In our thriller opening sequence, one of our key aims was to establish both the urban environment and the tough situation we find our protagonist in. A major method in doing this is through exploitation of various different social groups. Much like in most films, these are blunt and obvious stereotypes in order to convey character ideas quickly to an audience.
The first social group we represent within our thriller is Ethan, the boy who is brutally bullied by teens from an opposing school. In order to make this scene realistic we must feature a boy who could realistically be bullied. We chose Jake who standing at 5'5 foot is rather small. He also possesses very young features. In terms of costume, we dressed Jake in a very unflattering yellow/grey/blue school uniform which would be likely to receive some criticism, especially with his shirt tucked into his trousers and the tie fastened to the brim of his collar. Combining these features paints the picture that Ethan is an 'easy target', perhaps with a nervous disposition. This is reinforced by Jake's physicality, as he moved with a distinct lack of confidence and even unrest suggesting that he knew the incident was a possibility, as if it had happened before. However, we still had to hint at the fact that despite his smart exterior that Ethan does come from a working class background. This was in fact was another key reason in hiring Jake for the role as he has a thick Scarborough accent. On reflection, Ethan does not actually speak in the thriller communicating how this type of person that struggles to voice there problems but it was useful to have the option and it is something that would be more prominent later in the film. We also used camera to express Ethan's social group. In a large portion of the walking shots, Jakes presence fills up very little of the frame making him appear isolated reinforcing the fact that he is a social outcast. His attire also makes him stand out largely against the urban location we chose to film these shots in. In the final shot of the sequence we see Ethan lying on the floor injured. As a final image before the beginning of the film it demonstrates to the audience the difficulties of Ethan's life and how he lies at the bottom of the 'Food Chain'.
Despite never actually seeing him in the opening sequence, Ethan's father is featured through the texting shot at the beginning and would be an important character in the film being the dad of the lead character. Even though his involvement was minor, there are certain things an audience member can read from this inclusion nevertheless. Stereotypically, it is a mother that would be preparing the dinner for Ethan yet there is no mention of her suggesting that she is no longer attached to the family. This means that Ethan has a single farther who would opt to go for a drink rather than care for his child suggesting that their relationship has perhaps become strained or he is under so much stress that he has been forced into this move. This situation presents a character similar to Jackie from 'Billy Elliot'. A different reading from an audience member could be that he is simply a irresponsible, uncaring and lousy farther creating an image more similar to Frank Gallagher from 'Shameless'. Gallagher is of course a heightened persona for comedic purposes but the social type is definitely existent with a British audience. This would be reinforced by Jake's accent as a British audience would automatically think of these two characters who similarly have northern/working class accents.
The final and most obvious social group reference in our thriller is the bullies. We utilised costume to communicate immediate ideas about this group of youths. The girl at the helm is wearing a Addidas tracksuit top, with hooped earrings and trainers. One boy is wearing a baseball cape and hood while the other is looking untidy with a loose tie identical to the ones the others wear showing how they are from a different school, despite being in the same regional area. This type of aesthetic is very recognisable to a British audience as it is something that our own national media projects onto young people commonly branding them as 'Chavs'. In recent years this look has become iconic and has automatic violent and indecent connotations. The look alone goes some way in communicating to the audience that this group could mean trouble for Ethan. This image of this social group being violent is heavily reinforced by how in the mise en scene we see the girl cross the frame and pass Ethan conveying power. The sudden change in camera-work to something very shaky and erratic also continues this theme. The 'chav' persona is complemented by the girls urban accent and the excessive use of swearing amongst the group. These characters are heightened but they have to be so in order to convey necessary messages to the audience in the short period of time a title credits allow. This means the film need waste no time doing this once it begins and can move on with character development.
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