Media: similar products to 'the fast lane'

Kidulthood:

Kidulthood is a 2006 drama film about the life of several teenagers in Ladbroke grove and Latimer road area of west London. The story focuses mainly upon Trevor, known as "Trife" (Aml Ameen), and Alisa (Red Madrell) who is pregnant by him. Other characters are less developed. The school bully, Sam Peel (Noel Clarke), is the main antagonist adversary of Trife in the film.

Opening: The film first starts off with the film production credits (music playing in the background), the credits have a simple black background with white bold writing. The film title is then shown after the credits; the letters are stretched out and are in bold. This is primarily done to attract the audience’s attention to the title.

The music in the background is playing at a fast tempo, at the same time the screen is switching from shot to shot showing us different parts of the school and teenagers. By doing this, they increase the atmosphere and build up for the film.

It then goes into a close up of a foot kicking a ball in slow motion. You could say that by doing this they are beginning to introduce the different social groups in the school. There is then a cut to a long shot of a group of teenagers. This is also a first person shot.

It then cuts to another shot of someone putting safety glasses on and then cuts to a close- up shot of a drill. There is then an extreme close up of the end of the drill spinning. This again creates more tension because we are not aware of what will happen next.

We then have a key shot of a girl looking rather upset and worried with a friend next to her. These two people are in focus while the background is out of focus. This is done to keep the viewer’s eyes and focus on the conversation between the two girls and not on the surroundings. They then use a tracking shot on another girl group. There is then a medium still shot of the original group.  Throughout the opening the shots are constantly referring to the football and the drilling.


Link to Kidulthood trailer:

Adulthood:

Adulthood is a 2008 British drama film. It was directed and written by Noel Clarke, who also stars as the protagonist, Sam Peel. Adulthood is a sequel to the 2006 film Kidulthood, which Clarke also wrote. The film begins six years after Sam Peel is released from jail for killing Trife, he realizes that life is no easier on the outside than it was on the inside and he's forced to confront the people he hurt the most. Some have moved on, others are stuck with the repercussions of his actions that night, but one thing's for certain - everyone has been forced to grow up. Through his journey Sam struggles to deal with his sorrow and guilt and something else he didn't expect - those seeking revenge. As he's pursued by a new generation of bad boys, Sam sets about trying to get the message across to his pursuers that they should stop the violence, much like Trife tried to tell him all those years ago.

Opening: Adulthood opens with a long montage showing all the main events in its prequel (Kidulthood). It shows lots of scenes for a shot period of time showing a high paced story. The montage lacks any music or sound until it ends, this may have been done to ensure the audience concentrates on what they see rather than what they hear. The montage shows high levels of violence and the death of a character. The music that begins after the screen is filled with the words “6 years later” is of a UK grime artist, which adds to the authenticity of the UK film. It will also appeal to the films target audience of young people. The screen is then filled with cars with diegetic sounds of traffic, which is a daily reality of life in London. We see a typical UK rave scene showing young people smoking, kissing and drinking, this is what happens in raves and the audience can relate to it. The music being played is that of a popular UK grime artist, which helps add to the realism of the scene. We then see another gang committing criminal activities and showing how people can use weapons in a situation to give them power. The camera then shows two boys running away from an attempted robbery/murder. This happens at many crime scenes in the UK, it shows how young people never want to be held responsible for their actions. The films title is focused on with it being the only text on a black background with a white font. Subsequent to this we see Sam being released from prison showing that criminals will at some point be held accountable for their actions, which contrasts the previous scene. Each character is then introduced individually in their different settings. Jay was introduced whilst having sex with a woman that is not his wife showing the falling levels of morals within the UK’s teenagers and Moony was in his bed not wanting to be awoken, showing the laziness of the teenagers of today.

Link to Adulthood trailer: 

Bullet Boy:

Bullet Boy is a 2005 film directed by Saul Dibb, written by Saul Dibb and Catherine Johnson, and stars Ashley Walters. The film's original music was composed and performed by Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, who released it as an album. The film is about a family in crime ridden east London, the eldest son's involvement in gun crime, and the effects of this on his younger brother.

It is relevant to us as it captured the same audience as the others to do, which is from ages 15 – 24. It captures its target audience by using actors of similar ages, showing characters that can be related to as a result of their background or the words they use and keeping it semi-realistic. This drama came under fire from viewers that believe that it was too unrealistic. This is something that we will have to consider when writing our scripts. If the target audience does not believe what is happening on screen, the film cannot be deemed a success. All 3 films include UK slang (Street Language Terms), UK music and the stereotypical UK dress style. All of these add to their authenticity, if a UK film was full of American music and American slang that nobody used in the UK it would be much harder to relate to the characters in the production and as a result wouldn’t feel realistic or in other words fake.

Opening

Upon being released from prison, Ricky (Ashley Walters) is collected by Wisdom, an eccentric and naive friend who is desperate to establish himself within their neighborhood. Immediately after arriving back, Wisdom accidentally breaks a wing mirror off a car belonging to a local gang member. The following confrontation leads Ricky pulling away Wisdom in an attempt to keep peace. Wisdom later returns a gun to Ricky, who stores it within his bedroom, which is shared with his younger brother Curtis who finds the weapon and hides it away for his brother himself.

Link to Bullet Boy trailer: