1. Opening Analysis Of Kidulthood
Kidulthood (2006) is a British drama film about the life of several teenagers in inner west London
and was directed by Menhaj Huda and written by Noel Clarke. The main objective of this opening
aims to establish all of the main characters and location. We are first shown the company credits
in white superimposed text, before a parallel sound bridge into the next scene.
The sound of the scene allows the audience to get an immediate sense of the feeling of the
film, with both diegetic and non-diegetic sound playing a part. The music is very fast, intense with
a noticeably grimy vibe to it which goes well with the inner city playground being shown. The
non-diegetic sound further helps the audience to understand where the film is set effect. The
dialogue that can be heard is in a very strong lower class London accent and the actors use lots of
slang terms. There is also the unintelligible ambient chatter going on in the background also helps
to immerse the audience into the film.
The editing done on the scene specifically the post-production helps the film to help to establish a narrative. For example
the footage has been staggered and blurred which has been edited to match with the pace of the music. The shots in the
playground are cut together in a hasty and jerky manner. Certain parts of the scene are slowed down to introduce important
characters and events for example when the boys are handing out party invitations. As the shots of the playground are going
on it is being juxtaposed with footage of another presumably important character. This is shown by how contrastingly the two
sets of footage are shown, for example in the other footage there has been no post-production editing making it seem
relatively calm and composed when compared to the editing used in the other shots.
The mise-en-scene used in the scene helps to subtly connote to the audience information that they may not receive from
the dialogue or simply to reinforce it. The lighting and colour palette used in the scene is mostly grey and bleak reflecting on
the seemingly harsh surroundings . The actors outfits also help to add another layer insight into the individual characters.
Although the majority of the students wear their uniform loosely a group of the characters wear no uniform at all, setting
them apart from the other characters.