Immediately in the opening sequence the audience is shown a
close-up of a knife, accompanied by the synchronous and pleonastic sounds of it
being sharpened. This creates a sense of worry in the audience as a knife is a
well-known indexical sign of death or violence. This essentially foreshadows
what is to come later on in the film, and allows audiences to decode the mood
and tone of the film.
The image of the knife is then followed by a montage of
images. Amongst them are various close-up shots and mid-shots of chickens being
cooked, eaten or gutted. This further connotes signs of death to the audience;
the chickens may symbolise events to come later on in the film. A mid-shot of a
live chicken is shown as it watches others being killed (shown via eye line
match); its expression and body language suggests it’s frightened as the camera
tracks it running away. Low angle shots and canted angles are used when the
leader of the gang is shown. The audience can decode that he is the leader as
low angle shots are used to suggest he has power. It can also be inferred by
the audience that the leader almost acquires the characteristics of a dictator
as the canted angle suggests that something is wrong and distorted with his
leadership.
There is a distinct change in the diegesis of the film
emphasised by the change in soundtrack from festive to adventurous. This
essentially suggests that something is going to happen and foreshadows events
to occur later on due to a change in the tone of the film. This therefore creates worry in the audience
as they don’t know what to expect.
The fast paced editing of the shots creates a rise in tension
amongst the audience; the narrative voice also makes it easier for the audience
to extract and decode meanings. The camera cuts from the fast paced shots of
the gang chasing the chicken to a long-shot of the two guys walking down the
road (Rocket – main character, and his friend) in which the camera tracks them;
the pace of the editing is slowed down. This completely contrasts with the
other scene of the guys running as the sudden decrease in the pace of editing
and the change to slower soundtrack makes the diegesis more calm, and displays
a distinct contrast between the two scenes, making the characters binary
opposites.
The camera cranes over the gang as they chase the chicken,
putting the audience in a position of power as they look down upon the characters
from a high angle shot. The asynchronous sound of gun shots can be heard in the
background, as well as the foley sound of a car beeping. This contributes to
the tense and chaotic atmosphere of the scene, and almost creates discomfort
within the audience; the gun shots once again generate worry within the
audience as violence is signified. As the camera arcs around Rocket this
signifies to the audience that the film will revolve around him. There’s a
significant decrease in pace of the film when the focus is on Rocket which
allows the audience to empathise with him more as they get to know him (facial
and body codes contribute to this), as opposed to the gang, where fast paced
editing is continuously used; this once again emphasises that they are binary opposites
and almost puts in the audience in favour of Rocket as they are more familiar
with him.
During the flashback to Rocket’s past there is a distinct
change in lighting from low-key lighting in the present, to high-key lighting
in the past. This suggests to the audience that things were better in the past
than they are now. When the scene is in the present the colour palette is much
darker, and the audience can identify an alteration in the mood of the film from
more sinister to happier.
In the present a close-up of the main character Rocket is
shown, and the audience are able to see his worried facial expression. This
allows the audience to empathise with him as they can decode how he is feeling
through his facial code and body language, as opposed to in the past when he
appears happier.
In the flashback, the props of a football and seeing Rocket
as a child reflects his naivety. As this
is shown directly after seeing him in the present day it suggests that he still
inhibits this innocence and childlike behaviour, and allows the audience to
decode his characteristics.
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