Children of Men

Camera 

• Protagonist is in the middle of the shot.
• Camera follows protagonist around, showing his importance (main character) and the storyline follows him.
• Not a lot of angles, making the scene more realistic.
• Handheld camera: more natural as we follow the protagonist- creates a realistic feeling.

Editing

• Not much editing for a more realistic look.

Sound

• Diegetic sound from TV giving context of the movie.
• Diegetic sound from surroundings in the cafe/street (shouting, car sounds) makes it seem more realistic yet creates anxiety and worry.
• Explosion sound
• Non-diegetic music in the background at the end, building up the suspense.

Mise en Scene

• The news tell us that it is the year 2077 (in the future), this builds up anxiety in the audience as it has a possibility of happening.
• Tuk tuk shows globalisation and diversity, different cultures coming together.
• Alcohol in coffee suggests that he may have depression (alcohol numbs you), giving the audience some clue to what kind of person the protagonist is. 

Representation:

 

Location: The cafe in which the protagonist buys coffee from looks relatively normal and modern, like on we would see today, this shows that in the year 2077, things are not that much different than they are today- from this, the audience can relate more with the characters in the movie and the struggles that they go through. The setting is Seattle, which is generally a nice, modern city. In the opening however, we can see that the streets are dirty and dark with trash every where, showing that the government doesn't care for the cleanliness of the streets/homes. With that being said, we can still see some modern elements such as the giant TV screen, but other than that- the buildings look pretty old.  We can see the different cultures from looking at the cars; the tuktuk shows globalisation and more diversity in the Western world.

Character: The man in the middle of the shot which the camera follows around is the protagonist; we can see from what he is wearing (black clothes) and his expression (stoic, calm) what kind of person he is. He looks almost annoyed at the commotion at the coffee shot, where people are crowding around to watch the breaking news, shows that he is uninterested and unfazed my the media and what is going on. He is shown putting alcohol into his coffee, from this we can guess that he may be sad/numb/depressed.

Narrative: Enigmas

• Why is the oldest person only 18- why did people stop reproducing?
• What struggles/problems does the protagonist have?
• Who/what caused the explosion?
• Why are the streets dirty and unkempt?
• What importance does the protagonist have and what will he do next?