The film ‘Kidulthood’ opens with a slow motion sequence of teenagers at school playing football the scene then transitions and the camera cuts to two girls (best friends) talking to each other after that the camera switches to a boy who looks shifty as if he is meant to appear as an antagonist; I believe the directors rationale at this point was to just introduce the fact it’s set in a typical London school and that these teenagers are stereotyped in the way that you’d expect them to be hanging around in crowds, some looking as if they’re up to something.
In between the slow motion sequence and the cuts to characters the camera swiftly cuts to another different character but in these quick frames it’s hard to tell what is going on. It’s an extreme close up, all that can be seen is part of a boy’s face and an operating drill, and I believe the director has done this to show ambiguity and create suspense and intrigue the audience.
The mise-en-scene in the opening to ‘Kidulthood’ is trying to create a certain atmosphere for the audience, for example, the lighting is quite dull and dark at first which just gives a mysterious feeling and maybe a depressed one as these teenagers get verbally and physically attacked.
There is calm music right at the beginning as the titles roll which then leads on to the busy school sequence, it throws you right in the action and I think the director has done this to interpret his ideas straight away and to keep the audience hooked during the first couple of minutes.
The intro itself relies heavily on diegetic sound which makes the whole opening sequence feel realistic to the audience; the director had intentionally planned for this to happen as it’s a clever technique and very conventional of the social realism genre.
