Though the first scene in the film, “Children of Men,” doesn’t follow the standard order of shot progressions, it still conveys all of the necessary information. Generally in films, the order of shots is long shot, medium shot, close-up. However, in the opening scene of Children of Men, the order of shots is medium shot, long shot, close-up.
The medium shot occurs in a café. Normally this shot would provide relationship information, but considering the fact that all the people in the café are strangers to the main character, there isn’t much information to convey. What the shot does show however, is that everyone sans the main character is upset. The news of Baby Diegos’s death has put everybody to tears, but Theo seems rather unmoved by the incident. If this were a close-up for example, one would not be able to tell that his mood contrasts the others.
As Theo exits the café, the camera moves to long shot. This is the orientation shot, and even without the text on the bottom of the screen, one would easily be able to tell this is London in the future. A red double-decker bus drives by, and futuristic advertisements are shown in the background. The long shot conveys loneliness by having Theo walk against the general current of everyone else on the sidewalk. This was seen in the first shot, too (the medium shot,) when we noticed that he is emotionless compared to everyone in the crowded café.
The third shot, the close-up shows the important details. In this shot, Theo puts his coffee on a mailbox, opens it, and pours in some whiskey. The details shown here tell us that due to his lack of emotion in the café and the fact that he puts liquor in his coffee in the morning, Theo is more than likely depressed. Alcohol seems to be his escape from a world that he doesn’t seem to care about anymore.
Children of Men is probably my favorite movie of the past decade. Here is great clip on the making of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A55xTYXMpI
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