Julianne Arnstein
In the very first scene of Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 1/5/07, Japan, U.K., and U.S.) we see several special effects followed by one big one. Although this scene leads to the most important effect, it is important to know about the smaller ones that come before it for a sense of background. Clive Owen walks into a coffee shop and walks out. On his way out we see massive screens on the sides of buildings, playing advertisements or advising the public to report suspicious activity (as seen below). This is the first special effect of the scene: using green screens. Intricate sets were built for Children of Men so that green screens did not have to be used for the general surroundings. Then we see Clive Owen about to drink his coffee when the shop he was just in blows up. Now this is the highly coordinated special effect. These special effects were used to enhance the reality of this future and to show us what kinds of things happen in this future.
The film’s position on technology is very obvious in this first scene: it is bad. We come out of the coffee shop and see dirty streets and giant screens only to experience an explosion two seconds later. We see the “wonders” of future technology and then see its horrible and destructive technology in the same scene. We are given a taste and it is yanked away. Having this scene be the first was perfect placement. The audience is immediately aware that this is a serious film and that the future will not be good in it. Then, in the aftermath of the explosion, we are left with a brief image of what looks like a woman holding her blown off arm (seen below). Before we can be sure about the image the film cuts to the title. Now, everyone is ready to see the film. Everyone is in the right state of mind to continue.
Let’s take a closer look at the explosion (seen below). According to the special features on the DVD, this scene needed extreme coordination. The explosion was not real so it would not affect the surrounding area. Windows and the giant screens had to implode at the same time as the explosion. In the image below glass is breaking in the background, but the explosion was not strong enough to cause this because it was fake. So the destruction was fake. Explosions are always the hardest special effect to set up. You cannot just explode something with real fire, but a fake setup with dust will not cause the same destruction. Destruction must be simulated.
This scene was very important to the entire film. Sometimes the first scene in a film is something forgetful or something to play the credits over, but Alfonso Cuaron wanted to make an impact and set the tone right at the beginning. Since explosions do not happen near us every day, they are like fantasy to us. And when we see explosions in blockbuster movies the fire and flames are still fantastical. Cuaron wanted to stray away from this. Instead of an explosion being “cool” it is shocking, like a real explosion. He wanted the audience to feel the effect of a real life explosion. The explosive special effect at the beginning of Children of Men was used to show the audience a new reality where technology is not friendly.
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