As a group we wrote a exemplar essay for a guide to help us for the exam.
How is the future
represented in the opening of the film 'Children of Men'?
PLAN
Para
1: Cinematography
In
a dystopian future world where everything seems to be falling apart except
London, which “soldiers on”, Cuaron uses cinematographic style to place the
audience directly into the filmic world of the characters. Ben Ogrodnik in
‘Senses of Cinema’ describes the camera work as “restless”. We see this in the
opening as the handheld camera tracks the protagonist, Theo (Clive Owen) out of
the coffee shop in a single long take, documentary-style. As the camera pans
right to left from the doorway of the coffee shop, the viewer is given a clear
sense of the mise-en-scene with the polluted London street. This unusual
camerawork presents a self-conscious style of filmic storytelling, subverting
the Classical Hollywood style, where the viewer is also a protagonist. As the
camera circles Theo to reveal him pouring (presumably) alcohol into his coffee,
people in 2027 seem to have lost hope due to infertility.
Para
2: Mise en scene
Use
of colour is significant in the representation of the future in this film.
Predominant colours are dark blue and grey. At the editing stage, colour
grading has been used to create a dystopian feel. For example, at the beginning
there is quite a blue colour over the whole frame, creating a feeling of
sadness in the coffee shop as we see the customers staring up at the television
screen. Lighting is low-key, which helps to signify the depressed mood. Blue is
conventionally associated with coldness, depression, bleakness and lack of
hope, all of which create an aesthetic which represents the mindset of the
people in 2027.
There
are a few futuristic features, such as the transparent television and computer
screens. Also, on the moving bus there are video advertisements. The ‘Spring
Collection’ is, symbolically, fashion for dogs – the only youth in this society
is animals. All the colours are dull except for the red warning notices, such
as the one on the top of the building warning against illegal immigrants.
Ironically, although this film is set in the future, the cars are all old and
the streets are full of pollution-belching rickshaws, with black rubbish bags
piled up everywhere. There is an ‘old-fashioned’ feeling, where we might expect
the future to be cleaner and ‘upgraded’. Clearly something has gone very wrong
in this world – no-one seems to care anymore.
Costumes
and props also reflect the dystopian nature of the film. People are wearing
unfashionable greys and browns, overcoats and cardigans. There are lots of
uniformed police and army vehicles, including a big army helicopter patrolling
the sky. This creates a feeling of threat and danger. Poignantly, we see a lady
in the foreground cradling a small dog. This perhaps reflects the fact that
pets have taken on the role of children.
In
terms of facial expression and body language, the characters are all looking
sad and depressed, some crying, especially the woman in the office sitting
opposite Theo, whose desk is littered with tiny children’s ornaments, showing
how much she is missing children, perhaps. Overall, the mise en scene combines
to suggest an overarching sense of despair.
Para
3: Sound
In
terms of sound, this film subverts conventions again by beginning with a
voiceover against a black screen. This is quite typical for the dystopian genre,
however, as it sets the scene and gives us an understanding of the filmic world
we are entering before we are propelled into the action ‘in media res’. The
music we hear diegetically from the televisions is rather funereal, with slow
violins, perhaps reflective of what we would expect when a celebrity or a Royal
has just died. The music is quite old-fashioned and traditional, again creating
a juxtaposition between the future and the past. After the explosion takes
place, foley sound is used to put the audience into the filmic world, creating
the effect that the impact of the explosion is still ringing in our head. This
creates verisimilitude as it is almost like the audience is experiencing the
explosion. This is then carried into the next sequence, using sound bridging,
showing that they have not gotten over it. There is very little dialogue, as
the main focus is towards the news report. This piques our curiosity, acting as
a narrative hook, which draws the audience into the story.
Para
4: Editing
In
terms of editing, the film does not really reflect the classic Hollywood style.
Cuaron deliberately filmed the first sequence in one long continuous take. This
documentary style film-making creates the effect of a “real” event; it also
makes it more emotive for the audience as we see something that might actually
happen in the future. To emphasise this focus on a real future London, the
Shard, which was not built in 2006 when the film was made, is edited into the background.
It is made quite futuristic at the editing stage by adding the transparent TV
screens and computer screens using CGI. The news programme on Baby Diego
further emphasises the verisimilitude. The first cut is to Theo walking into
his office, with a focus on continuity editing, which we might not expect from
a large Hollywood style film. This further strengthens the idea that the
audience is part of this world. As previously stated, colour grading has been
applied with a blue-grey filter which connotes feelings of melancholy and
despair.
In
conclusion, from the opening of this film we can see that the director, Cuaron,
has created a very bleak portrayal of the future by using low-key lighting,
drab costumes and a very hopeless depiction of London in 2027. The viewers
might see this as warning; this shows us that London is going “backwards”
perhaps because of a lack of care of our environment.
KEY
WORDS
Create
verisimilitude = realistic
connotes
juxtaposed
