White Chicks Film Opening Essay

White Chicks is a 2004 American film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written and produced by Keenen Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. The film was produced by Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios. The film begins in a convenience store where two FBI agents and brothers try to arrest drug dealers. In the opening part of White Chicks we witness a Company ident that shows who is responsible for the making of the film. It then quickly changes to an establishing shot of New York City to show where the scene is set. What follows this is that there are few other establishing shots to show the audience where the action will take place and it also enables an understanding of spatial relationships. After, there is then a crane shot from high to low that signifies the location of where the scene is going to take place. There is then a long shot, which is when the camera is some distance away from what is being shot to show a relatively large area and the surroundings. The long shot focuses on the ice-cream delivery truck and the men which perhaps signifies that they are about to play a significant role in the opening sequence. After, there is a medium shot on the delivery men as they enter the shop which shows their waist and their head.

 The sound of the opening sequence to this film consists of non-diegetic gangster rap music which perhaps suggests who the film is aimed at and what generation they are in. The dialogue of the opening sequence shows the FBI agents putting on accents to hide their true identity. They represent old stereotypical Latino men working in an old grocery store. Also, the fact that the ice-cream are foreign show that they are very stereotypical of other delivery men. The way that the mise en scene contributes to opening of this film is that both the FBI agents have guns, which is a significant prop which suggests that they have a dangerous job.  Also as the FBI agents play their part as old Latino citizens they have cigars and maracas’ which again connotes that they are old stereotypical Latino men working in a shop however they are both imposters, just doing their job as FBI agents.

3 Opening Films & Similarities

Introduction

This part of my blog will talk about 3 film openings that are similar to my media product. These films are:

• Adulthood
• Green Street
• Football Factory

The reason I have chosen these films are because they are all films that contain violence.

Adulthood

Adulthood is a British drama production directed and starring Noel Clarke. This is the sequel to Kidulthood also written by Clarke. The film is distributed by Pathe Pictures International and gained total gross revenue of £3,347,811. The story follows guy who has been released from prison for six years for murder. The film begins with an establishing shot of a street gathering that involved alcohol and loud music. What follows this is that an expansive looking car pulls up which triggers the opportunity for teenagers to smash the car up. This film represents stereotypical teenagers roaming the streets of London getting up to no good.




Green Street

Green Street is a film directed by Lexi Alexander showing people across the world football hooliganism in England. The 2005 British and American drama film shows the insight of violence behind the beautiful game. They show this through the four technical codes of camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene. The story follows a guy who has been kicked out of college for being accused for drug dealing and falls in with the now famous West Ham United football firm. The film was distributed by Baker Street OddLot Entertainment and the music was created by Terrence Jay. I feel that this film is similar to our media product because due to the violence and alcohol occurs. 

Football Factory

The film football factory is another football film that displays hooliganism within the sport. The 2004 film directed by Nick Love stars Danny Dyer and Frank Harper. It is also based on the novel with the same name written by John King. As for the film, it reflects on two rivalled football supporters, Chelsea and Millwall. It follows a young single guy who begins to doubt himself and re-thinks his actions of being a hooligan. The film was distributed by Momentum Pictures with music produced by Ivor Guest. This film is very similar to Green Street which therefore means that it is similar to our media product again due to the fact that the characters are under the influence of violence and alcohol. 

In this section of my blog I will be discussing three film openings that have similarities. These films are:

• The Hangover
• Superbad
• Step Brothers

The reason I chose these films is because they are all american comedies.


The Hangover

  The Hangover is an American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips in 2009 starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, and Jeffrey Tambor. Legendary Pictures produced the film on a budget of $35 Million. The plot follows four friends who travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor's party, only to wake up the next morning not knowing what they got up to the night before. The opening part of the film will prove to be crucial later on. It consists of the main characters being in the desert looking for their friend. They don't know where he is as they can't remember what happened the night before. The film then goes back in time and the story goes on. Throughout the duration of the film they try and find out what happened to them, which is very funny.

Superbad

Superbad is another American comedy film directed by Greg Mottola starring Jonah Hill and Michael Cera.  The film is said to have grossed $33 Million in its opening weekend with a budget of $20 Million. In total Superbad grossed $170 Million. Two of the producers' of the film, Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg, began writing the script for the film when they were just 13 years old, completing it by the time they were 15. The film consists of 3 teenaged boys' attempting to achieve success at a party. They are the alcohol providers for the party and they try many different ways into bringing the alcohol with them, however they have to tackle many unexpected obsticles on the way. The opening sequence of this film shows Seth (Hill) picking up his friend Evan (Cera) on the way to school. They are conversing on the phone to eachother talking about typical teenaged boy topics.

Step Brothers

Step Brothers is the final film I will be discussing in this section of my blog. It's a 2008 American comedy starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly directed by Adam McKay. Distributed by Columbia Pictures the film had a budget of $65 Million grossing at a total $128 Million. The film is about two unemplyed middle aged men who still live at home with their parents. They become united when each of their single parents marry leading to Brennan Huf (Ferrell) and Dale Doback (Reilly) living with eachother. The opening sequence consists of two single parents marrying, and moving in together. The atmosphere of this film is very jolly and happy as people are getting married however there is a sense of conflict as a new relationship is about to be unveiled.