Opening Credits Analysis

Titles - most British films I have studied have had the same style of title sequence. They're all very simple and orthodox, with the names of the producer and director coming before the names of the main actors in the film. In Football Factory, however, the names of the make-up artist, the costume designer, music composer and editor also appear. Another trend that is very common is the addition of scenes, usually to do with the genre of the film, within the credits. They mainly contain no sound, with the background music providing that. Usually, they are also of violence, such as in Football Factory, but in Rock 'n' Rolla it is about the film itself and gives the audience an insight into the life of the character.

Mise-en-Scene - nearly all of the films I studied were set in relative poor areas. They all in some way include blocks of flats in public estates. These estates are gang-ridden, such as in This is England and within all of these gangs we see organised crime. Most of the rivalry's are between gangs from different areas, and in the case of Football Factory, it is between fans of rival football clubs looking to be the best in their area. When the characters are inside, lighting dims down or colour becomes dull and it shows the coldness of the lives they lead - violence, lack of family or friends and an abusive social life (drugs and alcohol). The opening to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels also continues this theme and is set on the side of a road, with colour being very dull, and the two main characters pulling off hustle's which are illegal, and police then come and try, but fail, to catch them.

Dullness in shots in This is England (above)

and Lock, Stock (below).

Camera Angles - Nearly all of the films show a close-up of the character, this could be to try and get into the characters mind, in Lock, Stock the camera went in close to the main character maybe to try and see how he acts when trying to pull off a con. However, such as in Rock 'n' Rolla, there is a build up to the revealing of the character and that is to build up tension for the background music. In most of the films, we see the perception of a range of characters, such as in Lock, Stock where the camera shows the angle of the chase from the policeman and then the main characters running away. This scene also occurs in Trainspotting, where the camera trails two men running away from others. This is to show the audience the nature of the characters and which characters perform which roles. Long shots and panning shots are very uncommon within the opening titles, however, close-ups and medium long shots are frequent. Long shots are only used to show the nature of the region where the film is set, i.e showing blocks of flats in the background, showing how vast the mainly poor area the characters originate from are.

Long shot in This is England shows the estate

where the film is set - shows that most areas

where films like these are set are relatively poor.

Sound - nearly every film that I studied contained a monologue of some sort. InRock 'n' Rolla and Trainspotting the monologue was spoken in the background and another scene, usually depicting everyday life for the characters, was taking place to see. However, in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the monologue linked into the scene taking place. He was talking in role to sell items he is hustling, however, submissively he was talking about the life he leads. He began by sorting out people's nature - "let's sort out the greedy from the needy" - which shows he doesn't want to be known as a normal person and wants to be his own man. All of the films had background music, mainly of a rock genre. The music in Rock 'n' Rollabegan straight after the monologue to show the fast paced nature of the life the character leads.

Opening sequence to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

where the use of a monologue is shown within the

trials of the main characters everyday life.

[Opening to Rock 'n' Rolla copyrighted, therefore unavailable]

Actors Movements - all of the movements of the main characters in Snatch were of a violent nature to show the nature of the violence in the film. They were all showing fight scenes or something to do with fighting - i.e punching a punch bag. This is similar to Football Factory where the opening contains fight scenes. In Lock, Stock however, there is no fighting, just a chase scene, very similar to Trainspotting. In Lock, Stock the main character is very confident in what he is doing, and seems to be very assured in doing his crimes. He talks in a

cockney accent but talks very quickly and is sharp, seems to be a bit of a Jack-the-lad.