sixties are now taking more dangerous and illegal substances.

The opening scene also suggests that the film is set in a patriarchal society as at the beginning of the opening sequence we see Jack Carter with other males and females watching pornographic images, this suggests the males do not care for females being in their presence and will do what they want when they want despite affecting female's wellbeing. Another way the opening sequence suggests this ideology is due to one of the male characters feeling one of the female characters legs in which the female character seems uncomfortable about, this further reinforces the ideology that the film is set in a patriarchal society.

In bullet boy the main theme that is highlighted throughout the film is being trapped in your surroundings, as the opening sequence shows this, and is quite similar to Get Carter's opening sequence. Instead of emphasising a north-south divide this film emphasises that anywhere that is not from where he lives gives the characters a sense of freedom, as when Ricky is released from prison his surroundings are more open due to the different shot types such as long and wide shots, the scenery is also green and rural. Once Ricky returns to Hackney the shot types connote Ricky's confinement as the shots become close ups and medium shots, there also various shots of buildings which block out the previous scenery that he was previously surrounded in, this further promotes that he is trapped within his environment.

Another message that is promoted in the film is the ideology that the younger characters such as Curtis for example are influenced by their role models, such as Ricky, to live a life of crime. This is shown through an obscured long shot in which Curtis and Wisdom are framed in. The obscurity, it being a bar through a peep hole of a door connotes that there are two paths to go down, one being a path of innocence, or a path of crime. It could also connote that Curtis will eventually end up like Wisdom without having a choice, due to being trapped in his environment.