Children of Men Essay 
6th October 2014
Children of Men
Children of Men is a 2006 science fiction film directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James's 1992 novel of the same name, was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredited contributions. I will be analysing and comparing the texts commenting on visual codes, technical codes, language and mode of address, target audience and representations.
Children of Men is set in the future, 2027 dystopia, part of the sci-fi genre. We are able to understand that this is a dystopia film by the colour variety, mostly browns, blacks and greys. These harmonious colours connotes depression, unhappiness, pain, war.
The camera shots mostly mid-shots, long-shots panning and point of view shots. For example, when the bomb explodes next to Theo Faron, the main male character, the camera moves towards the bombing as if to be a person. This creates tension and mystery. Children of Men use low-key lighting which generates more shadows creating darkness which also connotes depression and mystery, this perhaps is a general convention used in sci-fi films.
Throughout the opening sequence, there’s constant dullness. The whole of London, along with the rest of the world is a dystopia as well as at war. There’s rubbish on the streets, buildings have been bombed and no child has been born since 2009. The mise-en-scene is just constant darkness with no optimism due to the dialect sound of shooting, screaming, crying and shouting. English borders have been closed for eight years, most likely because of an overflow in immigrants as, ‘England soldiers on,’ extra exterior on the train, which would not usually be there, is used for protection because of past incidents. The dystopia is emphasized by the panning shot of greenery onto a pit fire of burnt corpses, perhaps immigrants. Stereotypically we think the future will be filled with hovering cars and high-tech clothing whereas London has almost gone back in time
Children of Men
Children of Men is a 2006 science fiction film directed and co-written by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James's 1992 novel of the same name, was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredited contributions. I will be analysing and comparing the texts commenting on visual codes, technical codes, language and mode of address, target audience and representations.
Children of Men is set in the future, 2027 dystopia, part of the sci-fi genre. We are able to understand that this is a dystopia film by the colour variety, mostly browns, blacks and greys. These harmonious colours connotes depression, unhappiness, pain, war.
The camera shots mostly mid-shots, long-shots panning and point of view shots. For example, when the bomb explodes next to Theo Faron, the main male character, the camera moves towards the bombing as if to be a person. This creates tension and mystery. Children of Men use low-key lighting which generates more shadows creating darkness which also connotes depression and mystery, this perhaps is a general convention used in sci-fi films.
Throughout the opening sequence, there’s constant dullness. The whole of London, along with the rest of the world is a dystopia as well as at war. There’s rubbish on the streets, buildings have been bombed and no child has been born since 2009. The mise-en-scene is just constant darkness with no optimism due to the dialect sound of shooting, screaming, crying and shouting. English borders have been closed for eight years, most likely because of an overflow in immigrants as, ‘England soldiers on,’ extra exterior on the train, which would not usually be there, is used for protection because of past incidents. The dystopia is emphasized by the panning shot of greenery onto a pit fire of burnt corpses, perhaps immigrants. Stereotypically we think the future will be filled with hovering cars and high-tech clothing whereas London has almost gone back in time