Conventions of opening sequences - Social Realism #2

Film title: A Room for Romeo Brass
Genre: Social Realism
Director: Shane Meadows
Release date: 1999
Part 1 clip:

1) Sound:

Just before any music starts in the opening sequence there is a scene where the two friends are introduced. Straight after setting the scene, the music starts to play. Its an upbeat and joyful music which, typically of a social realism film, fits in with the action. The music I feel also represents the two boys personalities well. As the characters progress into speaking to each other the music fades out and in allowing us to hear the speaker easier but also allowing the music to play faintly in the background. The music played sets you up for the rest of the film. It makes the viewers feel happy and encourages them to laugh at funny points in the scene. About half way through the opening sequence the music ends and fades out as it cuts to another scene of inside the house. Later on inside the other young boys house the music changes and become more tense. This clearly shows that there is some level of tension in the household. Later we find out this foreshadows the future. As the boys go swimming the music changes once more to a relaxed tempo which, typically of a social realism film, matches the action on screen.

2) Mise-en-scene:

 The mise-en-scene is the most important part for a social realism film as it shows you what type of area and what time period the film is set in. It also gives you a sense of what the characters will be like later on in the film depending on what their background is like.

The first minute and a half in we see the local shops in which the boys soon after visit. You can see shops boarded up and windows boarded up. You can also see in this shot how run down the area is shown to be which definantly gives you a sense of lower-working class. This shot establishes the location for the film.

You can tell the time period in which this was filmed as the shops and the clothing they wear look very different to what they look like now.

We also see the inside of Romeos house which shows how working class the family may be by the decoration and the general everyday objects you see on the table such as beers and tomato sauce.

3) Colour, font and positioning of title:

The titles in social realism films are different to those in horror films. The social realism films tend to cut out the action and appear on their own. They have many more names of directors and actors in them and especially try to mention who funded their filming. 

Whereas in horror the titles seemed to fade in and out of the film to give it a more scary and slow feel in social realism the titles cut sharply in and out to fit in with the action going on behind it. 

The title changes from this...

...to this very suddenly. Scenes of titles and action cut very suddenly to give it a homemade feel.

The colours shown for the titles are all black background with white text. This makes the names stand out. The colour complement each other well and draws your eye towards the text. The font is bold and the font type is serif which makes it look more interesting to look at.

The title of the film comes in halfway through the opening sequence which is a typical convention of a social realism film.

4) Enigma codes:

Many question arise in social realism films which make you think more deeply into the film.
Some of these questions from this opening sequence are:

1. Why are they in a field at the beginning of the sequence?
2. After Romeo eats the chips why is he so worried about his mother being angry?
3. When the mother finds out is she angry with Romeo because he reminds her of his dad?
4. Why is the other boys dad so angry when the little children come to collect their ball?
5. Why is there an ambulance?

  5) Cinematography:

In  social realism films cinematography is often played around with a lot to make the film more interesting to watch.

An establishing shot of the location gives the audience a sense of geography and shows them what the film is going to be like. It shows you the area in which the boys live in and what it may be like for them.

Close ups and medium shots of the two main characters make it clear to us that these are the most important people so far in the opening sequence. The camera follows the two main characters around making it clear to the audience these are the two you need to focus your attention on.

High angled shots are used to show you more of the scene and location and also to help you distinguish the two boys relationship with one and other.

The over shoulder shot is used to see things from the other boys perspective. It also gives the impression that Romeo has some kind of power over him and is seen as more dominating.

Next we see a shot reverse shot. This is very effective. It allows you to be part of the conversation and allows you also to see from both boys perspectives. This is typically used in social realism films to show both parts of the conversation.

6) Editing techniques and effects: 

In social realism films there is not music smooth editing to be seen it is mainly quick sharp cuts to the next scene.

As shown here you can see that the film cuts from scene to scene sharply and has no real warning of doing so. The two scenes here are not directly related but still cut together and work well.

Also a match on action shot can be seen which is edited to look like there is continuous time and that it is only one singular shot and not two separate ones.

7) Character representation and establishing:

Firstly we meet the two boys who are the main characters in the film. They are in a  field which does not say much about their personality for their general character but the speech spoken again does not give much away but their accent and the language used shows us what social class and what type of character they will turn out to be.

We then meet a character who has no real importance in the film, the chip shop owner. He himself has no real importance but brings out the personality in the boys to allow us to understand their character more.

We next meet the two families.
Romeos family:

We learn that they both have a small dislike for Romeo after he eats their dinner. The mother is shown to be quite angry and nasty towards him telling him to move out and to go live with his father.

The other boys family:

This family seem calmer than Romeos at first but we learn later on that the dad has a temper and can appear intimidating and the mother is rather strict.

8) Target audience:

I think the target audience of this film should be 15+. This is because most, if not every scene contains mild swearing which may not seem appropriate for younger children to be hearing. Also scenes of mild violence are not suitable for younger children as it can scare them or stay on their minds for a while.