The film starts by showing the producers of the film ‘Mean Machine’, Paramount and SKA. This establishes prestige and advertisement value in the film industry. The first section of audio is a slashing sound and bass line played over the SKA visual.
Then next scene is filmed in the style of a commercial advertisement. There is a fast zoom into a golden Umbro logo, with a drone in crescendo to breakaway from the opening producers and begin the film with an impact. The main character (Vinnie Jones), dressed like James Bond turns and addresses the camera whilst aiming on handgun down the lens. This connotes action and James Bond allowing the audience to relate and enjoy the comedy. A new character appears, dressed in a white knee length coat like a scientist and says, “Don’t touch anything” after revealing a table of gadgets. Jones sees a football and a pair of Umbro football boots. There is a close up of these items, a pack shot advertising the brand, and then a MLS of Jones holding them. He puts the ball down and, whilst wearing the boots, kicks the ball (there’s a CU of his foot making contact with the ball) into a parked car, causing it to explode. From the moment he kicks the ball there are many quick cuts in shots with a LS showing the overall explosion and a CU of the explosion. The purpose in this quick-cut technique is to quicken the pace to match the action on-screen.
When the Umbro advertisement ends, the camera zooms out and turns, revealing an apartment and then the main character slouched in a chair drinking spirits. He also makes a sarcastic remark. The shot cuts to him walking with a bottle of beer in his hand and then driving a sporty convertible car at high speed. These actions begin to portray the character as a washed-up superstar. Over these visuals the opening credits begin with the upbeat and current (2001) soundtrack.
The police start chasing him and a siren sounds, adding to the action. We then see him in the pub asking for a “large whisky”, indicating that he has personal issues to sort out. In this pub scene most shots are MS with artificial indoor ambience lighting. The police follow him in and arrest him, with Jones assaulting them whilst joking around, adding to the comedic aspect of the film.
The shot cuts to a blackout with only audio from a radio, which informs the viewer of the character’s background and current situation. He is in a moving van so we see moments of light, clearly from lampposts outside, illuminating his face, now showing misery and gloom. This lighting indicates entrapment and social hierarchy i.e. the police are above the superstar. With the radio still playing we are shown the violence in the prison being surprised. Again, the use of quick cut editing and CU creates a lively and tense atmosphere. The overlaying footage grading is slightly grey/blue to create an eerie feeling, along with the sinister music.
The journey ends and we hear dogs barking, heavy rain, an alarm sounding and the movement of an opening barred gate. When Jones steps out the police van he is crowded by several police officers and then there is a CU of a barking vicious looking dog. A police officer, with a trunction in hand, yells instructions at him violently. Jones only nods, frowns and glances up at the building in front. A low angle LS pan shows the prison building with its many barred up windows. The shot the cuts to a frame in a frame silhouette of a disturbing sounding character inside the prison, looking out at the new arrival. He then talks adding to the tension.
As we follow Jones into the prison building we see many more prison guards standing in the courtyard and the gate entrance to the building. There is a high angle LS showing Jones pass through the barred gates and a text overlay highlighting that this film is based on another film called ‘The Longest Yard”. This allows the audience to relate this film to the other film giving them expectations of the film to come.
As Jones collects his new clothes and signs various forms, there is an overlaying drone continuously presenting a tense atmosphere.
A slide transition changes this shot to a LS of them walking down a corridor. A CU reveals the anxiousness on his face and shows to prison guards walking just behind to either side. Before he enters the main part of the prison, the audience is shown some of the people inside so that we know what happens before the main character does. This adds to the wafer thin tension evoked by the film.
A low angle POV shot shows Jones walking up the stairs into a long room, filled with prisoners pointing, shouting and cursing violently at him. As he walks down the corridor we hear shouts of anger towards Jones and we see his reactions to these insults by the cutting to CUs.
The scene cuts to a CU of the Chief Commissioner of the prison. There is a contrast in sounds, angered crowds to quiet conversation and a contrast in visuals, claustrophobic high angle shots to slow moving MS and CU eye level shots. These binary opposites present the juxtaposed classes in the film, the prisoners and the law.
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