the film begins with a crowd of people surrounded by what we can only presume is a TV which is not revealed until we receive an eyeline match shot to see what their desolate and concerning expressions are because of. Hence, if they are all watching TV, what we are seeing is not just a crowd- but an audience- already heavily relating to the audience of the film. This audience is receiving information from the TV, a format of media, just as we receive our news...yet again showing a clear relationship between the dystopian world and its citizens and us and our world now.
The costume of the characters relating to mise-en-scene is mainly business and work style clothing hinting everyone is trying to get on with their lives and they are occupied ( maybe too preoccupied to notice the graveling state of the world around them) and possibly trying to find a way of escapism ( whether this be through working and getting their mind of things, or through their earnings...to escape the dull city). The only other differentiating costume we see is that of the police officers later on filmed in a long shot.the prominence of these police officers shows that there still may be some form of control and law ( unlike in Dystopian movies like DREDD i have analysed or Daybreakers), and not everything is a dystopian mess. We straight away recognize the officers as their hard hats and navy uniforms flaunt our British police force. We do not follow, track or enable the officers to have prevalence with close ups or much camera time possibly foreshadowing how the police have little control or importance with what society has become.
Even Though the film is set twenty years ahead- the audience can straight away associate with the scene and start of the movie because things haven't changed to dramatically- and the audience can still relate and recognize the typical cafe environment. we can most defiantly recognize this scene is set in a cafe because of the food in the background as well as the cutlery underneath the television. we can also see in this cafe that everyone is together with extremely close proxemics....showing that this is possibly a entire society issue and people are in desperate need of help. The news narrative we hear right at the beginning talking about the 'siege of Seattle' makes this even more obvious to the audience...especially because it is on a black backing leading audience attention to be drawn to nothing but the voice-over-enabling every single word to be properly registered. Right at the start, the non diegetic narrative is almost informing the audience of happenings in the country however when the screen actually changes, the sound seems to almost lower in pitch and clarity and is now diegetic as it is coming from the TV. This initial shot looks down on the crowd from a high angle, possibly empathizing the belittlement they feel in their feeble society. It also possibly shows the power of the TV as this is what is positioned at the high angle the camera films from and this contrasting use of levels for a technological object above humanity, suggesting that possibly it is technology and advancements that have the most power now, and have become out of control. The way there is no dialogue in the initial scenes makes it more clear to the audience the shock that these people feel, and makes it even more obvious the sadness and importance of this beginning scene. When finally, we see a man say 'excuse me' and almost barge through the crowd we emidiatley see him as our possible protagonist because of his prominence and prevalence in the scene and the way that he subverts from the typical 'watch and do nothing' weak society members as we see him instead buy a coffee and then walk out.Also, we see on the TV the news program about the 'youngest person in the world' dying at 18 which is an almost confusing thought and encourages the audience to be an active audience and try to decipher just from this what has gone on to the world....but this news program we see on the TV is interrupted when the key male does something as simple as receiving his coffee. The audience is led astray from the devastation of the television program to instead see a man walk out a coffee shop which must hint his importance and show how he is our protagonist.
The shots of the crowd in the coffee shop remain pretty much the same, being ordinary typical and still shots possibly linking to the feelings meant to be expressed as they have severe lack of emotion or hope..however when this key male begins to leave the shop the camera actually uses a tracking shot to follow him.
The camera tracks the man out of the coffee shop at a level that is head height to him and the camera movements are almost synchronous with the mans pace, as well as this the camera seems handheld and un still to possibly hint the unsettling nature of the forthcoming scene and make it seem as if our audience is, and should be following this man. as the camera tracks the man out and we are led onto a new scene, there are many giveaways as to where this film is set and when. The large red London buses are a big clue we are in Britain, and possibly the capital, the large electronic billboards and moving advertisements as well as the modernized helicopter in the top right hint the futuristic nature. But, are all these hints of the film being set in the future really necessary when a caption in the bottom left of the screen gives us the date of '16th November 2027'? The director seems to just be forcing its audience even more to understand the contrast in the new state of London. Although probably eccentric, i thought the toot-toots driving down the roads could in fact be a symbolic relic of hope...this mode of travel is out dated however we still see them on the roads of London today. This could symbolize how even though we have found out there is global despair and torment- maybe there is still aspects of how society used to be, with power, hope, ability and freedom to hold onto. In this initial scene, the setting is prominent because we see the litter and mere state of the streets which is far from our usual interpretations of a futuristic generation..From prior films we are fed a falsified creation of a machinery led spotless world, however this film already acts as a moral warning as we see the damage pollution and littering can do when the streets of London are portrayed in this run down state. Visible car fumes also hints this pollution, along with the diegetic noise of car engines and horns hinting road traffic and road pollution.
the most prominent part of this opening scene is when the Bomb goes off. The audience actually seem to expect this explosion more than our protagonist does as we track round 180 degrees of the man to reveal a entire shot of where the explosion is about to happen..we wouldn't have a shot of that sort here if something wasn't about to go on. also, the shot pans out from our protagonist to a long shot of the entire street as well as our male foreshadowing how he is almost powerless or belittled in comparison to what is about to happen.
Because the camera shots and editing film the whole process of our protagonist pouring liquor into his coffee and there is no ellipsis or omitting of obvious actions, the audience almost get 'bored' of watching the man with his coffee and instead notice the background where two people embrace in the street- however this foreshadows how there is next to no positivity or happiness because just a few seconds after this, there is an explosion right next to the couple. We also see in this scene that people are thrown into the road and our protagonist spills his coffee- a prop which his dedicated concentration was stuck to. we see the prominence of the coffee as a prop because in the beginning it showed how our protagonist was different to everyone else and didn't relate as much to the news broadcast or seem concerned, but we see that when matters actually involve him there is an obvious concern and disorientation. It also shows the unexpectancy our character had of the explosion possibly showing how things are progressively getting worse...and things like this are not a normal routine. Our protagonist pouring liquor into his coffee almost is a imagery based hint of what our protagonist is like. there is little dialogue in this movie opening, so we rely on surroundings, props and setting and alcohol has strong connotations that our character could be addicted, stressed, careless or even just unstable. We known that it is alcohol he has in his coffee due to the hipster flask he retrieves from his pocket in a close up shot- reinforcing the detail and prominence we should recognize of this shot.
After the explosion, the camera diverts from the focus on our male protagonist and seems almost handheld..tilting and being un still and almost blurry as if somebody is running. The way the camera films as if somebody is running shows the urgency in the scene. As we get closer to the basis of the explosion, the diegetic sound of alarms, bells and screams all get louder- together creating an almost orchestral rendition of a disaster sound. even without any graphic imagery- anyone would realize from the sound effects that something terrible has happened.
i found it very effective that the opening scene began with an old woman timidly clutching her dog as she reacted to the TV broadcast- a passive, typical action....and the scene ended with a younger woman clutching her dissembled arm in reaction to the bomb that went off...a more atypical, disturbing action. i also in conclusion found these opening two minutes compelling as they fitted the genre of the film (action) by diving straight into dramatized action.
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