“Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, Guy Ritchie, 1998

‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ is a typical British Gangster film, incorporating fast paced action with a slick sense of humour. However unlike the film as a whole, the opening sequence does not conform to this genre, there is no swearing or violence in the whole of the opening sequence, and what this does is immediately challenge the audiences expectations of the film. Subconsciously luring them into the plot and storyline and acting almost like an enigma. The opening sequence treats the typical characteristics of the genre playfully, the non diagetic sound is very upbeat, and almost makes the fact that they are committing a crime seem like a bit of harmless fun, even when they are running away from the police. This concept is backed up by the amount of jokes or puns made by Bacon and the voice in which these jokes are delivered, he has a typical cockney accent, and this emphasises the joker ‘laddish’ type of character that he is presented as through. Bacon is the stock character in this opening scene as he is the slick talking, easy going front man of the duo that appear in the film so far and seems to be the leader of the two. We see this through the confidence and charisma that he shows in this sequence, and this presents him as an anti-hero because despite the fact that he is selling stolen goods on a back street corner, he is a very likable character. The stock location in this scene is as already mentioned a London back street corner, as this is typical of British Gangster films that portrays an underground crime world that takes place behind closed doors. These two factors allow the viewer to identify the genre quickly and easily.

The mis-en-scene of the opening sequence is extremely effective in introducing us not only to the characters but also to the genre and type of film it is going to be. For instance the There is a yellow filter used throughout this scene and this immediately makes the viewer realise that it is in the past without them even having to think about it. This then relates to the surrounding area and objects, which not only seems slightly old fashioned but also quite rough. For instance the metal shutter behind Bacon is conventionally linked to the idea of shop owners trying to stop people breaking in, and although this is only the background, we immediately make this link. This could be used to make the viewer relate the character selling goods, to thieves breaking in, making him seem rougher. As the scene progresses there are more and more images that relate to this type of culture, for instance, there is a pub in the background and a lot of building work going on around them, which people relate to the gritty type of London life that this scene is trying to portray. Furthermore, nearer the end of the scene there is some graffiti shown at this again relates to the type of crime underworld that this film represents. Another factor of this scene which is clear, is that the two men are selling these stolen goods in broad daylight and although it is on a back road, they don’t seem to care that much if they get spotted, as long as they don’t get caught. The fact that they are committing this crime in daylight shows that they too have little respect for the law, but this could also signify that they may already have been caught committing crimes and so this is why they do not care about the law. Throughout the opening sequence there are titles and credits cutting in, the font of these credits are as if they have been written on a typewriter. We generally familiarise this type of writing with old police reports, and this helps us to build up this idea about how this film will revolve around criminal activity. There is also quite a lot of iconography within the first scene, which relates to the British Gangster genre. For instance, the stolen goods being sold make the viewer think of crime, and the pub shown in the background makes the viewer think of alcohol, smoking and everything else that goes on inside a pub, which is an element that we naturally relate to the time and culture that his film is set in.

Although within this sequence there is some narration explaining to the viewer about the two main characters, we already know that Bacon, who is selling the goods is going to play a big part in the story, because almost the entire scene is him talking. What is effective about the way he is talking and what he is saying, is that it immediately creates the likeability factor and this helps the viewer to get more into the film. Another thing we notice straight away is Bacon’s appearance; he is a skinhead, which, typical of the 1990s, usually suggests that the person may be quite rough, due to the fashion of the poorer social group within those years. However, what is also very clear is the way in which he is acting, he does a lot of hand gestures and body movements, from this we perceive him to be quite a confident, upfront character. Which reinforces our view of him as an antihero because these are stereotypical attributes of a character playing that type of roll.

The type of camera shots and movements are also very effective within the opening sequence. The first shot we see is a LS, this is done so that the viewer is able to see the crowd that is around Bacon, this crowd around him acts as a leading line that ends at Bacon which helps to focus our attention on him from the start. The rule of thirds is also used in this shot as Bacon is on the upper left hand side of the shot, which again makes sure our focus is on him from the start. This immediately gives Bacon a sense of power within the scene, which is communicated to the viewer to help us realise he is the main character. Pretty much the rest of the scene is a MCU of Bacon, with some other shots of the crowd around him. There is a fast cutting rhythm in this scene as well, and this increases in accordance with the speeding up in the music, adding to the tension. Almost all the camera work used within this first scene where Bacon is selling goods on the street corner is fast cuts between the crown and Bacon and this allows the viewer can get a sense of what is going on around Bacon, but there attention and focus is always brought back to him as the shot cuts back. A steadicam is also used within this scene, and by doing this, the viewer feels more like they are there, especially when the camera is moving through the crowd, this gets the audience more involved in the film and helps to create tension as the action starts to pick up. At the end of the opening scene there is a LS of Bacon and Ed in a low angle shot, this again helps us to see they are important characters because they are placed above where the audience is looking from.

Both the diagetic and non-diagetic sound are extremely effective within the opening sequence. The non-diagetic sound is used to anchor the images that are being viewed on screen, it slowly gets louder and picks up speed throughout until it builds up to the point where the police come, where it breaks out into a fast track. This increasing speed and volume of music, is in sync with a lot of other factors in the film such as the cutting rhythm and speed of Bacon’s dialogue, these factors together help to intensify the feeling of tension being built up. The music as well as the fact that the two main characters of the scene are running away from police back up the idea that they may not be the most law abiding men in the world. The dialogue of the characters is also used effectively, the accent they have is very cockney, and viewers immediately relate this accent to Londoners coming from a rough area. This again signifies to the viewer that these characters might be slightly dodgy, which relates to the on screen action they are seeing; men selling stolen goods on a street corner and then running away from police. The type of language used by the characters helps us to realise, that although they do seem a bit rough, they are also very confident and good at what they do. Bacon is speaking extremely quickly and making a lot of jokes and this helps to create tension, because this technique creates a sound of desperation in his voice, especially when the music picks up and the police come in because as previously mentioned these factors have the same effect.

The narrative of the scene is linear and is simply used to introduce some of the main characters and give us a bit of background information on them. An enigma is established within the first scene through the narration used, we find out a bit about both characters, and this allows us to piece together what might happen, as we find out about Ed’s talent for gambling with cards and we begin to ask ourselves whether he is going to utilize this talent, which urges us to watch more. The audience is based outside of the scene and looking in at what is going on. Ritchie uses the outfits of the characters in the film to help the audience identify the different roles and stereotypes in the film. For instance, the outfit of the policemen connotes the old-fashioned law enforcement, which helps us to see that it is set slightly in the past. Similarly, the skinhead look of Bacon allows us to see that he is going to be the criminal, what we don’t know however, is that although these men are criminals they are also meant to be the characters we see as the good guys, whose side we are on.

Guy Ritchie uses diagetic sound within the scene to help create and maintain the tension. We first start to realise something is about to happen, as the speed at which Bacon is talking, and the pace of the music starts to increase. This suspicion is then confirmed when the police come, and the music breaks in. Ritchie then is able to maintain the suspense by the actions of Bacon and Ed; we see all their possessions madly piled into a suitcase. We then see them running away with the suitcase as if it is important to them, however the next shot is of them, as they throw down the money and products they were selling in an act of desperation to get away. This creates anxiety and worry inside the viewer.

The main social group in this scene is the sort of rough criminal who isn’t a bad person but has no other way of making a living. This is presented in a very stereotypical way, as the actions and language used by Bacon makes it almost seem like he is in a market desperately trying to attract people. He is immediately presented as the good guy and this is due to the dialogue, even though he is the criminal, he is making a lot of jokes and seems like a generally nice guy.
However, possibly a more widespread social group represented in this scene is all people in society who want to seem like they are rich and wealthy, but don’t have the money and so buy products that have clearly been stolen off street corners for less, or like in Bacons case, steal goods and sell them on street corners for less. These people represent those in society who strive for wealth; the ideological discourse of this is based upon the domination of capitalism in our modern day society. It shows how the lives of many people are based on or around wealth, or in this case appearing to have wealth to those around them. This desire of people in our society is represented in a bad way as it shows how it can often to lead to crime.

When the narrator starts speaking in this scene, he has an extremely low voice. However the most important thing is that this voice is indeed a male. In a lot of Guy Ritchie’s films, there are almost no women, and you get this sense immediately even in the opening sequence, both the main characters are male, the policemen are male, and the narrator is male. This represents the way in which this underworld of crime is stereotypically associated with men, which conforms to the traditional views about criminals in society throughout all of time and film making especially. However, if we look deeper, we can see that this has further connotations, a lot of this film revolves around money and making money, although not making money in the traditional sense, and this reinforces the traditional idea that women should not get involved in business and should stay at home and take care of family whilst the men work.

The target audience of this film is mainly males, due to the storyline and modern day issues it addresses. The preferred reading is that it is a gangster film, but has also got comedy in as well and so has a combination of qualities that will appeal to a certain audience. However, the negotiated reading is that although it is a well-made film, the humour and action is neither funny nor entertaining and so it is not an enjoyable film. I personally found the film very entertaining, although it was set in the 1990s, the culture and storyline it focuses on still exists, and so it is easy to relate to. Although this is an exaggerated version of this culture, that adds to the humour which again improves the film.