Green Street Hooligans Opening

Green Street Hooligans
The film opens with a close-up shot of the character we later find out to be named Matt Buckner. The lighting used is low key, half of his face is lit and the other half is in shadow. The camera slowly eases in to the character’s face to zoom in on his emotion.

This shot cuts to a medium long shot of the character which reveals to the audience the character’s physique, how he dresses and some of his surroundings. The props used such as his backpack suggest he’s travelling somewhere. A small American flag can be seen on the check-in desk which tells the audience Matt is in America and possibly an American.
The woman behind the desk who briefly enters the shot is another prop used to make the scene realistic. The camera avoids showing the woman’s face as she directs matt, this shows she isn’t significant in the scene and all the focus is on matt. The opening music is introduced here along with the titles. The music is quite a calm song which creates a relaxed mood to the opening. The titles of the actor’s names are displayed in a simple white text and are placed in the dark areas of the shots to stand out. For example the first two titles are superimposed over Matt’s body as he is wearing a dark coloured jacket.

The following shot is a more of a mid-shot where the camera focuses on what Matt takes out of his bag. The camera is moving in this shot to follow matt’s actions as he places money on the counter. The next shot reveals more of the setting and the large sign behind the desk saying “international ticket desk” suggests matt it at an airport. This is confirmed by the long shot of the airplane taking off with sky scrapers in the background. From the buildings the audience might be able to tell that it’s New York.

There is a long-shot of Matt walking through the terminal accompanied by a voice-over where the character introduces himself to the audience. We learn his name and that he was kicked out of Harvard University therefore we assume he is an intelligent person but perhaps troubled. The lighting and colour throughout the opening scene are very natural to create a realistic look similar to the style of a documentary.