London to Brighton Opening sequence Analysis

London to Brighton Opening Sequence 

The film opens with a series of over black production and funding titles. The idents or logo of the production company Vertigo Films is a standalone title separate from the narrative and is introduced first with a loud boom sound. The next title conveys the idents of the UK lottery foundation and UK film council which connotes that this is a British independent film. More titles follow of two other production companies. The rather simplistic presentations of these companies like “steel mill pictures” and “wellington film productions” in a small white font on an over black background contrasts distinctly with the Vertigo Films logo, and this could suggest that these companies are much smaller and played a minor role in the production of the film. This is further emphasised by their position in the opening credits. Our first indication of a narrative related title is the appearance of “London 3:07am” (tableau) on an over black background. This provides the audience with contextual information of the location and time and sets the scene for the audience. We can also refer to the end of the opening sequence as a similar over black background format is applied to introduce the film title “London to Brighton.”  In the opening titles no sound is used and this creates the feeling of mystery and suspense.

The sudden aggressive diegetic sound of the door opening introduces the action in the scene which is designed to startle and shock the audience. Everything is rather faced pace in the scene. The use of different editing techniques such as the consistent use of cuts illustrates the bluntness of social drama. The use of shot/reverse shot portrays the relationship between the two main characters and emphasises the panic and terror on the face of the girl and the women. The use of medium close up to close up shot varies in the scene. The over the shoulder close up shot denotes the women looking into mirror scrutinizing her beaten face. This begs the question, who has beaten her up? This flags the first enigma. A medium close up shot of the young girl with make up on her face is denoted and yet again another enigma is raised. The camera pans in to a close up of her face and conveys her rather terrified and confused facial expressions. The alternating use of the two shots creates the feeling of claustrophobia and intensifies the confined spaces of the toilet creating this rather repulsive atmosphere of the graffiti infested setting. 

This is accompanied by the use of low key lighting which creates this rather gritty harshness and social realistic portrayal of a social drama. The medium close up shots of the women and young girl further denote the different clothes that the characters are wearing. The young girl who’s wearing quite dirty but innocent clothing conveys her naivety and inoffensiveness, whereas the woman on the other hand is wearing this rather scroungy and oppressive ripped and dirty jacket to emphasise her social standing, this is further resonated by her Essex/East End of London type colloquial dialect, which she enforces quite provocatively and regularly in the scene. More enigmas are created but this time through the girl’s accent as she sounds quite Northern and this begs the question to why she is in London at such a time. A close up shot of the girl on the toilet conveys her helplessness, panic and confusion of the scenario that she is in and captures the almost brutal and melancholic emotions on her face which emphasises her vulnerability and isolation in the setting.  

It’s clear that the audience has been dropped into the middle of a scenario and this is denoted by elements such as the women’s mutilated face and the dishevelled claustrophobic confinements of their hiding place. Which asks why are they hiding? This is called non-linear narrative, a technique often applied to the opening sequences of a film and which cutbacks to different sections of the film itself. The effect of a non-linear narrative creates the effect of parallel distinctive plot lines and is aimed at disjointing the chronological order of the film for cinematic effect.

The first establishing shot of the opening sequence denotes the women in a chicken shop. The connotations associated with a fast food restaurant like a chicken shop suggests that the woman is quite desperate for food at a cheap price. A close up side view shot of the women follows. The shot portrays her obvious stress, paranoia, anxiety and impatience as she does not want anyone to see her bruised face. Her rather irrational behaviour creates tension for the audience as she tries to keep a low profile and avoid the attention from the authorities. Tension is further emphasised by her confrontational behaviour towards other customers in the shop and the steadicam type movement which intensifies her agitation and trepidation.

The scene cuts to the girl and women in the toilet. This rather grotesque imagery of them eating chips in the toilet would juxtapose between disgust and sympathy towards an audience as it conveys there rather degraded lifestyle and doesn’t help there already poor standards of hygiene as the food they are eating is not healthy. An enigma is solved as well as it confirms whom the pair is running away from when the young girl states “what about that man Derik?”

The camera cuts to an over the shoulder eye line match shot of the women conversing with a man for sex. Depictions of violence and sex can be connoted through this shot as the audience can question the young girls safety at the fact that she is being looked after by an emotionally and physically implicated prostitute which adds to the suspense and tension. A extreme long shot of the location shows a whole line of women prostituting themselves and gives the audience a sense of what occurs In the early hours of the morning. The imperfect low key lighting outside on the street was achieved by one street light and headlights emanating from the car to create this rather edgy and abrasive atmosphere. Tension is further added when the camera cuts as the women gets into the car leaving the audience in suspense. When she returns to the cubicle the young girls safety is further questioned when she asks “where have you been?” And the woman hides the fact that she has prostituted herself. The camera cuts to two establishing shots of an empty and desolate train station where they are presumably going to go Brighton. 

The lighting of the shot is quite natural and was shot in a realist mode. The shaky and jerky camera movement mimics the pair running across the platform floor and emphasises there urgency to get to the platform.  The extreme long shot of the train moving away from the platform leaves the audience in suspense as they do not know if the pair is actually on the train.

The camera cuts to a close up of the women. It denotes her rather relaxed temperament and relief after such effort was made to get onto the train in the first place. A series of shot/reverse shot is used in this scene to reinforce the dialogue and to convey the pair’s relationship, and also the woman’s morality as she gives up her coat for the young girl. The medium close up shot then fixates on the woman. Her thought process is mimicked by the flashes of light through the window and this allows the audience to interpret weather she is thinking positively or negatively. This sparks the end of the sequence and the title of the film appears on an over black screen with the chilling non-diegetic sounds of the children screaming. This creates this undertone of children being abused and unsettles the audience.