2. The opening of this film is very
fast paced and it sets the scene
for the rest of the film.
The scene catches the audiences attention
straight away. It shows that the man gets in
trouble quite a lot and then shows how his
friends are relatively similar.

3. There are two props being used in the film, these are a cigarette and a
football. Just by looking at the cigarette the audience can know that the film
is going to be based around a drugs-used theme. The football represents a
social theme, as although he smokes and takes drugs, he can socialize and be
made to look normal.
The opening introduces all of the main characters. The main character
(Renton) wears unwashed and greasy clothes, which reflects on his lifestyle.
It shows us his style of living, and immediately shows the audience that he
does not look after his self properly. It is set in a city which we can tell is in
Scotland because of the accent. Renton is then shown in a run down flat
which shows us that he is not well off.
There is diegetic sound in the scene which is Lust For Life by Iggy Pop, this
reflects what time the film was made and what was popular at the time. The
narrative in conjunction with the film highlights what the film is about as it
ends with his life choice: heroin. The famous film quote ‘choose life’ suggests
that heroin is his life and creates dramatic potential for the rest of the film
and encourages the audience to watch the rest.
When Renton gets hit by the ball, the scene switches to him falling
backwards by getting hit by the ball, and falling shit backwards when he is
smoking a cigarette. This is a very clever switch as it makes the audience
wonder what will happen next.
I like this scene as it is an exciting opening scene and it makes you want to
watch on. I also like how it sets the scene for the rest of the movie. It
introduces the characters quickly and you immediately know what is going
on.
The lighting in the extract starts of bright as it is daylight in the parts where the
men are running away which suggests that they do not care what time of day they
commit crime, they will do it whenever the opportunity arises so that they can
fund their habit. The lighting in the flat is dark and there is only one small source
of light coming from outside which represents the poor living conditions a serious
heroin addict has as all the can afford to pay for is there next hit. The lighting
when they are playing football is outside at night time and is very dark; whilst
‘ordinary’ people sleep at night so that they are energised for work the next day,
these addicts stay up playing football, this is another representation of the life they
lead.