Analysis on the Opening of Children of Men- Rayaan Haji Muhumed

The Children of Men was written by P.D. James in 1992. However was co-written and published by Alfonso Cuaron. The genre of the film is a science fiction. It is based on the earth in 2027 and how there are masses of women who are infertile. The youngest child got killed at 18 years which has left the worlds women all devastated about the loss. Two decades without being fertile has left the world to be on the near end of collapse. Immigrants seek shelter in the UK as it is the only functioning government. However there are strict regulations on refugees and immigrants. We are introduced into the film in a particular way which has the audience at edge as they are more engaged to go beyond the opening sequence. In the opening sequence we are given an insight of the location which identifies the country and the city of the setting. The opening scenes convey a lot of emotions such as pain; shock and longing sense of going into the past. We are bombarded with the news that a tragic event has occurred. It has taken over the city gaining the attention of many people- the death of the youngest person who was alive.

The Mise En Scene of the opening in this film is we see a café with a lot of people inside who are engaged with the tragic news on the TV. The medium shot used allows us to see the death affected them. This is by their body language and facial expressions. Connotes that the people have lost hope as they have lost their living key. From the TV it gives the year of the current setting- the year 2027. We are told the boy was born in 2009 and died at the age of 18. In this café it is filled with many people are all in dark clothing- denotes the use of clothing used and the compact café. This conveys the idea of negativity; foreshadows death. The idea of there being no colour inside the café connotes that there is no life only signifies to death. The only sounds which are heard in the scene are diegetic sounds- coming from the TV. All the natural sounds increase as the main character- Dylan- comes out of the café. Suggesting it is trying to distract the audience from the greater shock in place. In this scene we see red buses which signify the city of London. As it is known for its infamous ‘red buses’. In the scene we see police officers; denoting them to be law enforcers. This suggests that the area is not safe or they are preventing something extreme from occurring, i.e. terrorist attacks.

The surroundings of scene show a polluted and crowded city. The pollution represents the danger of the city. This all leads up to the overwhelming event. The camera shot to show the surroundings was a long shots. This was to let the audience be aware of the surroundings, however panning was put into place. This showed the camera to be seen handheld when panned to the direction of the café. The use of panning brought in the suspense before the explosion occurred. The camera shots were in rhythmic pace towards the explosion to increases the shock of the explosion. The audience was surprised to see an explosion as there was no warning given. The shot used in the explosion scene was a long shot. This was to ensure the explosion of the café was the main focus. The explosion connotes the corruption of the world. It brings out the danger people of 2027 live in. The opening sequence used many techniques to build up to main highlights- the explosion. This created an overall positive effect on the outlook of the film itself.