Dead Man's shoes - Shane Meadows

"Dead Man's shoes" 

Opening title sequence analysis

The opening title sequence begins with the old video tape with the footage of the main characters' childhood. These shots are being cross-cut and cross-faded with the long static shots of two men (probably brothers) walking in the countryside hills and village paths. The slow-pace of the editing makes the audience realise the speed of life in the village is quite calm and no one is in a hurry there. It is interesting that the resolution ad lighting in the original childhood videos are low and bad, which makes us think the main characters were born in the 1990s. The dissolve during the long shot of the journey makes it clear the brothers were close, in childhood (seen in the overlapped video) they were inseparable. The non-diegetic sound - background music is nostalgic, melancholic and reminiscant with the guitar playing the lead - it sets the ambiance of the scene, promoting the idea that childhood is the happiest time in the person's life. The contrast of dynamics between the original video footage and the shot images of brothers walking hints the audience that the present adult life of these males is not as happy and easy as it was back in their childhood. The establishing shots of the journey show us that the distance to the destination is long and the field they are walking in is deep, vast. The combination of music, mise en scene and video footage makes us think the genre of the film is a drama, a motivational family movie. The fact that the brothers are getting to their old house by foot (not by a car) makes us suspicious, thinking something unpleasant happened. More to that the fact that in the long shot the characters are walking from right to left emphasises that the brothers "are returning, coming back". The clothes the characters are wearing show that they might be polar opposites - one of them was probably in the army, he is strong and organised, meanwhile the second is dressed in a tracksuit, doesn't have a bag and therefore seems unbothered. The brothers are not talking throughout the whole scene which again implies some drama must have happened recently. From the old footage we can see the family wasn't very wealthy, but they were investing all their money into the little brothers, bringing them up in a loving and safe environment. In the finale the music fades out along with the shot fading out as well and the brothers reach their destination.