SSC Film Studies

Section B – Living with crime The opening sequences in both films have similarities and differences which are continuously reinforced throughout many different techniques in the films. Straight away in the opening scene of Get Carter (GC) and Bullet Boy (BB) we get the impression that the director is trying to represent a nice environment for example the green fields and typical English countryside look in BB and the same in GC through the bright sunny environment he is leaving on the train. However the environment is completely turned on its head in both films and the director basically maximizes the impression we get from the new surroundings s the sequence goes on. As the journey goes on for both characters we notice how the key lighting has been drastically lowered and the surroundings change into more industrial and dull. The scale between the north and the south seen through the journey portrays the north and south divide and outlines the differences between the environments. In the train scene of GC we notice how Carter sits himself in first class, as though he sees himself as superior to the working class people or just people in general, also he cleans the spoon before he uses it; outlining his ego again as more superior and a feeling of being better than those around him on the train. However from an outside point of view (audience) we see him taking drugs both in the toilet and also in front of everybody on the train. This tells us that although he may feel superior he is very unprofessional through his reliance on drugs. Also the fact that he takes it very publicly and openly suggests he does not care about those around him or the opinions anybody has on him which tells me he is a very self-centred person. The drug use also relates to the time of the film (70’s) and how the drug use had over spilled from the swinging sixties and how drug use was cool and acceptable, this adds realism to the film too because it represents the drug taking at the time of the film. IN BB we see a shot of Ricky looking outside the prison at his brothers however you notice how there is a deliberate dark line splitting his brothers. This represents the film as a whole about how he has a choice to escape crime, yet we find as the film goes on that crime isn’t so easy to escape. We also see Curtis imitating his brothers smoking actions. This is a key message about how crime is constantly effecting youth within London and why much youth end up in crime due lacking of good role models. AS the journey goes on for both characters there is a clear differences in the changing of surroundings, we also notice how the shot types become closer to the characters trapping them within their environment, which again relates to escapism from the crime world and being trapped within it. The surroundings also seem to become closer and everything seems to grow tighter, such that the scene with the van and the reversing of Wisdoms car in BB again is a continuous representation on being trapped within the environment. This also results in their first gang bust, this straight away gives the environment a dangerous feel because they have only just arrived to the city centre and Ricky has not contributed to it yet somehow ends up within a gang bust up. A another point regarding Carter is how he seems to think he is superior yet he is reading a very low academic and pretty pathetic book yet he smirks at the people around him as though they serve no purpose even sitting next to him. In BB we see a very strong message of the film which is respect, we see Ricky get out of his car to help Wisdom very unwillingly yet he does it, suggesting that his pride and respect for his brother is worth more than escaping the criminal environment, this message becomes apparent again in the film and gives us an insight to why many of crimes take place within the setting of the film (Hackney) where crime levels are very high. A final point regarding the location they end up in where the film takes place. We notice how the high key lighting changes to a low one and everything dulls down adding a grim feeling to the sequence which overall portrays the grim areas they are entering. Overall I would say that many of the key messages taken from the film are defiantly present in the opening sequence; many messages include the north and south divide, the difficulties faced with the crime world and trying to escape it but overall I felt like the director mainly focused on the dull and grimness of the criminal world they were entering and that message was certainly grasped straight away.