The Football Factory
Camera In this opening sequence they show basic close ups of main character so that they can be identified , he is seen getting beaten up by football hooligans which suggests that this will be the main theme of the film-this relates to a British audience as football hooliganism is considered a problem throughout England as England are so proud of football in this country. We also associate this subject with mainly middle aged men, so the character being shown gives a good representation of Britain. There are also close ups, with the screen changing colour to greyscale- making it look like these particular people are on surveillance camera. This can tell us that the film includes violence, and association with the police. And creates a realistic feel for the audience as it is if we are watching suspects on camera.
Camera •
They also use wide shots and establishing shots to help the audience to identify the areas in which the film will be set. This shot shows a crowd of people walking in and through the pub, with police on their horse, giving us an idea of the local area. We know that with British social realism films, they tend to use this a lot as they are able to show a working class, run down mundane area. The atmosphere doesn’t look very appealing and it seems very everyday, which these types of films try to do. These camera shots can exaggerate to a certain target audience. For example from this I can analyse that the target audience will be mainly male, mainly white and mainly middle aged men as the pub, the atmosphere and the presence of police help indicate this to me. They also make it realistic by showing footage of random people walking to get us the audience into the atmosphere.
Editing •
There is a use of parallel editing used in this opening sequence as we see the first group of men on the phone to one another we see where the other group of men are, as they do this it again gives us an idea of different locations around that area, all three different shots of men involved in the parallel editing are surrounded by graffiti walls and very local and mundane looking roads and cars. The parallel editing allows us to see the relationship between the different men, and shows them casually using mobiles to gain contact, here they use very colloquial language to communicate. This editing also tells use that they’re about to meet up, keeping the audience on track with who’s doing what and when.
Editing •
There is also a long take lasting approximately 30-35 seconds of the main character walking through a train station. This is were they use a voiceover, they also show him walking in front of other people, giving a realistic feel to show that he is in a natural and public environment- also increasing in verisimilitude as we believe that he is in a familiar area. This edit gives the chance for the audience to hear a bit of the characters thoughts. This shot is very long and unnecessary which is usually a scene that is involved in most realism films. It is making the main character the most dominant character as it blurs out the other people around him. this could be a good technique to use when doing my opening to introduce certain characters.
Mise En Scene When we are introduced to the majority of the characters, they are shown, using long shots or wide shots, the costume that they are in. they wear very basic and casual clothing defining their class to make them look common, and working class. They all have a cockney accent which tells their regional identity is fro London, meaning stereotypically they are perceived as aggressive and violent. Are shown coming out of a station passing police, and perhaps looking a bit suspicious. the station they’re coming out of looks quite dirty and unkempt, showing that it is local.
Mise En Scene •
There is a shot in the beginning were we see the main character, his face is covered in blood and we see people kicking him in the face. He looks very defeated and this being the introduction of the film helps foreshadow the rest. We also get a shot at a brick being used to beat him up, from what we can observe of this is that the man is helpless in the middle of the street, connoting how public this type of violence is. The introduction to the main character also tells us that he isn’t a typical protagonist, but just a normal average character above the rest. This gritty side of London is what were being introduced to, the rough areas and they majority white areas. This is a good representation that only British realism are able to represent.
Mise En Scene •
When we see the groups of different men they are shown in a run down working class area, which is a typical setting for a British social realism film. They are all wearing plain and dull clothing and when we see them talking we can see graffiti walls and also vans and cars to make sure the setting looked as realistic as possible. There is even a shot were we see the clouds in the sky, brining attention to the mundane tone to the opening sequence and doesn’t represent Britain as a happy welcoming place but as a dull and boring location where the atmosphere around isn’t exciting to a mainstream audience.