During the opening scene, there are many symbols revealed to the audience. The film starts with the production company's logo, in the background, we can hear non-diegetic off-screen voiceovers of men talking. After we see a black screen and the people speaking in sound like they are in a gang as they are about to perform a drive-by, one of them clarifies who it is to shoot, then a screech from a car wheel followed by multiple shots being fired. You can also hear, a young boy screaming 'He shot my brother!' It then transfers to a different scene where we hear more gun shots and a red stop sign is abruptly shown and the camera zooms in. I believe they chose a stop sign as the red could signify the bloodshed in the fights and the 'STOP' could be a way to try to convince the audience to prevent gang fights. However, it could also symbolise a lack of security and safety in the predominately black neighbourhood as the film shows that children hearing gunshots are an everyday occurrence.
We then see a landscape shot of four young black children walking down a pavement in daylight, the camera stays in the landscape shot and tracks them as they continue on walking along the street there are rubbish bags and stray dogs. One of the children appears to be well dressed in smart clothes, which could already convey that he is the intelligent one out the four. They are having a casual conversation about a shooting which happened last night suggesting that it's quite a normal occurrence, also suggesting that their neighbourhood is unsafe and full of crime. The camera angle then changes and pans the children from a birds-eye view this shows the vulnerability of the children and gives an effect that they are being watched. The lighting is a mixture of natural daylight and high key light. The children also walk past a sign that says 'wrong way' this could be seen as another hidden meaning, and perhaps foreshadowing their future and that they are going to make the wrong choices in life which could have fatal consequences.
The children are walking towards the crime scene when the camera then focuses upon some posters of the president which has been vandalised with gunshots this could indicate that there are political problems within this part of the country. As the posters are shown gunshot sound effects are edited into the background. The camera then shows the yellow crime scene tape up close with the children standing behind it, the music then becomes slow and dramatic which contrasts with the gunshot sounds as they notice blood. Every now and then the camera focuses close up on the children faces to portray their youth and innocence.
The camera then focuses on the pictures drawn by the children the first one is a doodle of a dead black man in his grave, the next is another black man surrendering to a police car and last is a nL.A.P.D helicopter in the sky. This just highlights the type of crime that these children see every day, I think these were used purposely to juxtapose to another school which would have the more pure drawings. The whole classroom is shown in the next shot, which shows young black children seated, and a white teacher standing at the front of the class.
The camera then focuses on the pictures drawn by the children the first one is a doodle of a dead black man in his grave, the next is another black man surrendering to a police car and last is a nL.A.P.D helicopter in the sky. This just highlights the type of crime that these children see every day, I think these were used purposely to juxtapose to another school which would have the more pure drawings. The whole classroom is shown in the next shot, which shows young black children seated, and a white teacher standing at the front of the class.
The room is shown to be dusty and the teacher is wearing old fashion clothes also there is a chalkboard in the background these could all verify the teaching ways are possibly outdated. The smartly dressed boy is shown in an extreme close-up, as he comes to the front of the class with the teacher the camera angle changes from him to her and backs him as they talk to one another. The boy gets into an altercation with another student in the class, the other boy gets out of his chair and stands to confront him, he says that he will get his brother to shoot him. This shows how violence is started and how it can escalate, also showing how young boys are influenced by others and how they are exposed to violence. The camera then shows a wide shot angle from the back of the class with the two children hitting one another.
The shot transfers to the child walking home from school straight towards the camera, there is a group of older boys blocking the pavement fighting about gambling this shows how when a crime is shown it does not discriminate as before and after school, these children are being a victim of crime. As the boy walks around them this could indicate even though it would be very easy for him to become a criminal he still manoeuvres around it. These boys are supposed to be role models but instead, they portray a message to younger boys that this type of violent behaviour is normal and acceptable. In a mid-shot, his mother is shown to be on the phone to the teacher. The teacher labels the mother as being the fault in her child's behaviour by asking 'Are you employed?' is quite a demeaning question to the mother as if she did not have a job she would be a bad influence on him.
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