Henry, Daisy and Lauren's Media Coursework Blog: February 2010

I looked at the 2 minute opening sequence from Kidulthood. I chose kidulthood because this is the main inspriration for our opening. Kidulthood is portrayed as an urban drama involving alot of young characters.

The main effect we saw in most British Gangster films was in the opening title tha background was always black with bold writing either in white or red. The font used was a plain, simple and serious font, this already tells the audience what to expect from the film and gives them fear.

The setting of the opening was an old, dirty urban school, it was just a block building with classrooms, this emphasises the lifestyle of the characters and makes the audience adapt to their habitat. The characters are portrayed as 'chavs' 'sluts' and 'bullys,' the audience knows this as the girls have short skirts, knee high socks, big earrings and the majority have their cleavage out. All characters are portrayed as 'chavs' as they are scruffy and have a lot of gold rings and necklaces. The boys are dressed in school trousers, a shirt and tie however they do not wear the uniform smart, they are very scruffy with some boys in caps and trainers. The boys are represented as tall, powerful and intimidating this emphasises the fact that the boys are represetned as bullies and this makes the audience feel intimidated and also makes the audience fear them.

The boys are playing football in the mud, they are playing dressed in their uniform which shows the audience they have no respect for clothes and money and are just interested in having fun.

Gang warfare is majorly represented in kidulthood, the audience know this as within the first two minute sequence they have already stolen a gameboy and the main 'bully's' girlfriend. This emphasises to the audience the lack of respect for themselves and others. This also links to the conventions of vandalism and money. Watching this could make the audience feel fear for the boys who are portrayed as theifs and makes them think about what 'hoodies' are capable of in everyday life.

The dialogue of the characters is 'urban speak' the characters have a strong london accent and use alot of swear words, this reminds the audience aboout what their upbringing was like. The boys use words such as 'buff' and the repitition of 'man' this shows the audience how uneducated they are as these arent real words.

The quick shots of the characters repetitively shows the audience this scene is busy and makes them feel as if all the characters should be feared- this is represented by low angle shots of them.

This is my deconstruction to the first two minute sequence of kidulthood. The first two minutes did not show alot about the film however it is obvious many codes and conventions are used.