In this brief analysis I will be looking at the opening sequence of the film ‘Kidulthood’ (directed by Menhaj Huda) and will be studying the opening in a deeper depth. The genre of the film ‘Kidulthood’ is Drama as the film follows the life of teenagers in school and the actions of teenagers in Today’s society. The opening sequence follows a non-linear narrative which straight away raises enigmas in the audiences mind.
In the beginning of the opening sequence there is a lot of cinematography used which enables us to concentrate on a certain character or prop. For example in the opening sequence there are a number of medium shots which jump from one to another which show the audience a new character. This represents that the film will be a very fast paced film and also as there is more than one character being shown, that there will be more than the one narrative in the film. This distinguishes to the audience that the narrative is going to be about the representation of teenagers in school life. This also raises many enigmas in the audience’s mind as they may be thinking how are these characters? What is going to happen to them? How are they linked?
The lighting that is used as a backdrop outside when the students are in the playground is very dark, gloomy and grey. This could represent that almost a storm is on its way and is coming to haunt the teenagers that are in the school. Also, it can represent that in this school there is no happiness or love, it is all hate and turmoil. This links to an audience of teenagers at school as they may be going through some of the situations that are going on in the film. This could give a false and negative view of teenager’s life, as not all teenagers are that shown in the opening.
The setting of the opening is in a high school were there are teenagers are smoking drugs, bullying and sexual intercourses. This immediately represents the characters as rebels or ASBO’s which makes the audience think, is this what the characters are going to get in trouble for. This links to an audience of A and B social class for surveillance purposes. An upper class professional would watch this opening and say, is this what Today’s society has come to? This gives a false, stereotypical view of students at high school as most high school will not allow there to be any sort of behaviour like that.
The language that the characters use in the film is colloquial. The characters are talking amongst their mates in slang. This represents that the film is based in an urban rural environment where children have been brought up to talk in slang. This links to an audience of teenagers as they can relate to the language used by the characters in the production; personal identity.
In the opening there is a shot were a boy (Sam) in a blue hoody walks up to a girl, spits at her and then swears at her. This represents that the Sam is the bully and the girl is a innocent girl who is just being picked on n school. This links to an audience of teenagers who may be getting bullied at school and don’t know how to deal with. This reinforces Levis Strauss’s theory of binary oppositions and the in every narrative there are always elements of good vs. evil.
There is a significant medium shot in the opening were the teacher is telling the students to get to lesson and supposedly the main protagonist (Trevor) stops and stares at him, the teacher then looks away as he is scared. This shows a representation that at this school the students are in control of the teachers and hardly do not get into trouble due to this reason. This is then significant to an audience of teachers so that they are aware of what students can be capable and what to do if they react in a certain way. This scene assumes that students have the dominant power in that society and have control over their superior power within their environment.
In conclusion, I think that the opening to Kidulthood is very interesting and raises many enigmas for the audience and grips them into watching the film. The use of making the film start with different narratives make it harder for the audience to understand what is going to happen however if they chose to watch on then they will find out
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