JP - Analysing an Opening Sequence: Law Abiding Citizen

Genre

-This film belongs to the crime thriller genre, and the audiences generic expectations are both challenged and fulfilled in the opening sequence. They are challenged in the initial sequence when it seems like a nice normal family, however then audiences expectations show through as two men storm in with weapons.
-The text conforms to the characteristics of the genre with the opening credit font used, although there is a certain playfulness with almost idyllic opening, whilst still keeping to the typical thrillers traits by changing this suddenly with weapons and violence.

Film Language
-Mise-en-scene conveys meaning throughout the opening, there is low key lighting which adds mystery and suspense to the sequence. Props are key in this, the little girl is making a necklace whilst the man appears to be using a soldering iron which is in complete contrast, it shows the man to be quite hands on and as he is wearing a bracelet made by the little girl it show the good relationship between them. Then there is a bat, tape, and rope which signify violence and show the genre of the film.
-It opens with close-ups of the little girl making her necklace and the man soldering something, which adds mystery to the scene. Also the shot reaction shot of them talking shows their close relationship. It shows a point of view shot of the man with the bat as he opens the door, so that the viewer can easily see the man getting hit and his reaction to this, the fast cutting rate is used to show this action sequence which adds suspense.

-The sound anchors the images by changing as the sequence develops, with non-diagetic music being played over as the men come in, this builds tension and signify action.

-The dialogue in the opening sequence suggests that the man is a loving father with his conversation with his daughter. Also the two men are shown as the villains as they are swearing and have an agressive tone.

-Other visual effects used in the opening sequence are putting the camera through the magnifying glass to give a distorted realistic effect.

Narrative

-The narrative starts the father and daughter making things and having a conversation then as a conventional thriller would do the tone changes and the attackers enter and stab the man and the women it then ends the man taking away the daughter which makes the viewer wonder what he is going to do to her.

-The audience is definitely positioned with the family rather than the two men, as they are shown as dirty with their scruffy attire and foul mouths.

-The major theme of the opening sequence is crime, the use of knives signifies violence and the blood also connotes crime. You get the feeling that this sets the scene for the rest of the film and as we are positioned with the man that he will play a part in the film and maybe seek revenge for the crime that was committed.

-The tension was created by separating the scene with the door opening and was maintained by the change in lighting, the fast cutting rate, and the music played over the background to keep up the high action tempo of the scene.

Representation & Ideology

-The Social Groups represented in this sequence are the loving family and criminals. The family group is shown by the atmosphere at the beginning with the clear loving relationship between the father and daughter, along with the mothers reaction when the man come. The men are represented as criminals with their foul mouths and weapons.

-The value and beliefs are that there are some people who are evil and will disrupt such a perfect family for greed. It shows the idea of being powerless as the man can do nothing as he has been wounded and thoroughly restrained.

-The knives connotes violence and danger which is further shown by the baseball bat being used to knock the man over the head, the weapons construct a bad representation on the two men.

Media Audiences

-The Target Audience for this film would be a predominantly male audience originally between the 18-25 age bracket, however it has since been changed to an age rating of 15 from 18 to increase its target audience.

-The possible reading of the text is that it is about revenge for the murder of the man's loved ones, because of the way he is shown it suggests that he does not die and he has the main role in the film.

-When I watched this sequence I saw the film to be a thriller that would probably be very action packed by the fast cutting rate and the weapons and murder within the first few minutes of the film. It appears to be straight to the point much like other thriller films where they pack as much action in a film as they can, because that is what the target audience want to see. I believe my age gives a good reading on the film as if I were older, or female I may not appreciate the violence. I do not think my background affects my view too much.

Institutional Context

-Gerard Butler stars in this film and although is not as well known as some actors he is still a star within this genre and it is important to have a star in a film like this to set it apart from other films and to get the audience to see the film, as after all it is a business.

-Gerard Butler and his production company called Evil Twins developed the film.

-Law Abiding Citizen had a production budget of $53million has grossed almost $100million worldwide. The have released a trailer for the film which includes the films main attributes and the bankable stars, along with a poster with a big picture of Gerard Butler on it, which has similar affect.

-The institutional context is evident within the opening sequence of the seen by showing some clear conventions of the type of film it is.