"How effectively does the opening sequence from 'Children of Men' (2006) use the forms and conventions of film openings? What is your personal response as a member of the audience?"

"Children of Men" is an american film released in 2006. Although this film was not a particularly great financial success, it received positive reviews from critics and was recognised for its achievements with three Academy Award nominations and winning two BAFTA awards. This was down to their unique screenwriting, exciting and creative cinematography and innovative single shot action sequences. All of these can be found in their opening sequence alone which is what makes it so effective.

There were many different features that contributed to make the opening sequence of the film a great success. The film begins with off-screen non diegetic news casting as the credits appear; the blank, dark screen allows the audience to concentrate only on what they are hearing which was the aim of the opening as the audience need to listen to the essential information of the setting. "Day 1000 of the siege of Seattle"- a small line that gives an audience a lot to think to about as we are given the setting, and the mood of the population there. A sound bridge is used to bring the audience to the first scene of the film; "the world was stunned today by the death of Diego Riccardo the youngest person on the planet". This one statement causes the audience to ask a number of questions and immediately captures their attention and makes them want to see more, when I first watched this part of the opening sequence I realised I was watching a film about a world without any children and I remember asking myself why this was.

The first scene appears as the audience see a crowd of people surrounding a television in a café. This tells the audience that the person who died on the news meant a great deal to the people; this again raises more questions for the audience. There is little camera movement in this scene with only the occasional cut, this along with the dull lighting, ties in with the mood given during the opening credits. In this scene the audience can see that the crowd's facial expressions are all very similar (saddened and depressed) , pin pointing the audiences first main focus: Clive Owen. A well-known star suddenly appearing in this scene naturally caught my eye as he is very recognisable. However, if a member of the audience did not know who he was, he stands out mainly because he is the only one who is more concerned about getting his coffee than what the breaking news story is.

So far in the opening the audience has a strong idea about the narrative: it is a time of great depression in a world where there is no children. The boy on the news was born in 2009 and died at the age of 18 and so the audience now knows that this film is set in the future, giving hints of a science fiction genre. The description on the news of "the siege of Seattle" alos gives hints of a dramatic and tragic storyline. When watching this opening I had all this information in my head but I didn't know why the setting had become like this in the future, this was an important feature of the opening that drew me in and made me want to see more in order to get some answers.

As the main character steps out of the café, the audience are stunned by the amazing cinematography. A small date appears to remind the audience that this film is set in the future and tells them that the location is London. There are shops in the background such as Tie Rack and Santander bank which creates familiarity for the audience. The lighting was the same as it was in the café; dull and like everyday life making the scene easier to relate to for the audience and very realistic and believeable.The use of futuristic props also stand out in the scene, for example the easily recognisable big red buses had moving videos on the side rather than just posters. These props do not only tell us where the film is set, but what the setting is like; for example when I was looking in the corners of the setting, I saw helicopters were flying around and there were signs on top of the buildings saying "Please report suspicious activity. I thought then after seeing these features that there is a high frequency of crime in this time period.

Then in this scene, we get to know a little bit about the character; Clive Owen takes his coffee, puts it down and then takes something out of his coat. I remember firstly just assuming that he was adding sugar to his coffee, however, when I looked closer I could see that he was adding alcohol. I considered this to be a strange thing for someone to do as it was obviously during the early hours of the day. To me, this shows that he is quite a complex character who could have some issues but it also made me wonder whether this had become a normal habbit for most people in the future.

After giving a little more information of the character, the audience are suddenly shocked by an enormous explosion that took place in the café that he was standing in a few seconds ago. A gathering of smoke keeps the audience unaware for longer so that the suspense builds and makes the explosion more dramatic. The perfect ending to an opening sequence is shown as a piercing high pitch noise adds a sense of horror to the final few seconds. Great shock and fear comes over the audience as a girl appears through the fog screaming as she is holding her own arm. The title then appears and the audience have already experienced the amazing action and horror in just the opening sequence which is what made it so effective and dramatic.