Heart of the City Deconstruction

Appropriateness for Film Opening

• Doesn't give too much away
• Builds tension and drama within the audience without giving away the whole plot
• Ends dramatically to leave the audience wanting to know more
• Sets the location and genre for the audience

Appropriateness for Target Audience

• Audience would probably be 15+ action/thriller fans
• Not too much violence
• Only a bit of blood so appropriate
• No bad language / sex so appropriate for 15 year olds

Appropriateness for Genre

• Use of guns and violence
• Use of special effects
• Quick edits, shows tension and drama
• A big chase
• Set in the city
• Male hero

Editing

The sequence uses straight cuts which get faster during the chase, to emphasise the speed which is appropriate for the genre. They also use special effects of a gun being shot, this is appropraite for the genre as a common convention for an action film is the use of guns and other weapons. Also, most action films have a large budget and so special effects are commonly used.

At one point the boy is walking, then the straight cut suddenly shows the stalker walking behind him, this is a common convention in action films. A non-diegetic sound also accompanied the shot.

Camera Angles

The sequence starts with a panning shot of the city, which links in with the title of the film, 'heart of the city', it is also an establishing shot of the location, informing the audience of where the film is set. There is a zooming shot into a boy sitting on a bench, showing him as the most important thing in the frame, it seems as though we are watching/stalking the boy. There is another long shot of him, the camera is set next to a car, so again it seems like we are watching him. This fits in with the action/thriller drama as it seems like a conventional plot. There is an over the shoulder shot, showing the boy facing the other direction and the stalker staring at him, again this is appropraite for the action genre as it seems like a chase is building. Also, the figure is hooded so this adds to the mysteriousness of the character. There was a close up shot of the boy running past a building and then the shot is repeated but this time it is the stalker running past the same spot. This shows the audience that the stalker is running after the boy and that he is close. There is a point of view shot from the view of the stalker pointing his gun. This reinforces the fact that it is an action film and shows the panicked and worried facial expression of the boy. There is also a low-angle shot of the stalker unmasking himself, making him appear large, dominating and powerful.

Sound

The sequence starts with non-diegetic music, which is a song with the lyrics 'Heart of the city' which relates to the film title. This music then becomes diegetic as it appears the boy is listening to the music through his headphones. There is frequent use of non-diegetic booming sounds to make the stalker character appear threatening and scary. During the chase there is a non-diegetic sound of a dramatic instrumental, which builds and rises the tension within the audience. There is also the non-diegetic sound of the gun being shot, which adds to the realism of the sequence and is appropriate for genre. There is an non-diegetic /off-screen sound of a police cars sirens, which increases the tension and drama that the audience is seeing on-screen. The whole sequence ends with a non-diegetic dramatic boom, possibly to make the audience jump.

Titles

The sequece uses a simple, capitalised font for their opening titles. Some of the fonts transition into bold, to emphasise the words.
Others are in white as they are over dark backgrounds. This makes them easier to read and helps them to stand out. They have the production company, directed by, produced by, starring etc. to help with the authenticity of the film. The font then changes to one with some flicks on the letters, which is still professional and simple but has slightly more flare. The title 'HEART OF THE CITY' is much larger, and heart is written in red, and flashes on and off.

Mise en Scene

The location is a sea-side city, and the shots of the city help to establish the location within the audience. This is a common convention for an action film as a city is where many action films are set. The stalker character is dressed in black, casual clothing, with his hood up, this creates a mysterious atmosphere around the character which helps the audience build their suspicions about him. The main hero is a teenage boy and his costume is jeans and a black jacket, quite casual with nothing suspicious about him. He also later puts on sunglasses which makes him seem more dangerous and makes the audience wonder why he is covering up his eyes. The lighting is all naturalistic as the sun is the source of light (it is all filmed outside). The main facial expression by the hero was quite frantic and scared as he was being chased, this creates tension within the audience as they feel the stress that the hero faces. The villain however is more determined and fearless as he appears to have experience in this kind of work. There is also use of an important prop, the gun. This is especially important for the genre and also adds a sense of realism for the audience, to be able to see the weapon.