In the opening 10 minutes of Peaky Blinders, do the 12 scenes contain action, dialogue or both?

Let’s go.

Scene 1. 

A Chinese man runs to find a girl, saying “Hurry, or they will kill us all.”

Scene length: 18 seconds.

Action and dialogue – but mostly action.

Scene 2. 

Thomas rides a horse through the streets. People run to hide.

Scene length: 1 minute.

Action only.

Scene 3.

The Chinese Girl does the ‘powder trick’ on the horse.

Scene length: 1.05

Action and dialogue – but mostly action. Only 4 lines of dialogue in 1.05 minutes of screen time.

Scene 4.

Thomas rides through town.

Scene length: 1.35

Action and dialogue –  but mostly action – only one line of dialogue in 1.35 of screen time.

Scene 5.

Thomas walks across a normal busy street and enters a house.

Scene length: 17 seconds.

Action only.

Scene 6.

Inside, youngest brother Finn warns Thomas that Arthur is angry.

Scene length: 30 seconds.

Action and dialogue.

Scene 7.

Thomas enters and walks through the gambling den and speaks to his younger brother John.

Scene length: 52 seconds.

Action and dialogue.

Scene  8.

Thomas and Arthur have a fiery duologue.

Scene length: 1.28

Dialogue.

(There is basic action: the pouring of a glass of whiskey signifies Arthur’s drinking but mostly this is a dialogue-driven scene displaying the power-struggle between the two oldest Shelby brothers . We’ll study this scene in detail later).

Scene 9.

Introduction to series antagonist C.I Campbell on a moving train studying files on Arthur and Thomas Shelby as well as a document about a ‘munitions robbery.’

Scene length: 54 seconds.

Action only.

Scene 10.

Introduction to ‘communist’ Freddie Thorne.

Scene length: 1.21

Dialogue – a political speech by Freddie rallying workers to strike.

Scene 11.

C.I Campbell studies a file on Freddie Thorne.

Scene length: 22 seconds.

Action only.

Scene 12.

Thomas walks along a street towards a local pub.

Action only.

Summing up then, in the opening 10 minutes, we might notice that out of 12 scenes only 2 scenes are driven by dialogue.

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