I find this opening sequence quite useful because of the way it is filmed and some of the content, for example the fact that he is alone in his room smoking, and the fact that it is simple. You can immediately tell the road that the film seems to be going down.
Analysis.
The first thing we notice about the opening sequence is that it is black and white. This not only gives us a sense that the film is set in the past, but also casts a kind of dampened mood over the scene, as if the characters are seeing their own world in black and white, because it is not particularly interesting or fulfilling to them.
When the scene opens, there is complete silence on a close up of the main character, sat on the floor, leading into the beginning of a voice over – something we often find in gritty social realism films. As the boy lowers his head and we cut to a long shot of him sat alone in the room, we got a sense of isolation of the character. This, coupled with the voice over talking of ‘existence’ leads us to believe that our characters existence is a lonely, and not a very satisfying one. Also, the mese en scene in the room is very minimal, giving nothing away about his personality - we don't even know where he is.
We then see the title of the film ‘Control’ flicker onto the screen, also in complete silence. The effect this creates is quite ominous, and the fact that the word ‘control’ flickers in and out of sight suggests that the film is going to be based around the idea of keeping control of lives and emotions, and sometimes not being able to.
When the next scene fades in, the words ‘Macclesfield, England, 1973’ officially set the time and place for us. This idea of telling the audience exactly where and when we are through the use of a subtitle is also something typically seen in social realist films, to clearly establish the feel of that place or time.
In the scene, the character, Ian, is shown in an extreme long shot, again without any non-diagetic sound, walking past what appears to be a block of run down flats. This, again, adds to the sense we get of the character being someone of a loner, or outsider. This is also reiterated by the fact that he does not speak to any of the other characters who interact with him: the boys outside, or his family. The non-diagetic music (which later becomes diagetic when Ian plays it in his room) starts as he is entering the house, then his bedroom, suggesting that we are now finding out more about the character and he is more comfortable and himself in that environment. The music also reminds us of the year, because it is a track from that period. The lyrics of the song playing are associated with romance or sex, suggesting that this is or is going to be a big part of the characters life.
A long shot is used when Ian lights a cigarette sitting on his bed. This shows us that he is relaxed in his room and the next medium shot of him led on his bed, closing his eyes as he enjoys smoking, suggests that he feels the need to do so, to keep him calm and happy, and therefore does so often. The camera then cuts to a series of close ups of: the record player which is now playing the music (also with magazines beside it with other artists of the day), a shelf of books including ‘Howl’ by Allen Ginsberg: a book of poems, which could give us some clue into the characters interests and personality. Also there is a card with the words ‘James Morrison 1943-1971’ James Morrison, AKA Jim Morrison, was a famous musician and lyricist, lead singer of the American band ‘The Doors.’ The fact that Ian has this in his room, shows us the importance that he places on music and lyrics (shown also through the poetry book), as well as the kind of music he thinks is the best.
The camera finally cuts to another medium shot of Ian dressed up, as though he's going out and applying eye-liner in a full length mirror. In the reflection, we can see a close up of his face, which shows us that he obviously cares about his appearance. Again, here we can see pictures on his walls of musicians etc. These artists are also obviously important to him, as music in general is shown to be throughout the scene, since otherwise, the room is quite minimalistic.
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