Saturday 6 February 2010

Trainspotting Opening Sequence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7X_x8XYWAw

I have chosen to write about this opening scene not because it is like the film opening that we are going to do as deadline productions but because it is very informative and effective in only 1 minute and 35 seconds. The first shot is of them running down a busy high street and straight away the audience connotes from this that they are crimnals and are stealing something from a shop it then only take a few seconds for the shot to cut to the reason why they are stealing. It shows Renton the main character and the one that is doing the voice over smoking drugs in a dingy low lit flat. So already in about 30 seconds we know that they steal to fuel their habit for drugs. And it is evident that they have no respect for their health as Renton simply rolls over the car bonnet as if nothing as happened aswell as taking drugs.

The opening is clever in how it opens the audience uo not only the characters names but also a bit of their personality. Firstly it shows the contrasting attitudes in apparel towards football fristly showing the "gang" of friends in just what they had been wearing in the day before showing the 5 a side team in a proper matching kit. The first character after Renton is then introduced through captions as Sick Boy. He is showing fouling someone badly by not really mking any effort to get to the ball before protesting his innocence this could show his character as both lazy and as if he doesn't take the blame for anything. Next to be introduced in a similar way is Begbie he tackles someone very dangerously and violently from behind again not getting the ball. Though his reaction of subdued calmness could sho him to be slightly mad and twisted if he could be this violent without showing remorse.  Next come Spud who immediately in my opinion looks extremely dopey and slow. He is wearing what looks like boxer shorts or similarly short shorts and some form of glves other than those for being a goalkeeper. His skill portrays this image of him also as he kind of gingerly jogs backwards before sort of skipping in a gesture to stop the ball where in reality he never has a chance and lets a goal in to a fairly tame shot. His movement as he goes to pick the ball out of his net show him to be very uncoordinated and almost uncmfortable being under the pressure of being in goal and having every one shout at himThe next little clip shows some relatively young women with babies watching and cheering the group on. This suggests that they are ther halfs and girlfriends and that some of these drug addicts are fathers to young children. Next to be introduced out of the group is Tommy and it is very interesting how he is introduced. they show him on the ball looking for support to pass to as if he actually wants to play football properly it could also be a comparison to the way in which he is looking for support from the others throughout the film. As I have seen this film I know that Tommy doesn't take drugs and looking back on it this is suggested right from the start in the way in which out of all of his team he is the only one no only playing football properly or atleast trying to but also he is wearing a headband and even though it is a tiny gesture it is still a gesture towards some sort of sporting ability. Finally the way in which Renton gets hit in the head with the ball and falling over mixes with the shot of him falling over due to drugs suggests that their life is controlled by their drug habit. The music is very important for this opening aswell it is up beat and the voice of the singer almost relates the characters in Rentons gang.

All in all this opening is effective as it introduces the main characters and a bit of their personality and also a bit of the  storyline due to the need for drugs from the characters.

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