Textual Analysis of Adulthood

1. Bayo Textual Analysis Adulthood
Name of Film:Adulthood
Director:Noel Clarke
Release Date:June 20th
2008
Genre:Crime,Drama
The name of the filmwhichIwill be directingistitledAdulthood,afilmwrittenanddirectedbyNoel
Clarke,fromthe Crime andDrama Genre.Thisfilmwas releasedonJune 20th
2008. This filmisa
sequel tothe previousfilmKidulthood. The controversial contemporarydramathatdepictedinner-
cityLondon life foragroup of adolescents.SamPeel hasjustservedsix yearsforkillingayouthand
nowhe isa free man.But life isn'tanyeasieronthe outside,because onthe streetshe isforcedto
confrontthe people he hurtona dailybasis - and someone isafterrevenge.
Narrative:
Torodovsnarrative theory.
Torodovsnarrative theoryoutlinesthatmoststoriesandfilms’plotlinesfollow the same patternor
path,in thistheorythere are 5 steps.
1. The firstpart of the story iscalled‘equilibrium’.Thiswillbeginwith everyone andthe
equilibriumof the filmcalmandgentlyflowing,aswithmostmovies.The majorityof
characters are contentand everythingisasitshouldbe.
2. Secondthere isa disruption.Thisisthe disruptionof the equilibrium.Thiscanoccur by
someone beingkilledinthe beginningof the movie ora gunshot,anexplosionetcetera.In
explanationdisruptingthe calmflow of the films’equilibrium.
3. Thirdis called‘realisation.’Thismeansthateveryonerealisesthe problemandknow which
actionsneedtobe takento fix itinorderto restore the properequilibrium.
4. Fourthis ‘restored order’.Thisindicatesthatthe charactersattemptto repairthe damage
and restore the lostequilibrium.Forexample ahostage situationinapolice movie,the
police make take outor arrest the thugsin orderto restore ordera resetthe equilibrium.
5. Lastlythe equilibriumisrestoredandeverythinginthe filmisasit shouldbe inexplanationa
‘newequilibrium’.
Levi Strauss’sTheoryof binaryoppositions.
Strausswas a Frenchanthropologistwholivedinthe early1900’s. He believedthatthe waywe
understandcertainwordsdependsnotsomuch onany definition,theythemselvesdirectlycontain,
but muchmore byour understandingof the difference betweenthe wordandits‘opposite’or,ashe
calledit‘binaryopposites’.
Anotherexampleincludesourunderstandingof the word‘villain’dependsonthe difference
betweenthatwordandthe opposingword‘hero’.Withinthe mediafield,binaryoppositionsinthe
horror genre.Manyhorror filmsinclude setsof binaryoppositionsintheirplots.Particularlygood
and evil,sane andinsane,rational andirrational andhumanandsupernatural.

2. Bayo Textual Analysis Adulthood
BinaryOppositionsinAdulthood.
From watchingthe trailerof Adulthoodwe immediatelysee thatthere are multiple binary
oppositionsandtheyall includeSam.One example includesSamandthe boyswho have beenhired
to kill him,anotherisSamand Alyssaasshe still hateshimforkillingTrife inthe previousfilm. There
ismore suchas Lexi and the girlswhoworkwithher insultingherandhercousin.Lastlythere is
binaryoppositionbetweenSamandTrifesuncle whowantstokill himandwe see flashbacksof
Trifesuncle hurtingSamwhile injail andSamdisplaysthe scarsas evidence toshow Jaywhathe has
beenthroughas there isalsoa binaryoppositionbetweenSamandJay.
The narrative of thismovie isopensince the movie tellsthe story,howeverthere are flashbacks
throughouttoshowSam’s time injail andhow he wasabusedbyTrifesuncle andotherinmates.
Sam’stime injail wasdifficultandisof course useful forthe audience tosee togive usa better
understandingastowhySam has a differentmentalitywhenhe comesof jail comparedtohis
previousyearsasa teen.
The narrative isrestrictedsince we donot know whoiskilledorwhocommitssuicide,sinceinthe
previousfilmagirl hangsherself andTrife iskilled.Sothe audiencefollowsSamthroughthe filmand
knowswhathe knowsat the time he receivesinformationorhaslearnedsomethingnew.
Jay isimmediatelyknowntothe audience asa clearproduct of the environmentwhere thisfilmis
set,whilsthe issellingdrugstoa universitystudentandhisfiancé,histone andwayof speaking
immediatelyhighlightshischaracterandattitude inthe movie,forexample:‘Putyourhanddown,
your baitingme outblud!’
Genre CodesandConventions.
The characters of thisgenre are typical,since the waytheydress,act,talk andtheirchoice of slang.
The filmgenre isalsoobviousdue tothe locations andsettingof the film, thisislocationinanurban
communitywhere crime andillegal activitiesregularlytake place.Alsochoiceof clothing:suchas
dark hoodiesandcapsor snapbacksbaggy trousersandlow-batty(wearingtrousersbelow the waste
leavingtheirunderpantsvisible) asthisstyle ismostlypracticedinLondonthe wayinwhichtypical
gangsterswoulddress.Alsothe constantuse of the slangword‘blud’(mostcommonlyusedin
London) suggesttheyare froma lowclass community.
The costumesof the charactersare regularlywornbyteenagers
and youngadultsinLondon.The costume that Mooney (Onthe
left) wearsinthisfilmchallengesstereotypesandhow youngblack
adultsdress.‘Mooney’isthe onlyone fromthe original cast(Cast
of Kidulthood) thatappearstowearformal clotheswhile Jay (On
the right) still lookslike he hasachildishmentalityandhasn’t
reallymaturedsince leavingschool.
The rest of the charactersalso dressinan informal waywhichis
typical of the genre to have characters that are have an urban
background.

3. Bayo Textual Analysis Adulthood
The facial expressionsof the charactersthroughoutthe filmare regularlyangry
and thisisalsotypical of a crime/dramagenre. Criminalactivitiesoftenhappen
whenfeelinganemotionof angeror distressandthese emotionsare shown
on the characters facesthroughout.
The story line isalsoseentobe typical to some viewers since gangsandstreetswill revolve around
murderand drugs,respectetcetera.The filmgenre isalsotypical tothe way that the characters act
for example,frowning,shoutingetcetera.
The story line istypical in termsof the genre.Crime & drama genresare mostlikelytobe setinthe
streetandhave weaponsanddangerouspeople involved.
Analysisof 2-3 minextract.
The 2-3 minute extractIhave chosen hasavarietyof shottypessuchasclose ups,longshots,extreme
close ups,trackingshotsandpointof view shots.There are also avarietyof anglesusedinthisextract
such as eye levelangles andlowangle shots. Differentclose upsare verytypical of the genre because
they are regularly used when a character has a weapon in their hand and are about to use it.
Sam triesto run upstairsafterbreakinga formercell matesarm butthengoes the opposite direction
when he hears armed police burst into the house. He then run into the toilets and locks the door to
preventthe policefromentering.Whenthepolice enterthe houseandputall the peopleinthe house
to ground the angle changes from an eye level to low angle to show who is superior in this scene.
There isalso an extreme close upof whenSamistryingto wipe hisgun
to getrid of his fingermarksonit. This allowsthe audience tosee his
specificactionsandhow desperate andeagerhe isto getrid of his
fingerprints. Extremelyclose upsare regularlyusedincrime genre’sto
particularlymake the visualsclearbecause everythingishappeningat
such a quickspeed.
There is also a close upon Sam’sface whenhe isfirstentersthe toilet
and locksthe door.From hisfacial expressionwe cansee thathe feels
helplessandisinall typesof destress.Thisshotwasusedto capture the
facial expressionsof Samtorepresentandforthe audience tointerpret
the emotionshe mayfeel.Thisiscommonly usedin Crime/Drama
genre’ssothe audience knowthe state of the characters whenparticipatinginsuchanactive scene.

4. Bayo Textual Analysis Adulthood
Thisscene alsocontainsPOV (Pointof view) shots whenSamfirstacknowledgesthe window and
whenhe runstowardsthe window.Thisallowsthe audiencetovisualise beingthe characterandfeel
participantinthisscene.Thisiscommoninthisgenre mostlytoshow the characterssightand what
iscatching theirattentionata particularmoment.
Duringthisscene there isa trackingshot whenSamescapesfromthe house andis runningfromthe
twoofficersstandingthe window.Thisshowsthe journeyof hisescape andhow the distance from
the police officersgetsbiggerandbigger.There isalsoa longshotthat is usedwhenSamisrunning
away fromthe police.Thiswasusedtoshow the distance fromSamand the Police.Italsogivesthe
audience anunderstandingof theirsurroundings.
Duringthisscene there isnon-diegeticmusicplayinginthe background.A mixture of guitars,drums
and female vocalsispresentwhenSamisrunning.Thisintensifiesthe situation.Non-diegeticmusic
istypical of a crime & drama genre because itaddstensionstoaggressive scenes.
The editinginduringthisextractisfastpacedwitheachclip approximatelylasting2-3secondstoshow
the intensityof the situation. This contributes to informing the audience about how dramatic and
intense the scene is,forexample,there isaclipof Sam staringat the window he isplanningtouse to
escape.The camerazoomsintohisface aftereveryloudbangmade bythe policewhentryingtobreak
downthe doorwhichwas editedthiswayto increase the awarenessof how much tensionthere isin
thisscene. Thisistypical of acrime genre asintensesituationsregularlyoccurinthisgenre butmostly
involving fire arm.
The settingsof thisscene isina house where drugsdealsare made thisis a locationistypical for
police toraid whichwasa good choice forthe setting.The propsusedinthisscene are gunswhichis
extremelycommonforacrime & drama genre andthiscontributestothe codesand conventionsof
the genre.