My Murder Opening Scene - Media Research & Planning

Mise-en-scene

During the opening first two minutes of My Murder we are introduced to a young black male who has been stabbed and is in deep pain. The young black male being stabbed is stereotypical as the audience is able to identify  this incident may have taken place due to the fact of gang violence perhaps. In addition, the setting is of a rural part in London. Rural parts of London are typically associated a hard living, drugs and violence. Which links with what has happened currently. The lighting used through out the two minute opening is very natural. Which links of this being a documentary account story. During the opening scene the main character facial expression is of him being in extreme pain and he's crying. Both emotions may indicate that the character doesn't survive. After this we are introduced to a young mixed race female who has a life less facial expression towards the main character who is slowly dying from his wounds. This raises questions to the viewers whether she was previously a love interest of the character who's in agony or is she the reason why the main character has been stabbed.  Furthermore, the life less expressions may suggest that she has no sympathy towards the character stabbed.

Later on during the opening sequence we are introduced properly to the main character where we see him healthy and fit. This shows us that the events previously shown are events that are going to take place and what we are viewing now is going to lead slowly to the event of the main character being stabbed. After we are introduced to the main character we are again introduced to the mixed race girl in her school. When we are introduced to her we understand she plays a significant part in the stabbing of the main character. Then we are introduced to another character who is a black male. Compared to the other characters he seems more elder and has a large group of friends, Therefore, the audience is able to identify that him and his companions play a a significant part in the stabbing of the main character. Furthermore, both male characters link to the female character suggesting that this is a love triangle.

Sound 

In the opening sequence for My Murder we are introduced to non diegetic and diegetic sound. We are able to hear non diegetic sound when the main character is stabbed and after those events. When the main character is stabbed we hear mellow music playing behind. After those events had taken place we hear music playing behind including a voice over of the main character. During the opening sequence we are introduced to a sound bridge where we hear the main characters mum say "he trusted her". Therefore, this imply that she is the cause of death of the main character. All the series of events are surround her. As the clip progresses we again non diegetic sound. We hear a voice over of  the main character introducing himself and the other characters that play a part in his story. Diegtic sounds that the comes from the world we are watch is the phone call to the ambulance. In addition, there is minor sounds in the background for instance, school pupils talking among themselves and when we are introduced to the third character 'Danny' we can hear is companions talking and joking in the background.

Camerawork

We are introduced to many medium shots and close ups of the character at the very start  of the opening sequence for My Murder. At the start we are introduced to the character with two shots one of which is a medium shot of him upside down and the other is a close up of the character yet again upside down. By the character being placed upside down on two shots this could perhaps connote that the characters life is changed, he's not going to live life the correct way however; is on the road to death. The close up provides up to view the characters expression when stabbed. Also we are able to view the amount of blood that is on the characters clothing. Both close up's on the characters at the very start in the sequence allows us the viewers to identify and briefly puzzle together a story. In one shot we are exposed to the character in pain and agony and in the following shot we are introduced to a young female with life less facial expressions toward the character in pain.

Editing

During the opening two minutes of my murder we see a use of many straight cuts. The straight cuts aren't consistently fast however, they set up a scene and show whats happening then move of to a different angle. This may suggest that the main characters death isn't going to be fast however, painfully slow. We are introduced to the female character then we are introduced to the main character mother (the real life shak's mother). During that scene their is a fade used in order to convey a passing of time. Therefore, this may imply that the main character has passed away as well? After the title of the program has been shown their is a second or two of a black screen. The black screen perhaps connotes that the character had died as we see him again walking and not harmed. We are also introduced to his voice over backing up the fact that the character will die later on due to the series of events that will unfold.