Who is the villain and who is the hero? How can you tell?
In the opening to this film it is relatively easy to determine who the villian is and who the hero is, if you are examining the first two minutes on a basic scale : we are introduced to two men that are selling 'moody' (stolen) goods in a market, the police then arrive and a chase scene begins, where by the police make attempts to capture the men.
Fast paced music and slow motion shots emphasise the intensity and chaos of the chase. From this technique of musical accompaniment alone we can understand the two men to be the villians for obvious reasons, they are being chased by police men -generalised as 'good' for selling stolen objects, making the men 'bad'.
However, I find that we cannot generalise the characters in this way as we are made to sympathise with and support the two criminal men. We are introduced to them first, they are the first on screen characters, immediately informing us of their importance and allowing audiences to form a familiarity with them.
Coinciding with this, when the chase begins, the camera follows the two men with a panning shot, leaving the police men out of view until they walk into the shot. This again represents the two criminal men's importance to us and the police men's insignificance.
Another way in which we are made to sympathize with the criminal men is through dialogue and costume. We hear the men speak, one man in particular speaks to the crowds waiting to buy his products, joking and encouraging them. This combined with his casual costume that audiences will be familiar with, presents him as an approachable character. In contrast to this the police men don't speak and are dressed formally in a police uniform, including a low hat that covers their eyebrows and face making them seem less approachable and arguably more villain-like.
Where is the story set? What does this tell you about the film genre?
The story is set in an urban, relatively working class area in England. The audience are informed of this as a result of the set: garage doors, graffiti on the walls, boarded up pubs, low key lighting, isolated and littered streets, ware-houses and the accent of the characters that speak: all characters have an common British accent. All of the above are associated with lower/working class urban areas, once again linking us to the setting and how it links to the film genre. As a result of the use of Mise-en-scene we are able to make connections with this isolated, working class setting of the story and other films of the same genre with similar settings and make generalizations in order to understand what can be expected from the film.
How many principle characters are there?
From the first two minutes of this film we can establish that there are two principle characters that are the focus of the footage. The first principle character is made apparent as he is one of the first charcters on screen and although he is behind a crown of people the camera zoomz through the crowd focusing on him, signifying his importance to the audience. The next shot of him is a close-up, he is also the first and only on-screen character to speak at this point, he addresses the other characters with authority and they compliantly listen to him, once again drawing audience attention to his relevance.
The second principle character is introduced to us roughly 1.20 into the footage, he addresses the first principle character directly, warning him of the police approaching and they begin to run together, this informs the audience that he is on the same level as the first principle character and therefore of equal importance.
The principle characters are finalised when the camera captures the two men running down a set of stairs in slow motion, as a voice over (recognisable as the voice of the first principle character) introduces them on a more personal level, with names and characteristics. The slow motion effect gives the characters more on-screen time communicating their significance to audiences and the fact they are introduced personally, by name, allows us to become familiar with the characters meaning that they will be present throughout the following footage of the film.
How is the story told? Chronologically or does it switch between present and past?
The story is told in chronological order, we see things as they happen without the footage cutting to a flashback or a fast forward. This style of storytelling is simplistic and does not create complications, making it easier for the audience to understand the occurances on screen. This chronological order allows audiences to witness the two principle characters being chased by police for selling stolen goods, co-inciding with the voice over that informs us that their days of "selling moody goods were numbered".
Once again aiding audiences in understanding what is happening in the footage and allowing them to predict what is going to happen -the two men were selling stolen goods, were nearly arrested and we were the informed that this career was soon to end.
What questions are you left with?
We are left with many questions that encourage the audience to watch on out of curiosity. The film places audiences directly into the action of the footage, there is no establishing shot to confirm where the story is set and who the characters are. We are left deprived of this baic information and will watch on in order to find out who the two men are, where the story is set, what they are going to do if their days selling stolen goods are coming to an end as we were told and why they were doing it in the first place. Also the film does not bring closeure to the police chase we do not know what happens to the men and we feel inclined to watch on in order to find out what happens to them? Did they get caught? etc.
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