Kidulthood (2006)

Director: 

Menhaj Huda

Writer: 

Noel Clarke

Storyline 

Kidulthood is a social realist film. The film follows a day in he life of a group of 15 year olds growing up in west London. The film highlights the gang culture and bullying problems many society's have a problem with. 

Enigma codes

One of the first questions raised within the opening sequence of Kidulthood is raised very quickly. As the shots flick between the action they flick to one of the characters making something. As an audience member you find yourself asking what is it he is making and why is he making it? Once he has finished he hides it very carefully, why does need to be hidden? Other questions asked are why is one of the girls being bullied so much? And one of the characters, Becky, asks her friend if she will go to the party with her if she gets some money for them to get an outfit each, we ask, how is she going to get the money for these outfits?

Mise-en-scene

The beginning of Kidulthood is, I think, in the playground of a school in west London. I think it's a playground or playing field because they are all gathering here in school uniforms and some children are playing football.It is quite a small playground which is full of kids from different ethnicity groups, class and gender. There are big fences all around the school which reinforces our ideas that they are in a very rough and deprived area. We can't see much of their location because the playground is so busy. The camera only really shows us the action and there is a lack of establishing shots.

Lighting

Throughout the opening sequence the lighting is quite dark and dull, possibly in the winter season. This gives the film quite a dark feel and makes the audience feel quite glum about the  events to come. The dark lighting also reflects the characters lives. 

Characters

Each character holds a different story. This is shown very early own as the camera flicks between the action on the playground. I think this is an effective way of opening this film as it allows the audience to have more of an idea of how things are going to pan out throughout the film as we get more of a feel for who is who. We see immediately who the more dominant groups are and which friendship groups there are. 

Shot types

Kidulthood begins with a series of quite quick medium close-ups and close-ups. The medium close-ups allow the audience to see a bit more of each character showing us what they are wearing, who they are with and what their position is. This is good for the audience as it gives us more of a feel for who each person is and it allows us to build up a character profile. The close-up shots come when a boy is building something. These shots give us a clearer picture picture of what he is doing however it doesn't give the game away. There are more close-up shots when there is dialogue between the characters. This allows the audience to see the emotion of each characters face which allows us to feel emotion for them, which makes you feel more part of the film. The camera follows the action and tracks characters. For example, when some dialogue is finished between some characters and they walk away the camera follows them until it reaches the next scene. 

Editing

I think that the editing from shot to another is very effective during this open sequence. There are some clean, straight cuts but the camera also pans from one piece of action to another. This is good as it runs slightly more smoothly and also gives the audience the impression that they are watching the school children as if they are surveying them. This would connect to the storyline and location of these children as we get the impression that they are from a 'rough' area and come from a 'rough' background. The camera also zooms in and out occasionally which also gives the impression of someone watching them. It also allows the shot type to change from a long shot to a medium close-up in one shot and it moves in closer to the action so the audience feel more part of the film. The camera also never really seems to stop moving, the pace of the shots depends on who the camera is focusing on and what they are doing. This subtly lets the audience know who the bigger characters are and who maybe have the bigger ego's etc. 


Sound
Before any of the dialogue starts we hear some quite eery music which builds a suspense for the audience. The first shot we see is of the boy making something, we can hear him putting all of the parts together instead of just seeing it. This is really effective as it makes it seem more real. Once the dialogue properly starts it is over the eery music in the background. The music is non diegetic sound and the dialogue is diegetic. All of the sound is really clear and sharp. This is really effective as it's clear what's happening and it also makes the audience feel more emotion when things are happening. For example when Sam spits in the girls hair we can hear it very clearly it makes you feel disgusted. I think without that sound it wouldn't be so clear what he was doing and so it wouldn't make the audience feel anything. 


This is the opening sequence to Kidulthood (2006) 
I think that in my eyes the opening sequence finishes at approximately 4:36 seconds in as it shows the beginning of the school day and therefore the beginning of the film.