Opening Scene Analysis: Children Of Men

Children Of Men

In the first scene high angle is used which shows a large amount of people gathering around the T.V focused on the news, this suggests that they are vulnerable as they are unsure of what has happened. The camera then focuses on the main character that walks in to buy his coffee then it cuts to the T.V which shows the news to the audience so they know what’s occurring in the plot. Over the shoulder shot is used when the camera follows him out of the coffee shop so the audience can see from his perspective. The camera shot stops following him to show that it’s set in U.K then it pans towards his direction again. It zooms into a medium shot when he begins to pour whisky in to his coffee and then it pans on the other side so the audience are able to a full shot. When the coffee shop blows up the camera zooms out and walks towards the damaged store, the camera is shot from the view of the audience so they can become involved in this situation.

The scene is introduced with a voice over of the news which informs about the audience about the death of the youngest child of the planet and the film is set in the future. There are people gathered around the T.V with sad expressions, however when a man enters we focus at him which suggests that he's one of the main protagonist. Whilst the other people are focused on the news he breaks the silence by asking for a coffee, he doesn't seem very concerned about the tragic news instead he continues with his daily routine. The scene is then moved outside the coffee shop revealing the futuristic setting as there is overcrowding. We can see that the main protagonist is an alcoholic as he’s pouring whisky into his coffee, when he finishes the coffee shop explodes.

The introduction of the film starts of by diegetic sound because the people are watching the television so it’s coming from the film world, after a while the news overlaps with the protagonist’s dialogue. Whilst the camera is on the T.V, non-diegetic sound is played so the volume increases to make the audience empathise as it’s a sad moment in the movie, we can also hear crying in the background when he leaves the coffee shop. As he makes his way out, diegetic sound is used as he’s going out into the busy street we can hear people talking and the cars honking. Whilst he prepares to drink the coffee the explosion occurs and the sound of the fire alarms and screams can be heard to make the audience shocked and curious about why the incident happened.