Analysis of Opening Sequences

RocknRolla

BBFC Rating 15

-The actual title of "RocknRolla" is overlaid onto the image of a man firing two guns, suggesting that the idea of a "real rock 'n rolla" is often intertwined with violence

-It is portrayed in the style of a graphic-novel which may suggest themes of childishness, as well as fun.

-The opening credits are written as graffiti on a wall, representative to the style of the London street-artist Banksy. This suggests that the film is set in London where crime and vandalism are common

-A monologue is spoken, describing what a 'Rock n' Rolla' is, whilst showing a man standing with his back to the camera. This portrays him as mysterious and makes the audience want to know more about him

-He then pulls a gun from the back of his trousers, emphasising crime and violence to the audience, allowing them to more fully understand his character

-It then becomes apparent that the gun is a lighter, which he uses to ignite a large pipe, suggesting themes of drug use. All of the film's themes have now come together - Crime, violence, and drugs, to fully set the scene for the audience so the main story can begin.

-The casting credits then begin in a comic book style,
suggesting youth and perhaps fun, coupled with the images of violence within.

-The images of multiple characters wielding firearms and other weapons indicates gang-culture and gang-crime, relating to the modern issues of gang violence that is constantly present in the news of today. This allows the audience to relate the theme and story of the film to their own lives and generation. This also indicates that the target audience of the film is generally teenagers and young adults from major cities in England

Snatch

BBFC Rating 18

-The audience is thrown into the action in media res as a violent bank robbery is taking place.

-'Snatch' in bold, capitalised and underlined lettering appears in the centre of the screen over the stolen diamond. It is in a stenciled, graffiti font, again suggesting themes of vandalism and crime.

-The other main characters are then shown in sequence, in a comic-book effect. This again suggests childhood, fun, and graffiti.

-It could be argued that the characters are deliberately being portrayed as childish or immature, who only care about themselves, fun, and money.

-Many of the characters portrayed in this style are shown to be involved in the passing of

money or stolen goods. They are also involved in violence and gambling.

-These are all qualities of the underground criminal activities that the audience is now aware will be taking place in the film.

-The opening sequence ends when all of the main characters have been shown and described in such a way, as the audience has now been allowed to orient themselves and become acquainted with the setting and plot.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

BBFC Rating 18

-The actual titling and crediting in Guy Richie's Lock Stock differs from his technique in his other works.

-Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels appears to be typed on screen from an old-fashioned type writer in plain black and white, which could suggest some form of simplicity to the audience, emphasising how simple the plot is and how narrow-minded the characters become when trying to achieve their goals.

-The opening sequence begins with two of the main characters selling stolen goods on the street. They are in fact conning those around them. This first impression is vital for the audience to understand the characters of Bacon and Eddie.

-Upon spotting the police, they pack their suitcase full of the goods and money and begin running.

-The skill and speed in which they run from the police indicates that they have performed this con operation many times before, and are no strangers to breaking the law

-The shot of the chase begins from over the polices' shoulders, watching the two protagonists making their quick escape.

-This clever use of camera angle allows the audience to view the chase from the eyes of the police, who have clearly been beaten by two criminals

-This shot could help in arguing that Bacon and Eddie are one step ahead of the law, displaying the futile attempts of the police and their helplessness.

-The final shot is typical of many Guy Ritchie films. The camera is positioned at the bottom of a small stairway in a dark alleyway. The location suggests the cold and gritty portrayal of London that is stereotypical of the 'Brit-Grit' genre. There is also some graffiti, painted in a contrasting white. Graffiti is often used by Ritchie to emphasise crime and vandalism.

-The angle of the camera gives the two main characters an element of power as they are positioned about it, because they have just escaped from the police.

Crank

BBFC Rating 18
-The crediting in Crank is very simple and notoriously cheap, with very little use of any special effects to enhance the titling aesthetically. This could be interpreted to be again indicating the simplicity of the characters and the plot.

-'Crank' is shown on screen in simple black and white and shakes violently. This is representative of the main character, Chev, who is on an adrenaline fuelled rage and rush throughout the film.

-The music is also representative of the film's main theme of adrenaline and action, as heavy, fast paced rock music blasts the audience's ears.

-A shot is shown from above the city of Los Angeles. This allows the audience to orient themselves with the setting as well as emphasise that the film is set within city life.

-This technique is used throughout the film with pictures from Google Earth, and allows the viewer to follow the fast paced story-line as it progresses through the city.

-The main characters all have individually styled credits. However, they are all representative of comic books.

-The general individuality of their credits coupled with the similarity of the comic book style strongly suggests that although all of the characters are very different in many ways, they have all been brought together in the film because of their fun-loving and at times childish natures.

-The credits of the less important characters portrays the other themes within the films.

-This includes brutal violence and drug abuse.

-These themes emphasise the crime and moral issues displayed in the film, as well as set the scene for what the audience is about to see.

The Football Factory

BBFC Rating 18

-The opening sequence of The Football Factory shows many flashing and fast moving images that are steadily interrupted with a flash of an actor's name. The fast paced and quickly changing images emphasise the action and disorganisation portrayed within the film.

-Music is also used to display the themes of adrenaline and action within the film as a fast paced rock song with a British singer plays. The British voice also portrays the 'Brit-Grit' genre.

-Many of the images that flash on the screen involve newspaper headlines. This suggests that the supposedly small scale violence organised by the main characters affects many people and reaches newspaper stands, despite how they view it as a "bit of fun".

-Another shot, which is also used again later in the film

is to use CCTV footage.

-This emphasises the aspect of crime that is omnipresent in the story.

-This footage shows a fight between a large gang of men after a football match, which basically summarises the whole film in less than a second.

-The use of CCTV footage also emphasises the urban nature and landscape of the films location.

-This shot of two riot police facing a large crowd of rioting men is almost to the police chase in the opening scene in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

-Not only does it show the gang-mentality of the men in the film, but it also shows how outnumbered and helpless the police are, emphasising the dominant force of the 'thugs', empowering them.

This is England

BBFC Rating 18

-The title shot for This is England shows the film name in stenciled graffiti, with a council estate behind it.

-This represents vandalism and crime stereotypically coupled with the white-working class inhabitants of the council flats.

-54 56 Was my number by Toots and the Maytals plays throughout the opening sequence. Toots and the Maytals were an influential ska and reggae group, highly popular within the 1960's - 1980's skinhead movement represented in the film.

-Images and short film clips representative of Britain at the time such as the royal family and political figures are shown. This sets the scene by indicating the time that the film is set to take place (the 80's) as well as emphasises the themes of patriotism within, and allows the target audience to identify with the characters who share a common nationality and generation.

-These images are then coupled with footage of riots and protests

-The manner in which the two different themes of Britain are intertwined indicates how British culture and violence appear to come hand in hand with one another.

-The director has chosen to show the helplessness of the police who are unable to maintain control

-Amongst the images of violence and rioting are multiple shots of graffiti and vandalism. This demonstrates a stark contrast when couple with the images of the upper classes and demonstrates how England has a darker side

Comparing the six discussed films

-All of the British films show graffiti or vandalism in the opening two minutes

-Three of the films take time to emphasise the helplessness of the police in preventing the acts of the protagonists. This is done by use of camera angles and archive footage.

-In the British films, there is always something to demonstrate how the film aims to maintain stereotypically British themes. This is done either by the use of "Bobbies", Royalty, British graffiti styles, or views of the landscape. In Crank, the only non-British film examined, an image from Google Earth is used for the same effect. This is used to display the urban nature of each film.

-All films apart from Lock Stock show scenes of violence in the first two minutes. Lock Stock is also the only film which doesn't have a form of montage in the opening

-The titles are either portrayed in a simple black and white, or are displayed in the style of a graphic-novel.

-It is important to remember when analysing the opening two minutes of these films that although Crank is an urban action film, it is also American, and that whilst Lock Stock was written and directed by Guy Ritchie, it was his first feature-length film and therefore his style will have developed by the time he wrote films such as RocknRolla.

Target Audience and Classification

All six films analysed apart from RocknRolla have been given a rating of 18 by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). RocknRolla was rated as 15 due to strong language and "some strong (and sometimes bloody) violence that is mostly impressionistic and lacking in detail". It is also the most recent of the six films, and the BBFC has become increasingly more lenient in their film ratings over time.

The other five films either contain "strong and bloody violence", "frequent hard drug use and references", or "graphic sexual scenes and references". Our film will be rated 18 due to frequent strong language and strong bloody violence.

This will affect our target audience. Our film will be targetted at males between the ages of 18 and 35 as it is more designed towards men due to frequent references to violence and people over 35 will find it more difficult to relate to the issues and themes brought up by the younger generations within the film.