1. Opening of Bullet Boy Analysis
The main character is Ricky, and he is the one that is let
out of prison. He is represented as an independent
person who does not need his younger brother and friend
there for help but he is still happy to see them. His
younger brother Curtis is presented in a way which shows
he looks up to his older brother, he is eager to see him as
he gets into his friends boot without him noticing. The
other character is Ricky’s friend wisdom. He and wisdom
2. are very close and this shown by the way they
communicate with each other. Him and his friend also
have a reputation that they have to maintain the audience
is shown by what sort of reputation they have , firstly by
Ricky being in prison and secondly by how they
communicate with each other, using ‘slang/street’ talk.
The scene where Wisdom crashes into someone’s wing
mirror whilst reversing his car shows a bit about more
about his personality as he argues with the persons mirror
he crashed into, Ricky tries to handle the situation by
telling Wisdom to get back into car which suggests Ricky
may of changed in prison as he does not want to be in
any more trouble.
The mise-en-scene in this sequence is very stereotypical
for social realism. The props such as the cigarette that
Wisdom lights is stereotypically used for characters that
similar to him in other social realism and it also shows
what type of character we are dealing with. For the
lighting- natural daylight is used to add a sense of realism
to the film. The costumes are important, when we first
meet Ricky we see him wearing tracksuit which
stereotypically used to show the background he is from.
His brother Curtis is wearing a school uniform which
shows his daily life as a young school child trying to please
his brother by not going to school and visiting him instead.
3. The scene where Wisdom crashes into someone’s wing
mirror, the people who he argues with all are wearing
tracksuits furthermore representing how the characters
costumes and their personalities reflect the environment
that they live in.
The location is set in an inner run down part of a city in a
working class area which is typical for a social realism.
This part shows two different locations one being a prison
the other being the setting of London. The setting of the
run down estate in London portrays the amount of crime
in the area as well.
There are a few quick cuts which sets a fast pace to the
sequence, for example when Wisdom shakes Ricky hand
and then it cuts to the three of them driving off this gives
the sequence an on-going energy as each shot is after
the other. Another scene that uses quick cuts is the scene
where Wisdom is arguing with those boys, the cuts were
edited fast to make scene feel tense and we as an
audience feel that tension building up as their argument
escalates. The music in the sequence starts off with a soft
piano sound that often peaks during non-dialogue scenes
but then quietens down during the dialogue scenes. This
non diegetic sound is used to create suspense for what
will be happening next. The music is also used when they
are driving through the city which is stereotypically used
4. as a convention in social realism films as these settings
are associated with violence and crime and the music is
used to reflect that.
Diegetic sound is also used in this opening scene to add a
sense of realism to this film. An example of diegetic sound
is used is when Wisdom argues with those boys, we hear
no music on top just sounds of the nature that surrounds
them such as the dog barking and the noise of cars, which
shows that they are in a real life situation it also allows
the audience to focus on the importance of this scene, not
anything else except from the event that is taking place.
