The film starts with four slides of titles and credits with a voice over which appears to be a news man reading the main news of that day. The newsreader then leads onto the main headlining news which appears to be a death of the youngest person on the planet. This section of diegetic dialogue cues the opening group shot in which we see a middle aged man looking up, watching something. The people in the scene are not talking as they are fixed to the TV screen. A man interrupts the fixed crowd to get to the front of what appears to be a café of some sort. The man orders a black coffee and doesn’t take much interest in the news, in contrast with the other characters. As the man is paying for his coffee, he looks up and we see a POV shot of what is on the screen. The viewing of the TV reveals effectively the date when this film is set which is in the future of 2027. The man then turns away and walks out the door; we hear a few sobs from the crowd creating a sense of strong emotion towards the apparent youngest man on earth. The man then leaves and turns left and the camera turns right showing an establishing shot of London in 2027, which gives the feel of a dull emotion as it almost reflects the man’s emotion towards the death. The establishing shot colour palette appears to be quite dark and the costumes that the characters are in are also quite dark and dirty. We then see some forms of transport such as a bus and motorbike showing us that the forms of transport haven’t actually changed even though it is set in the future suggesting that technology hasn’t moved with the times. There then is a large explosion to which everyone panics and screams. This explosion finishes the 2 minute time frame leaving a cliff hanger. Very little actually happens in the first 2 minutes yet it establishes where we are and who the possible main character is. The man that walks out of the store leaves us with the impression that he has maybe something to do with the death as he shows such a lack of emotion in comparison with the other characters in the store. The camera appears to follow the man, leading into us believing that this film will be from his point of view as the camera captures the man as if it was a real POV shot.
Screen Shots- Children Of Men
This group shot opens the film. It simple shows a group of people watching the news in a coffee shop yet it is breaking news. This shot captures the people’s emotions as they look quite distressed.
This is the next shot to which a man comes into the shop to get a coffee. The man appears not to take any notice of the news or the people around him giving him a more arrogant first impression. This shot also shows us what is going on in the news as there is another TV screen in the background revealing to us the situation.
This POV shot is a useful way to show us what the current date the film is set in.
This establishing shot shows us the future of London is 2027. We are shown TV screen which are on the sides of tall buildings which are showing the news as well as a banner that runs across an older looking building which is implying that in this future London there is more crime.
This shot tells us the date and the city the film is starting in which explains the colour scheme as it would be cold in November so the clothes of the public are quite dark reflecting the weather.
This shot shows the camera following the possible main character walking through the busy streets. This could suggest that he is a business man of some sort as he is dressed smartly.
Titles and Credits- Children Of Men
There are 5 separate title slides which are shown before the film actually starts. There is not a slide to which it states what the film is called, the title slides are only showing the logos of the companies that have something to do with film, and then leads into a plain black screen which then starts the action. The colour scheme is black with white text which is consistent throughout. These slides just provide the necessary information instantly without distracting the audience.
In the first 2 minutes of the film there is no music, only diegetic ambient sounds. The film starts with a voice over which is the news which everyone can hear and then as the man starts to walk out of the shop, we hear the sounds of a busy high street with cars and people. This does not set the genre of the film but suggests that what the news headline was about relates to the film. There is no dialogue in the scene apart from when the man is trying to get to the front to buy a coffee when he says only simple words.
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