Layer Cake, Matthew Vaughn, 2004

This film belongs to the British Gangster/Crime genre as from straight away we have found that out as the start of the opening sequence straight away was the back doors of a van being blown apart with the diegetic sounds of the typical British Gangster accent. The generic expectations are fulfilled as straight away it is being fulfilled as the stereotypical crime scene are portrayed with explosions, large vans and bank robberies. Also the stock characters have all the characteristics of a Gangster genre with the leather coats, disguised faces and shotguns. The text does conform to the characteristics of the genre as in the opening sequence it is all to do with drugs, nothing exactly in the opening is enigmatic and will give a hint that the genre will change as the film will progress, the opening basically is being used as a starting block of a man's life in drugs.

Mise en scene varies from shot to shot in the first scene as it is showing in a chronological order how the use of drugs has moved on in the years, so the stock costumes and characters were changed overtime it progressed, at the first shot it is a bank robbery. It looked like a normal modern robbery if it was not for the use of the cars. The van didn't look anything like the vans we do now and then when it pans to the woman cowering behind the car, it shows it as a car which is normally found in the 1960s. Then as it fades into the next shot of another era, it is pretty obvious within the first few seconds of what era is, the character was very representative of the hippy era, with long hair, headband and smoking cannabis. Then it then cuts to a view of the jail which conveys the meaning that dealing drugs had there consequences. In the prison it shows the hippies are mixing with the criminals which were seen in the first sequence which shows the bank robberies, which can convey that in the end whatever end of the spectrum you are, if they deal drugs, they are criminals. It then moves on to the future, which has shelves full of drugs which are signifying the voice-overs hope in the future as it shows him walking through them all. However the mise en scene is then changed to modern day, where it is still the shelves which were there before, but with just normal pharmacy items. It is then cut to the characters house which is big which can convey that some dealers have a lavish lifestyle.

Camera shots are used well in the first sequence, normally what was happening was a repetitive movement, it starts of as a MCU of the action and then tracks out, then pans across to a BCU of the woman's face, the facial expressions are scared which connotes that she is the victim, then its cuts to a hippy in BCU shot again and then again tracks out, it also seems there is a leading line in all scenes, such as in one scene a bikini clad woman is followed and leads onto another scene. This is used as it gives the audience a feel of what is going on and then pans across as this connotes time moves on as the scenes go in chronological order. The way it moves from scene to scene is through fading in and out, which gives it a smooth cut as it the action is not very active, so there is no need for quick, choppy cuts and the cutting rhythm is very slow. Camera sots to not play a major part in representing the opening sequence, it is more about the representation and ideology.

The sound has two layers along the whole opening the sequence, the aural language is diegetic and non diegetic, there is the voice-over along the whole opening. This voiceover is important as it is telling a story. There is no dialogue amongst this opening sequence, this is probably there is no need for it and it could confuse it all. The soundtrack used in the background sounds very progressive, which compliments the use of the shots of it moving through the years, also seems quite positive which connotes that the voice-over seems to be quite happy.

As it cuts to the actual character it seems he is very confident character, the way he walks is quite quick and forceful when there is an MS, he also seems to have the typical swagger of the gangster. When there is a CU of the face of him, it seems emotionless but with the hint of arrogance in it, which adds an intrigue into the character. He uses quite a lot of visual techniques, such as the start is very strong as there is a large explosion which can attract the audience very quickly, the other visual technique is when it is the shot of all the drugs which are on the shelves and as he walks past them they turn back into everyday items which connotes his dream of having legalised drugs.

The narrative is organised and structured in the way it has as it is giving the introduction first so that there is basic background knowledge to know what is going to be expected further into the film, but enigmatic enough not to give it away, such as in the opening sequence it is giving them a brief history about him and drugs progessing through the years and different social cultures and then the end of the opening sequence it ends with him giving himself a brief introduction so nothing is given away. The audience is positioned as they are being told something which they are oblivious to know what is goign on in the underworld of gangs, so the opening is basic enough for them to understand, however it is keeping to the conventions of gangster. So they are leaving sterotypical gangster attitudes there which the audience will understand. Tension is created from the large explosion from the start which is a major impact, the way it is maintained is the constant movement of the camera and the upbeat music, the camera does not once stop for one second so there is a flow.

In these sequences there is no set social group as it is was not set in a certain time period, it is set out to present all these different social groups which were involved with drugs from hippies to hardened lower class bank robbers, and dealer which live in big houses. The ideology involved in this are that gangsters work is always revolving around drugs, the main theme to do with the opening sequence is drugs, so they keep this rife within all the scenes of the opening sequence. This tells us and the audience a lot about the beliefs and values of the characters in this. The ideological discourse of money in this is evident wth capitalism, they are trying to gain money for their wealth with their own freedom and trying to dodge the law at the same time as their money making schemes involve illegal activities.

The target audience is mainly aimed at young males as the opening sequence as it is very masculine and females would not seem to be very attracted towards it, as all the characters male and the only times females are used are as victims or as in a sexist way. The masculinity of it all makes it more targeted towards the young males as it follows the characteristics of the male target film as there are hard hitting special affects, such as large explosions and conventions such as drugs and a stock character of a confident working age male with a cockney accent which appeals to the males as they wish to relate to these.