CHILDREN OF MEN

Where is it been represented?
At the opening scene, the audience can clearly see a café shop, where the characters are gathered, to hear the news about the youngest boy in the planet being assassinated. Outside, we see the major capital city of England- London. The audience can see high buildings with big screens on them, with writings going across it to broadcast the assassination, this immediately shows an iconography of the future with the advance technology (2027).
Suddenly, there is a bomb attack out of nowhere and immediately this shows the harsh environment. It represents London as an un-welcoming location to live in; this therefore makes the representation of London negative also the assassination of the youngest boy in the planet took place due to the refusal o signing an autograph, this shows that its not a safe place to live as the assassination is very extreme and also after the bomb attack, people try to hide, unsure of their safety in the streets.
The future is represented with hostility as the law in the country isn’t a convenient type as it includes deportation for illegal immigrants, but the caged immigrants represents them as unwanted people in the country. Also the group of people attacking the train by throwing different things shows that there are rebels in the future and would do anything to get their voices heard because they strongly disagree with the current law about immigrants.



Who is being represented?
The opening scene doesn’t establish who the hero is; however there is a main character that is ambiguous. Walking into the shop with people’s full attention on the television watching the news, he doesn't show the slightest attention to his surroundings as he is more focused on buying his coffee, but because the scene is dominated by him, the audience are left unsure about him being an antagonist or protagonist, but can tell that he is important. After the bomb attack that took place, as a hero, the audience would expect him go towards the explotion, but he doesn’t, therefore he doesn’t fit the “convention” of a hero that the audience have in mind. This ambiguous character is seen as a lazy type as he lies to his boss asking if he could do his work at home as he is affected by the death of the youngest person when clearly he isn’t through his body language and facial expression. He is also represented as an uncaring person when he walks past the caged immigrants. He walks without making eye contact, and when the cry of an elderly lady is heard, he paid no attention whatsoever as he walks on pretending like he didn’t hear anything. He is someone the audience would call an anti-hero but also an important character as the play progresses.




How are women represented?
Women are represented as un-important as they can no longer reproduce, however they are represented as vulnerable because being in the coffee shop, listening to the news, some women were arm-linked their husbands crying silently, this shows that they need protection as they are in a vulnerable position. At the end of the opening scene, we hear a scream from a woman that is standing in the smoke from the bomb attack, and although we see nothing except the smoke and a slow zoom to the woman, this however gets the audience thinking as this woman might be the mother of the assassinated boy or she’s probably pregnant; this would be strange for her and would have led to her screaming because of the predicament of women being unable to reproduce at that time in the society.
Women are represented to be very emotional as all the women at the office were all busy crying and wiping their tears as they watch baby ‘Diego’ on the screen. This death led to the breakdown in women as they are highly affected by it compared to men. Women are represented as weak again because majority of the caged immigrant are women, crying, especially an old woman who speaks in another language, however her crying makes the audience sympathize with her as she is a woman and old.


Can you notice any other social groups or places which are represented?
Apart from the coffee shop showed at the beginning of the film, the audience can’t notice any other social place except the streets where everyone is too busy minding their businesses. Even in the coffee shop, the characters were too focused on the television but the audience could hear silent sobbing as the women pour out their emotions and as the main character leaves the coffee shop, the sobbing gets louder. This coffee shop represents a social place as group of people gather together to listen to the news. However the news heard on the screen isn't a happy type as the youngest person in the world is being murdered, but before the bad news was broken, the news reporter spoke of immigration and deportation suggesting that nothing happy ever occurs in the future.
This representation of social places and groups is constructed in a straightforward way because it shows the level of people’s socialisation in the future as these ‘futuristic’ people are too focused on the assassination, this shows that the characters get overwhelmed quickly which is acceptable for the audience to understand as this boy was the youngest boy in the universe. The use of the coffee shop was constructed effectively as it familiarizes the audience with the surroundings and atmosphere. Another place where the audience see a group of people is in the office which is very similar to the cafe scene as it shows women getting over emotional about the assasination.





How is the future represented?
The future is represented as surreal but is represented in a naturalistic way so it doesn’t appear as a fairy tale genre. The future is represented with advanced technology as it is mainly based around means of communication as there are big screens on tall building broadcasting the assassination and later on in the film as it progresses. The future is however presented in a harsh way because of the death of the youngest boy in the planet al; because he refused to sign an autograph. This shows that these ‘futuristic’ people take the law in their hands because later on the assassin was beaten to death by the angry crowd, which also shows the audience that people in the future are capable of doing anything.
The environment doesn’t appear friendly or bubbly as everyone is busy doing their own thing and disturbed by the death. It also shows the audience that it is not safe to be on the streets because out of no-where, a bomb attack took place; an angry mob attack a train with different objects which informs the audience that the film isn’t going to be all sweet because the genre is an action type.



Media Language
Lighting
As the scene is established, the audience can immediately see that florescent lighting is used in the coffee shop, getting outside, there is some sort of decolouration as it looks very neutral. The lighting shows that it’s futuristic because the future is meant to optimistic therefore the lighting is very neutral to portray this picture, which also re-assures the audience that the future isn’t going to be strange through the lighting, the cloud stays the same colour as it’s always been.

Camera Work
Several shots were used during the opening sequence such as high angle, tracking shot, crane shot, establishing shot and panning shot.
The camera work is done in a structural way as high angle is used as the characters look up to watch the news on the television; therefore the camera is looking down at them. Tracking shot is used as the main character is followed by the camera throughout the opening sequence. Establishing shot is used as the camera shows iconographies of the future such as big screens etc. The camera work is unconventional to major features of a fictional film the establishment shot doesn’t show a ‘big space ship’ that normally appears at the start of a fictional film. it is also unconventional as it portrays the future in a negative way which doesn't conform the stereotypical representation of the future and also the non establishment of who the hero or antagonist is makes it unconventional to the major feature of fictional fillms. Personally I don’t think anything could have been done differently because of the way the producer approached the film. The uniqueness of the film makes the camera shot appropriate because it effectively shows the point of the scene.


Editing
One shot is used mostly as it shows the same shot used from when the main character was walking out of the coffee shot up to the scene where he was about to spike his coffee before the explosion
When the text appeared on the screen, the background was pitch black with the text bold in white, this immediately stands out. It shows the simplicity of the film but also under laying the story behind the text as it might signify that the black background id the chaos, while the text in white is something unusual that will stand out during the chaos. This gets the audience thinking, as they try to understand the meaning of the title.


Sound
Both diegetic and non-diegetic sound is used in the opening sequence; however it was constructed in very interesting way because it was mixed in order to make the scene realistic. An incidental music plays while the main character waits for the coffee, this sound, the character can’t obviously hear which makes the scene more interesting. Getting outside into the streets, diegetic sound is heard as cars go by and also the sound of a helicopter, all this sound goes with their action such as the 'thud' heard as the train when attacked by the angry mob.


Mise-en-scene
As the scene starts, the establishing shot shows were the scene is being set- the café, getting outside, the audience are fully aware that the main location is set in London as high buildings with big screens are in sight, however the red buses used makes it easier for the audience to recognise and familiarize themselves with the location. The props are clearly seen as it shows items that are associated to a café such as a café, coffee, TV, etc. The characters facial expression can be seen through the high angle used, their reaction to the news is seen as they are fully focused on the TV screen. The costume used in the scene is very naturalistic as it is something an audience would wear on an everyday basis. The make-up isn’t extreme as the characters look like they are going out to work, or to their everyday routine so definitely the audience doesn’t expect them to like they are going to a party. There isn’t much of action in the café as characters silently cry, however the main character getting outside tries to spike his coffee, this immediately tells the audience that he is different perhaps he’s an alcoholic. This also prepares the audience for more unexpected actions such as the explosion that took place few seconds later. The lighting used in the room is very naturalistic as it is neutral again reassuring the audience that the future isn’t strange. The use of a big cage to trap the immigrants reinforces the idea that they are unwanted and aren't treated as human beings as they are burden.
The mise-en-scene in the opening sequence of children of men conveys the theme that takes place in the film as it establishes the crisis and situation right at the beginning of the film. This however helps the audience to understand what the future is represented to be, which also gets them thinking at the same time. (No child has being given birth to in the last 18 years!)
The genre of the film is action because iconographies for action is seen at the beginning of the film such as running, attacks, struggle for survivor, however the film can be a hybrid as it progresses. The opening of the film is very clear and informative as it establishes the story line for the film when the reporter talks about the death of the youngest baby in the world and also how no child have being given birth in the last 18 years. This information helped the audience understand the plot and know what is going on rather than having no clue about the present situation, so the narration used fulfills my expectations as it says the story while showing it. The narrative structure is different to other films because a flash back would be used to tell the story of the youngest baby dying leading to why women can no longer give birth, but the approach towards this is the death being reported and a reference made to women being unable to reproduce.
The target audience of the film should be 12A+ because circumstances that takes place in the play is something under 12 won't fully understand. It might be more aimed at females as the film explains how women could no longer reproduce in the future due to some sort of virus. This film targets a broad audience because it has different scenarios that everyone could relate to especially in the society such as immigrant, death of important people, and deadly diseases that could spread and lead to disaster in the society.
Films made by Universal Pictures might have an effect on the film content because most subject matters are aimed at families, so if a film was to go against this idea, then the film will need to be re written in order to fit into their institution.
The main target audience for children of men were 25-34, more males went to see this compared to females as well as AB in the class section