The Red Riding Trilogy OTS Analysis

The Red Riding Trilogy:

Plot:

The trilogy chronicles a backdrop of several serial murders although most are fiction, the second revolves around the "Yorkshire Ripper" murders. In the first of the trilogy 1974 Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield) is an aspiring young journalist he moved to London but not all went well and has moved back to his home town of Yorkshire. There he learns of a new case, the disappearance of a young girl, as her body is recovered he becomes slowly obsessed with the case and one of the victim's mothers.

Opening Title Sequence Analysis:  

In the opening shot we see the camera pan down to the body of a little girl with wings, then the screen fades open to the anti-hero staring into the distance covered in dirt and blood, he then drops a gun onto the ground. In the next shot the anti-hero is seen driving into Yorkshire while a voice over which tells the audience about a little girl who goes missing, the voice over is confirmed to be the anti-hero as he is a journalist who has messed things up in London and returns home for his father's funeral. The character of the Eddie fits with the typical anti-hero in film noir's as he is flawed, he messed up in London and wants to makes a name for himself, he is also flawed as his father was also a journalist and he is constantly being compared to him as if he could never be as good as his father was. Another thing that is very common in film noirs is that the narrative is broken as in the first shot, it starts with the end this is called reverse chronology also the voiceover is very common as it gives a direct link to what the character is experiencing or feeling, this creates a hook/enigma for the viewer as they want to find out more. The colours are bland mostly dark yellows and grey this makes it feel dystopian which creates the effect of the community being undesirable or frightening , there is also a heavy atmosphere of smoke present this is very common in a film noir, the effect used on the lighting a dark sepia tone, this effect is used to resemble the effect of aging asthough the viewer is looking into the past. The camera shots used are mostly over the shoulder shots which shows the viewer the surroundings, close-ups to show emotions and framing as this allows the film maker to construct a shot that continues the narrative. There are also three factors that are present that are not common in a film noir, instead of being based in an urban setting the narrative takes place in the country side. Instead of using dramatic music there is a score from a guitar and finally film noir's are usually shot in black and white.

Watch The Trailer Here: (Must Have Youtube Access)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsshRsvMGCs