Research; Film Opening (SHOTTAS)

Shottas is a 2002 Jamacian crime film about two young men who participate in organised crime in Kingston, Jamacia and Miami, Florida. The opening of this film follows the conventions of film openings for example, the opening starts off with the distribution logos that is "TRIUMPH FILMS AND DESTINATION FILMS PRESENT", followed by the production logo that is "A LUCKY BASTARD FILM PRODUCTION" and other logos. The directors name is then shown as "A CESS SILVERA FILM", in a gritty and edgy font. The logo was made to look edgy and strong as I believe that it reflects on the story line of the film. After this music is then played as the title of the film "SHOTTAS" is shown. It is shown on a black background and the font is white. This could have been done to show that some sort of conflict will happen in the film as as black and white are complete opposites.The music used is "Welcome To Jamrock" by Damien Marley. This is effective as it shows the audience that the film is set in Jamaica. The title is shown to be edgy and bold yet again. It uses the same font as the production and distribution logos. They are all in capital letters to connote that it is a crime film. The music still plays as the actors names begin to appear in the same font as the camera pans over the city of Kingston in a mixture of black and white and colour. Crew details are then shown in the same font. Overall, the order of  the "Shottas" opening credits is distribution logos, production logo, directors name, title of the film and then the actors names.


Editing is used to reflect on the nature of the film, an example of this is the sections that are shown the black and white. These parts are in a fast pace and are also edgy and bold. This shows the audience that it is a fast paced action film. The switching of black and white to colour shows the audience who's side they should be on or who the main characters are. For example the main characters are shown in colour, whereas the "villains" are shown in black and white as it connotes a sense on danger. It also creates a sense of dramatic irony as the audience know that something bad is about to happen. The film uses intertextuality as many other films start off with the present and then proceed to go into a flashback and then go back to that present day, an example of this is the film Titanic.