Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels 

 Opening Titles Textual Analysis 

The first title the audience see is ‘summit entertainment’ this is presented in white lettering against a black background, the typeface is uneven and similar to the font created by a typewriter, this immediately suggests the genre of the film to be crime, it could also indicate the lack of money of the main characters as typewriters are old and generally unused in the current era. The lettering is all lower case, which could be an indication of the uneducated lazy characters Bacon and his partner in crime are supposed to be.

The establishing shot of “Lock, Stock..” is a long shot showing the character Bacon centrally positioned with a crowd of everyday people surrounding him.  The shot is a point of view shot from one of the onlookers. The camera then tracks in closer as a figure quickly passes the camera and another man joins the crowd, resulting in this shot concluding as an over shoulder shot.

This introduces the narrative of Bacon selling goods on a street corner and shows the hustle and bustle of the active street life. The next shot shows a close-up of Bacon and highlights the importance of character,  “Right lets sort the buyers from the spyers, the needy from the greedy and those who trust me from the ones who don’t, ‘cause if you can’t see value here today your not up here shopping your up here shop lifting” this is the first line of Bacon’s persuasive encouraging banter with his potential costumers, this gives the impression he’s a confident outgoing cocky individual and somewhat a London wide boy.

His enticing, jokey sales spiel is then interspersed by the second titles “the steve tisch company” In the same consistent typewriter style font. The scene then cuts back to the action and the close-up pans out tracking back into the crowd, this makes the viewer feel involved and as if they could also be part of the crowd of onlookers. This shot reveals the bland dark colours of the onlooker’s clothes illustrating the bleak mood of a cold wintery day. The shot also highlights the cramped enclosed environment created by the peering customers blocking the view of Bacon.

The third titles then follow “ska films” then follows in the same consistent font. The next shot reveals his a point of view shot from Bacon’s perspective showing the crowd now face on this introduces his “right hand man” as he poses to be a member of the public interested in Bacon’s products, steps forward with a charming cheeky facial expression and exclaims positively “that’s a bargain. A few of the crowd smile and seem more interested, They exchange the first sale which is then followed by the fourth title “a mathew vaughn production” is followed by quick jump cuts revealing people waving money and subsequently plenty of sales happening, the pace of the his banter picks up as he says “that’s It there waking up”. Next a shot looking into the crowd of people shows his partner in crime on the look out anxiously, this suggests the worry of being caught involved in this illegal activity and could also be an indication something is going to happen.

The next title “a guy ritchie film” is employed as non-digetic, high-energy music starts to play, the music starts off with what appears to be a fast paced bass guitar, reminiscent of a drum roll once again an indication of the drama about to happen. The camera pans through the audience as banter continues and money is exchanged for bags. His partner in crime then shouts “bacon, cozers!” An extremely fast camera movement is then shown as the products are tumbled into a suitcase and they make a run for it. Two police men the shortly follow pushing through the customers still left standing there. There is then a long establishing shot of a road as bacon and his partner run around the corner, the mise en scene depicts a typically gritty urban landscape. Cardboard boxes on the curb, an old shut down shop in the background and a bent leaning bollard suggest this is a rundown un-cared for area. The same dull consistent colours such as dirty greens and browns also portrays shabby area. The floor appears to be wet, also reinforcing the drab and dreary mood with pathetic fallacy of rain. The shot tracks the pair as the run down the road and enter what appears to be warehouse or car park. A car barrier, which Bacon immediately confidently leaps over, blocks them and his right hand man clambers under, this could represent the higher status of Bacons character. This is then followed by the police both jumping over the barrier however they do this much slower and more careful way, showing their more reserved characters and perhaps that they aren’t as used to the chase as the criminals are.