Peaky blinders season one opening sequence analysis
Budget: undisclosed
The cast of season 1: Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, joe cole as john Shelby, paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby, Helen McCrory as Polly gray, harry Kirton as Finn Shelby, Annabelle Wallis as grace burgess, Sophie rundle as ada Shelby, Sam Neil as the inspector Campbell and Charlie Creed-Miles as Billy Kimber.
Summary of the opening sequence
The opening scene of peaky blinders in a chinese market which really contrasts to the location of the series which is birmingham, the design of the set really helps give this effect that there are many different communities within birmingham. It is only when we then see Thomas Shelby trotting down the road do we see the real life of the birmingham streets as well as the poverty that is rife on the streets we see him on his horse which was shot from a High angle showing the audience that Thomas Shelby is feared as well as also connotes that he has a lot of power so the people want to show their respect so they're not on his bad side and all the people fleeing to hide are powerless and vulnerable.
Thomas shelby doesn’t get off the horse at all to represent his authority and wealth in birmingham and this connotes that round Birmingham he is known to all people of different classes in birmingham, even later we see the police saying ‘good morning Mr Shelby’ that represents the police fear him and may be on the take from him as well. When the chinese woman in the market blows the red dust in the face of the horse it's like the opening of the series and gives us a hint of what is to come as well as the bright colours contrast really well to the dull and dark streets of birmingham, this can also create enigma throughout the audience as the colour red has many different meanings for example danger and love so it leaves the question could these be the main themes of the series and sets the tone for the series. We Later see Tommy shelby walking down the Docks by the river in birmingham and putting some money into a pot held by a blind man lead by a dog, this represents Thomas has money and is generous as well as respects the men who have been blinded by the war which has caused him so much pain this could denote the war has ruined many lives and tommy shelby can relate to that as he lost a lot of his friends during the war again we see that Thomas Shelby is the only one on a horse when trotting down the street which shows his extra wealth as well as wearing a very expensive(at the time) suit and matching flat cap, this compared to everyone else who is dirty and their clothes are the only ones they have really shows the poverty crisis in birmingham as well as we can see the Bsa factory early on in the series this is put their to show many men and women are of the working class and work very hard just to be able to eat at the end of the day. The Music in the opening cleverly uses percussion which emulates voices to help symbolise the hard times in birmingham where most of the people are working class. As well as jeremiah he is the only black person in this opening scene which represents that there weren’t many black people in the uk around at that time and the ones who were, were preachers this symbolises how times have changed from pre war birmingham
Cinematography
The camera angles used in peaky blinders are very fast and widespread as we can see in the very first shot the director has started with two of the actors running towards the camera this has been done to show the tension is high from the start as we see the actors in some distress. As well as later we see a close up shot of one of the men in the chinese market this has been done to show the motion in the actors face at the time he hears that tommy shelby has come to see them the scene then cuts to black and we then see a low panning angle to show the fact tommy shelby is riding around on a horse whereas others are not so privileged to own these things in the mainly working class of birmingham as well as it helps portray the power of tommy shelby as a character as we can see it shows him as looking very high and powerful and him looking down on the people. Furthermore we then see a cut of several wide shots which gives us this first person perspective of the people in the village watching and cowering in fear of the very powerful tommy shelby this helps the audience get a sense of how it was like to actually be there in the situation and really conveys the true tension in the scene. After tommy shelby has finished his business with the men in the cinese market we see multiple wide angles which helps us establish the setting of the series and truly shows the hard times of the birming streets.
Mise en scene
The setting itself does tell us a lot about the theme and genre of the movie as we can see it is back in time due to the props and technology as well as the nature and presence of tommy shelby in the series depicts that he is a very powerful with roots in crime. These men were at war for 4 years and realised there skills would better be used in crime rather than working in a factory like every other man in birmingham. In addition, the series is set in a very difficult financial time for anyone who wasn't a capitalist owner, and before the war the shelby’s were the same. As well as the uprise of many political groups started to begin for example communism which was a huge problem for the government in the series. The music used in the series has a very old and eerie sound to it which could help depict the rest of the series and its narrative to the audience as well as we can hear many many non diegetic sounds in the background which convey the industrial revolution is taking place, for example the sounds of a train moving on tracks and the flick of lighters in the background as we not many people in the early 1900s smoked as it was cheap and helped cope with the pain of coming back from the war. One of the most significant props seen in the opening sequence is the horse tommy shelby rides around on for most of the first 4 minutes. Firstly the use of the horse tells us much about the setting as we can see this was before the time of cars and although trains had been invented horses were the only main way of getting around at the time as well as it shows the wealth and power of the character Tommy Shelby before we have even fully introduced to him, because of this we are immediately made aware of the time the series is set in which the audience can guess would be the early 1900s as if the series was set in the present day you would not normally see a man riding a horse on the street , except for recreation. It is immediately clear that Tommy Shelby is riding a horse at a time when doing so was commonplace amongst the powerful people as many working-class people could not afford money nevermind being able to buy a horse . The idea of a workhorse conveys images of industry once again and shows a country that is facing the after-effects of the first world war . For centuries horses were one of the most important tools of industry they would be used to do many jobs like to power machinery and even were used in the wars to help the injured get medical attention sop this is very significant as it shows the background of the main character before the story has even dug into his character yet.
Sound
During the opening scene in Chinatown, we see and hear Chinese characters speaking what is most likely Chinese, this is an important instance of Diegetic sound as it reinforces the idea that these people are immigrants who came into the UK searching for a people life than what it was in their home country. This contributes a lot to the series as it presents a more realistic portrait of Birmingham in the early 20th century, having the Chinese actors speak English would of been too simplistic and taken away from the atmosphere of the hustle and bustle of the Chinese market during that period of history, as the writers and directors are trying to present Birmingham accurately as it was back in the early 20th century as Birmingham was a very popular place with lots of immigrants and even natives of the UK city we can also see their is a view African descendants who have came to the UK as well which shows how people thought of the UK at the time as it was a place where people's lives could be made better, which means the different languages we hear throughout the whole 4 minutes helps convey the genre of a historical crime drama series. After the opening scene which takes place in Chinatown, there is a cut; then we fade in from black before we see Shelby or the horse on which he rides we can hear the sound of the horses hooves, stopping on the muddy streets of Birmingham these sounds could have been made by foley sounds to help create a sense of realism to the audience as the footsteps are important in showing who has power and who doesn't so the louder the horse trots the tenser the atmosphere starts to become. This is a significant sound within the frame and adds meaning to the scene. In fact, it reinforces an idea I discussed earlier that Shelby is above the law and is someone who doesn't follow the rules during and corrupt times in which he lives which shows how the series is going to pan out as we see the people of Birmingham have a true fear of him and would not be willing to tell the police about his unlawful actions. The stylish stomping of the horse and their hoofs are symbolizing how the horse itself combined with the small touches like the Diegetic sound which is enhanced by foley sound the horse's hooves immediately symbolize for us who Tommy Shelby is and what his character is all about. Another moment of Diegetic sound which adds meaning to the scene is when we hear the breathing of a small child which could be heard after the residences of the street scatter into hiding from Tommy Shelby as they don't want to see his wrath or get in his way, the writers and directors have done this to raise the tension in the scene as we as an audience have no idea about any of the characters which starts to create enigma because we wonder why are these people so scared of one man as well as who is this feared and respected man and what is he doing on this small street in the middle of Birmingham, what has he done to the people in the community which has installed the fear in them, was it something bad? These are all types of enigma code questions the viewer may ask when watching this part of the opening scene. The reason this is important is that the small boys breathing in have raised and emphasized the tension because he clearly is frightened by Tommy Shelby and poses the question should we the viewer be too.
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