BULLET BOY

How are cinematography and editing used to create meaning in rio`s shooting?

In bullet boy rio getting shot is an important scene in the film. It is a test of both Rio and Curtis friendship; will Rio forgive curtis for shooting him? Also through editing and cinematography questions and enigmas arise of who is bullet boy in the film.

The scene opens with a long shot of the setting which shows the audience that Curtis and Rio havea sense of freedom through the open space of fields. This is a contrast to the estates and blocks of flats, which links to the binary opposition of urban vs rural. The camera movement in an up and down motion shows the excitement of the two children. This is because they have Ricky`s gun and play a childish game, hide and seek. This is a link to Ricky and wisedom because they`re hiding in a car park from Godfrey, While Godfrey`s crew are seeking them out. The long shots of the white hourse and the quick editing of to the children show something is going to happen. The connations of white is pure however due to them holding a gun, there is an irony factor of the young kids stuck in the cycle of violence.

Concluding on, a point of view shot was used before Rio`s shooting. This added tension to the scene but also put the audience in rio`s shoes.This is a good way of including the audience into the narrative. The director used long shots or slow paced editing, this adds to the tension as well because we can see every little detail in the scene.

After the shooting the camera focuses on Curtis which asks the question who is bullet boy. This is because throughout the film Curtis is potrait as innocent compared to his older brother Ricky. We as the audience wouldn`t associate Curtis with a gun or shooting his best friend. We could see it was an accidental shooting as Curtis runs and calls for help. The close up of his feet shows this as when your in panic you run faster and the pace of his moving feet were rapid. This is a contrast to the slow editing which is a build up to the shooting, and the reaction of the shooting. There was a long shotof Rio which shows us that even though he got shot he is not the main protagonist of the film.

We saw the immediate reaction through the cinematography as the camera movement was fast and quickly spun around to show panic. This made the scene more realistic as it catches the natural reaction of someone in that situation.