In this, the opening scene of our film “Old
Habits Die Hard”, the protagonist can be clearly viewed, although it should be
noted not in any close detail as he almost blends into the background. This is
an intended effect as we wanted to represent the character, who suffers from
social issues arising from his correct choice of emotion for a given situation,
as somebody who would simply blend into the background were you to pass him
walking down the street and arouse little suspicion, neither would he cause concern
as somebody in particular need of help or assistance. This is what we wanted to
create for our film opening as we wanted the audience to suspect nothing out of
the ordinary to begin with. In the opening scene, as is typical of films within
the Social Realism and Thriller genres we wished to steadily increase the
levels of tension in a slow but effective manner of steadily increasing tension
levels through our quick cuts between camera shot/angle to disorientate the
viewer so they subconsciously begin to experience feelings of not knowing where
they are simulating the confused mental state of Toby as to whether allay his
drug dependency or give into his darker demons.
Indeed, this first scene acts as a scene that provides the
“calm” before the “storm.” The “storm” in question is actually that of
enterprising and profiteering drug dealer, Creegan. Taking further the idea of
the calm before the storm approach this is the reasoning behind our proffered
location of choice in which to begin the film with; in a quiet suburbia
backstreet with the green colour in the opening being used to symbolise
effectively connotations of nature. This is also represented in the
presentation of the trees, suggesting that at the present time Toby is in a
mental state of peace and a place of personal sanctuary before walking to his
fate in meeting Creegan, the drug dealer.
This further leads to our reasoning behind conforming with the typical convention of
Social Realism films in choosing to place a soundtrack over the opening footage
to steadily increase feelings of inertia, rising excitement, fear and panic
amongst audience members which is in fact not so different from the beginning
of Social Realism film, Trainspotting which also begins with music but for a
differing effect in that it acts as a device by which to break the ice between
the characters and audience members and provides almost a comical effect and a
pleasant beginning to the film. This is a similar case with the opening of
social realism film This is England however, once again music is used in the
opening to serve a differing purpose than to that of our own reasoning to
choose to place a soundtrack in the opening. In the opening of This is England music serves a very
different purpose in that it acts as a juxtaposing device. Whilst footage of an
economically and socially deprived area blaze the screen, prompting feelings of
pity, shock and disbelief from audience members the music adds an almost
comical feel to the piece given it’s upbeat rhythm and catchy pace.
This frame from our film opening sees a lush
green field, complete with trees, promoting connotations of health and
well-being through the use of the colour green, to act in a direct contrast to
the actions the character Toby is about to undertake. This setting was used
intentionally to contrast the industrial building with the lush, rural field,
promoting connotations of health, with the industrial building with
connotations of business and profit. This shot exemplifies the two contrasting
differences overtly and effectively as well as the main aims of the two
characters: Toby’s is that of being free of his drug addiction, exemplified
through the green colour to connote feelings of health and prosperity, whuilst
in contrast, the antagonists priorities are that of building a profit and
securing financial stability from his profit inducing business of selling drugs
to hopeless addicts like Toby. 
The shot of this leaf emphasises the symbolism
and connotations of drugs and substance abuse, with the graffiti taking the
form of a leaf not too dissimilar to that of a marijuana leaf, perfectly
exemplifying Toby’s dilemma of resisting drugs or seducing his dependency to
less of an addictive state and necessity for drugs in the characters’ life. The object could also connote feelings of an
eventual release from the dependency of drugs for Toby, as it could be
suggested that the graffiti art is actually that of a flower, suggesting a
faint glimmer of hope. We also felt it necessary to include this shot in our film
opening as it suggests the harsh, gritty, urban and derelict nature of the
building as well as society in general, an attribute commonly associated with
the genre of Social Realistic films.
This still, I believe, is symbolic of how Toby is trapped in
the cyclic and inescapable world of drugs. We wished to show this through the
use of a low angle shot to emphasise the fact that Toby was caged in by his
addiction and escape from it in the short term would require great courage,
strength and bravery in a not too dissimilar way that attempting to overcome
the denotative barbed wire would. I believe this scene to be typical of social
realism openings as through this still the harshness and brutality of the
working classes is plain for all to see. Escapism from addiction to drugs is
also particularly evident, although symbolised in a differing manner, in the
film Trainspotting particularly in
the scene where Mark Renton is ‘swallowed’ up by the floor; also shot from a
low angle to emphasise the physical mountain that he must climb to rid himself
of his dark addiction. We have attempted to emphasise and symbolise to the
viewer in our own opening the mountain that Toby has to climb in our own film
opening to rid himself of his drug addiction by shooting form a low angle to
really showcase in their full effectiveness the environment’s real life
obstructions so they could be transferred effectively to read as subtle
metaphorical ones also. On a connotation level, the barbed wire emphasises that
Toby is trapped on all sides; from one side by the oppressive and unbending,
unfaltering rule of Creegan who possesses an almost dictatorship style of
control upon Toby and is ruthless in getting what he wants. On the other side, however, Toby is also
trapped by his addiction in itself and as previously mentioned we wished to
showcase this to the viewer through the symbolism of the physical mountain that
Toby has to climb. It could also be suggested that Toby has to climb out of his
dark hell hole of drug addiction that is shown symbolically through the natural
dilapidating and decaying location we used to film, and back towards the light
as is symbolically shown through the dark storm clouds above but noticeably the
appearance of a glimmer of blue sky, showing to the viewer that for Toby there
remains a glimmer of hope for him to rid himself of his destructive addiction,
an opportunity that he seizes openly with both hands as is later explored in
the film to a greater degree.
This still from our film I believe clearly
shows the extraordinary lengths Creegan is prepared to go to in order to
silence Toby from speaking out against him and to avoid the possibility of his
profiteering activities becoming law enforcement knowledge; namely that of the
Police, or as Creegan refers to them: “f**king pigs!” to emphasise his
instability and insecurity in the fragile world of being a drug dealer,
treading the narrow line between endangering people and profiteering from the
addiction and the dependency of his
clientele. Camera work I feel was used extremely
effectively here as the camera panned in a tracking motion as Creegan exploded
with rage, slamming Toby into the gate. Costume is also influenced heavily and the symbolism is
clearly distinct at this point in the film opening as Creegan’s red top clearly
marks him out as dangerous and volatile, given that the symbolism of the colour
red exemplifies and symbolises danger and anger, both of which are
characteristics that the character of Creegan demonstrates within our film opening.
Whilst in stark contrast to Creegan, Toby is seen to be wearing green apparel,
which bring with it connotations of health and well- being, another subtle
reference that Toby is aiming to rid himself of his drug addiction, along with
the embodiment of it, his nemesis, Creegan.
This still provides the viewer direct
comparison and contrast between the two characters and at this point in our
film opening they are very much represented as differing people each with polar
opposite characteristics. Creegan’s red jumper is seen to represent his angry,
volatile and destructive nature whilst in contrast Toby’s costume, whilst
slightly awkward to the eye to begin with to further showcase his social
issues, as it is not an everyday expected item someone is seen to be wearing,
is seen to symbolise his battle againsty his drug addiction and his hope for a
prosperous and trouble free health situation in the future. In the frame, Creegan can be seen to be
extremely angered and is feeling betrayed by Toby. Toby can be seen in the
frame standing up against Creegan’s oppression with resilient defiance and
courage. We intended to have Toby standing in front of a heart as it showed
that he was regaining control of his mind and body after standing up to the
oppressive rule of Creegan which he had depended upon for such a long time and
finally beginning to combat his manifesting drug addiction which standing up
against Creegan was the first step to being rid of. 
This frame shows the title of our film “Old Habits Die
Hard”, which, set amongst the trees and
nature subtly informs the viewer that the film is going to be centrally focused
on Toby ridding himself of his drug addiction as the use of trees and the
colour green as well as natural greenery such as grass and trees is a repeated
connotative message that is sent to the viewer throughout the film opening that
the colour green is symbolic of nature and health, an aspect of Toby that we
were keen to exemplify through the means of carefully placed symbolism. Whilst a convention of Social Realism films is
noticeably the lack of billing featured in an opening, we wished to break with
convention at this particular point in the opening sequence as we wished to
inform viewers of the title of the film in a subtle way. We were able to
achieve this in post- production by editing in the title and the italicised
font in between a gap of the two pairs of running feet provided by first Toby
and then Creegan. A lack of music
during the chase sequence removed a sense of fantasy and surrealism from the
events and without music, the chase sequence we feel was made more effective
and made the danger seem far more real and apparent to the viewer, creating the
impression that the danger was immediate and inescapable, a feeling conveyed in
the opening of Social Realism film; Trainspotting
where Mark Renton and his friend Spud can be seen running away from security
guards.
This second frame of the Chase sequence is a handheld POV
shot taken from the point of the protagonist Toby. Through the use of the
handheld camera shot, the viewer becomes far more engrossed in the peril Toby
finds himself in when he is pursued by Creegan. The quick cut of the shot is
deliberate in that we wanted to emphasise Toby’s fear and panic as to what
would become of him were he to be caught by Creegan; a sentiment we wished to be echoed by the
viewer as they were watching the piece further strengthening the relationship
between the protagonist and our target audience making the character appear far
more relatable to demographic members.
This frame has been taken from the Vlog post where upon Toby is directly
addressing the audience through the means of a webcam, further strengthening
and cementing his relationship as a character with the audience. This conventional
breaking of the fourth wall between characters on screen and audience members
is in direct similarity with Mark Renton’s opening monologue in Trainspotting where upon he encourages
viewers to “choose life.” Through the
means of a webcam, direct address to the audience is maintained, as Toby cannot
hide from the audience who may very well be beginning to form an opinion of
him. Whilst this type of address to an audience is rare in films of any kind,
let alone social realism or Thriller, we chose to follow this form of scene as
it allowed the audience far greater time to get to know the character, and get
to know him in greater detail at that. To reduce a feeling of monotonous
predictability arising from audience members through the means of the webcam
address we inserted within the scene, clips of the chase sequence which form a
main part of the overall story arc to our film in that the plot would centrally
focus upon the events that happen within the foot-chase if the film were to be
made to feature film length. Indeed, an air of excitability is intended through
the means of the webcam address as Toby describes not “wanting to defend what
[he] did” which immediately sets the audience on edge as to what could have
been so traumatic that leads him to describe the day of the events of the film
as “the darkest day [he] ever face[d]” We chose to insert the webcam scene into
our film, as whilst not really sticking to any formal codes and conventions of
the parenting genres of Social Realism and Thriller, what it does do is it
provides a suitable contrast from the high octane, high adrenaline action
leading up to the point of the webcam monologue and allows the audience time to
recover their breath whilst also digesting new information from Toby, whilst still
being able to connect with him on a more personal level. During the webcam monologue, Toby’s social
awkwardness also develops from being an acute distraction to something of a
more prevalent nature as within the webcam scene he fiddles with both a light
and a bottle opener, as well as elongating his words in a solemn tone perhaps
for him to take his mind off the burdening guilt he still feels as he describes
his actions, actions that later through the continued viewing of the film,
audience members are able to later discover is that of murder. We chose the
form of the webcam for this scene because as previously mentioned it offers a
far greater interaction between the character of Toby and the audience members.
Additionally, as it is a webcam through which Toby is speaking, almost like a
form of diary entry, it provides formal acknowledgement of his guilt, no longer
hiding from the fact of what he has done, suggesting that since his dealings
with Creegan he has become a far stronger and better abled individual with
better social interactional skills showing that he has become a more confident
and self -assured individual since his alleviation of drugs.
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