Moving Image Media - Analysis of 2 Films

Kidulthood is the first film that we decided to analyse the contents of.We chose the scene that features Sam killing Trevor (Trife) after an altercation at Sam’s house, which saw Sam’s mother getting injured in the process. This leads to the party where Trife is killed. One shot in this scene that helps to convey the message is the high camera angle of Sam standing over Trife and this gives a sense of fear and being powerless and our film is relevant to this because the friend in our film is trying to get the main character help him with something dangerous which could have an affect on his future if he does get involved.

Slow motion is used at the point when Sam attacks Trife with the baseball bat. This adds more effect to the storyline because the audience already knows what is about to happen but they want to see if they can be proved wrong. This links in with our film because even though we are not feature specific violent scenes like this, we want to give our audience an insight of what they would expect from these particular characters. This entire scene is relevant to our film because our film does have some aspects of violence in the film and it indicates how violence is a factor that affects urban youth a lot these days and how Kidulthood and our film portrays this. This scene that we chose to analyse is set at someone’s house where a party is being held. This adds more effect to the scene because it makes people wonder what the immediate impact will be after this violent scene and who is going to survive after this.

During this scene, Sam is shown to be wearing a hooded top, jeans and trainers whilst armed with a baseball bat. He is showcasing the negative connotations of his character through his demeanour, attitude and style of clothing because people going to parties would not wear hooded clothing or be carrying a baseball bat. This is relevant to our film because the friend in our film is a very violent person and wants to involve the main character in his problems and he, too, is wearing similar clothing to Sam throughout the film. Looking beyond Sam's clothing the audience might be able to see a frightened individual who sees that the power of revenge is his only survival technique and this is what his clothing represents instead.

Save the Last Dance is the other film that we chose and the scene that we chose in the film is that of Derek and his friend Malakai discussing what they are going to be doing. Malakai, like the friend in our film, is someone who has got himself into things that he shouldn't have and now he has a hard task to face and needs Derek's help. Derek knows that if he goes on to help Malakai then he knows it can ruin his chances of going to medical school but then he is also conflicted about being disloyal to his best friend. All of this fits in with our film because of the idea that our main character wants to follow his dream but try and be loyal to his friend knowing the consequences of it if he does and even doesn't help his friend.

In our film, the main character does actually decide to do the right thing, even though we won't be showing this part, and so did Derek which shows them that they know that they need to follow their dreams and lead a positive and safe life. It also shows the dynamics between them and their friend and that the main characters are still willing to stick by their friends even though they know that their friends will lead them down a dark path.

Kidulthood Link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUrxrTrinUI&feature=related
Save the Last Dance Link - Unavailable on Youtube