An analysis of the opening sequence of the film 'East is East' directed by Damien O'Donnell The film 'East is east' is based on an autobiographical screen play by Ayub Khan Din.

Authors Avatar

An analysis of the opening sequence of the film ‘East is East’ directed by Damien O’Donnell

The film ‘East is east’ is based on an autobiographical screen play by Ayub Khan Din. It tells the story of a mixed race Asian family who live in a north of England town. The father, Mr. Khan, is intent on keeping the traditions of Pakistan, while his children oppose to following traditions such as arranged marriages to other Pakistani families. It shows the family’s struggle to live ordinary British lives while the father pushes to bring Pakistani culture to his children.

The principal themes running though out the story are racial intolerance, adolescents and their need for independence, and the problems of being caught between two different cultures. Though out this analysis I will focus on the key film language features of lighting, sound, camera and mise en scene.

A successful opening to a film should introduce the area the film is to be set in, the main characters and something about them, and start building the atmosphere and mood of the film. It should do this by using the first camera shots to show the scene. Sound can be a very useful tool in creating atmosphere as is lighting. Showing close-ups of the main characters faces will introduce them to the audience and give them some information on the character’s backgrounds and give first impressions of the film’s themes. Sometimes a director may wish to use the opening sequence to create the illusion of the film having one particular theme or genre but will later on contradict those first thoughts.

The opening sequence of ‘East is East’ starts by showing the audience the area the film is to be set in. It then moves on to show a Christian Easter parade with the mixed race children participating. It then shows close ups of the children’s faces consecutively. By doing this it shows that they have some relationship. We later find out that they are siblings. The comic actions of this group tell the audience that this film will have an element of comedy, but the issue with sneaking down the back alleys to avoid contact with their father indicates the culture clash that lasts through out the film.

Lighting is one very effective way of creating atmosphere. There are many different lighting techniques that can be used to set the mood. By using key lights (KL) and back lights (BL) only, a sharp contrast of dark and light areas on the screen is created. This forms unnaturally lit locations and characters. This unnatural lighting is called low key (LK) lighting. However, by adding filler lights (FL) natural looking environments and characters can be created. This is called high key (HK) lighting. Also the lights can be directed to different places in the scene, and the positions of these lights have different effects. Underlighting is when the main source of light comes from underneath the subject and can distort the subject. This technique is often used in horror films. Toplighting is the opposite of underlighting. With toplighting the main source of light is coming from above the subject. This highlights the features which can create a glamorous look. Finally there is backlighting. With backlighting the source of light comes from behind the subject. If there are no other light sources the subject will be seen only as a silhouette.

Join now!

The opening sequence of ‘East is East’ was filmed on location so would have natural light to start with. However, the lighting needed to be enhanced. Therefore key lights, back lights and Filler lights would have all been used. The lighting, being natural, is high key. Being outside the light would come from all around the characters.

The effect of these lighting techniques is that the audience can see clearly that the parade is taking place out side, and because the scene still has a dull lighting effect the audience can interpret that it is in ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Avatar

This is a very brief conclusion, but it does give the discourse a pleasing circularity: Near the beginning of the essay the author lists a series of features of a "successful" opening sequence for a film, and the essay does demonstrate how the beginning of East Is East adheres to those principles. It would have been better if the list of key characteristics came from an authoritative source and if the essay itself had more systematically linked every detail of the film that it explored to that list, but it is nonetheless a good structure for an essay. 2 stars