Research into War genre

  Research into War genre opening scene

(0.39-2.00) The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, is a British-American 2008 historical tragedy war film set in World War II. Directed by Mark Herman and written by John Boyne (novel) and Mark Herman (screenplay). This film was produced by Miramax, BBC Films and Heyday Films and was released on 12th of September 2008 (UK) , and had the budget of $12,500,000. The grossing of the film was $9,046,156 and the worldwide gross was $40,416,563. The audience that this movie would be best suited for would be teens and adults as it a strong and powerful movie and gets across an important message.

 This opening scene begins with an extreme close up of the Nazi flag that slowly zooms out, from this we are aware that this is set in Germany in 1942 during World War II, during the time of the Holocaust. This sets the narrative of the film and tells us that is it about the War which further emphasises that this is a War genre movie. The sound that is used to open this opening scene is light and delicate and a gentle piano playing, with diegetic sound added to it of children playing with one another and footsteps of people running and walking. 

The main characters of this film are Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis and Rupert Friend. As the clip begins we are slowly introduced to one of the main characters (Asa Butterfield) through a slow zoom in and tracking camera movements from an establishing shot of him running through the streets of Germany with 3 of his friends pretending they are airplanes. 

We are aware that this young boy is one of the main characters as he has appears to have a longer screen time than the other boys and he seems to appear more often in the first clips. The use of their clothing and the people they are surrounded by further emphasises the time period and when/where this was set. 

As this clip continues we are then introduced to a house and of what seems to be a middle-class/upper-class house with workers working in the house. This clip is portrayed through an extreme long shot to attempt to get everything in the frame, and an establishing shot, so the viewer is aware that this is being filmed in a house.

The last scene of this clip is focused on a woman, who seems to have a high status and comes across as important due to how she is dressed and being treated by individuals. She is introduced by a long shot to show us the entire body of the subject and tracking movements as she is walking into a house, the use of the rule of thirds in this clip brings more focus and attention to this character. As she enters the house she is portrayed through a high angle as she walks up the stairs which shows the viewer that she is vulnerable and powerless. Due to the scenery and the house layout, the audience are able to tell that this was set in the 1940s.

 Overall this is a very well produced opening scene and provides a clear understanding of the genre of this film (War), and provides a brief understanding of what it could be about and who it could be about.