Boyz in the Hood

The movie is set in 1984. The main character, Tre, and the environment he lives in is introduced in the following scene:

Camera 

D

I

S- A black neighborhood, in the 1984. A lot of people, who the movie was intended for, lived and remembered the oppression black people faced from both, police and white citizens. At the time, racism was still prominent and so the time period and setting are extremely important to the plot of the story 

T-Important themes which can already be picked up right from the opening scene are "Overcoming the odds", because the main character, Tre, is clearly stuck in a bad place and to get out of his violent neighbourhood he would have to overcome many obstacles. Another important theme is "violence". From the very beginning of the movie, gunshots can be heard, and throughout the opening scene, more violence can be witnessed, such as the fight between Tre and another boy, the blood, going yellow, on the ground and someone being beaten up on the street.

I-A good example of an icon is the black superhero Tre is drawing, it symbolises hopefulness for a world of equal opportunities

N-  The plot revolves around Tre and his journey into adulthood, on which he has to overcome a lot of obstacles such as living in a bad neighbourhood .

C- Tre, teacher, three kids he walked with, his mother

T-Zooming in on the 'stop' sign at the beginning of the film to create a foreboding atmosphere.

Mise en scene

C- Tre is wearing something that isn't typical of kids of that time period, which can be seen from comparing him to other kids in his class. Whereas other kids in Trey's class are wearing informal clothes, Tre is wearing a suit which separates him from the other kids and makes him seem smarter and more mature.

L- throughout the opening scene, natural lighting seems to be used. While the kids are walking to school the sky looks bleak and grey, providing enough for the audience to be able to clearly decipher everything on the screen, while at the same time setting a foreboding  atmosphere

A- The film follows a young boy, who experiences a rough upbringing. Many people would feel close to the child actor because they know his backstory and what he went through, which creates an intimate relationship between the audience and the cast

M- No make-up used for effect

P- Props such as the police line and the stop sign, as well as the poster of the president all represent the fight to end oppression against black people. At the beginning, a plane can be seen flying over the stop sign and the police line is crossed, showing that even though there are many restrictions, they can be destroyed. The poster of the president has many bullet holes in it and is flipped off by a black boy.

S- The scene is set during daytime, however, this does not make the opening seem safe because despite the good lighting, the background sounds of shootings and police sirens create a nonchalantly dangerous scene, almost as if the characters are so used to it, it doesn't matter

Sounds

M-When the children are about to enter the alleyway and cross the police line,  a mysterious, quirky music is playing, building up suspense of what they are about to discover  

C- No contrapuntal music

D- Diegetic sounds such as dogs and police sirens, non-diegetic: music

O- Off-screen, police sirens can be heard, as well as gunshots and people cursing and shouting. 

V- No voiceover

E- The children seem almost nonchalant towards the whole unsafe environment they are in. Their reaction to blood is not as shocked as the audience would expect them to be, they seem to be quite collected, more like teenagers than kids

D- Tre's speech sounds more sophisticated than that of his peers and his mother also seems well educated. 

Editing

S- Tre, as the main character, gets the most screen time. They also span for quite a few seconds over the drawings of young children, growing up in a harsh environment, whose imagination seems to be filled with violence and fear

T- An interesting transition is when the shot goes from the blood to the drawings, which suggests there is violence even in a place like a primary school, which is actually supposed to be safe

O- Chronological, the opening scene (4 minutes) would only, in fact, be about 4-5 hours long in real life

P- At the beginning, with the gunshots, sirens and cursing, the pacing is fast but then it slows and stabilises, only to be occasionally interrupted by  bouts of violence such as the fight in school

S- No special effects used