Top boy

Opening scene of  TopBoy: Episode one series one

(the first five minutes)

TopBoy is a 2011 British television drama which focus’ on the ‘reality’ of how a teenagers life is in North London. The series was written by Ronan Bennett and directed by Yann Demange.

In the first five minutes of the first series it is shown to be based in North London as you see the London eye but mainly what catches the audiences eye is the estates around it, which could connote crime and drug use. As you are introduced with characters appearances the mise-en-scene allows us to realise what TopBoy is going to be about and what will happen. The clothing used within this extract and the rest of the series is mainly tracksuits and hoodies, which connotes mainly towards the audience how teenagers dress in their everyday lives but also could connote those teenagers that are committing crimes. The first couple of actors you see are black which the audience will quickly assume they are involved in crime and they are just standing around near shops.

The setting of this series is quickly acknowledged and allows us to see that it is non-Hollywood putting into perspective that it is low-budgeted due to the mise-en-scene. Through the pictures, trailers and posters of TopBoy the characters where able to be interviews on Channel 4, as a result they were able to promote the series in different ways. The trailer was continually shown on Channel 4 and E4, where the first thing you saw was a young white pregnant girl in an estate where you quickly identify that TopBoy is trying to present realism and the side of live people want to erase.