Analysis City of God - Movie Review Example

The film received several accolades, including four Academy Award nominations. City of God is a highly violent and fast-paced film (Meirelles and Lund, City of God). The film’s events are seen through the eyes of a destitute black youth, Rocket who fears being an outlaw, but is also too smart for underpaying, menial jobs. The scene chosen for analysis is the opening scene, which begins with a close up of an extremely sharp blade making a rock sharper by scrapping it. The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of the opening scene of City of God, discussing the filmmaking elements inherent in the scene and the film as a whole.

Shot by shot analysis table Framing Characters M= Medium Shot B= Blade CU= Close-up R= Rock F= Full Shot C= Carrots L= Long Shot CH= Chicken H= Handheld Pan= Pan Shot Dolly= Dolly Shot T= Tilt f= forward b= backward Formal analysis The fundamental reason for choosing the opening scene for analysis is its presentation of unique filmmaking aspects. Mise-en-scene refers to the sets and settings of the location where a scene is filmed. As the opening scene is introduced, the audience gets a sneak peak of the situation of the slum or favelas.

Flash shots are used to crosscut shots of the chicken being slaughtered, boiled, having its feathers stripped to the people of Cidade de Deus in their pathetic living conditions. . Towards the climax of the film, the director used darker lighting and color. Another prominent filmmaking aspect evident in the scene is that of mise-en-shots. This involves a myriad of elements, including the positioning of the camera, duration and scale of one shot, camera movement and editing pace. Throughout the film’s narration, the director uses numerous flash backs and extreme close up shots.

The director utilizes 360-degree camera movement, especially around Rocket as the scenes transition from the present to the past and vice versa (Meirelles and Lund, City of God). Therefore, the film’s overall length can be considered as short, particularly as a result of the nature of pursuing and murdering between the film’s characters. Sound is also a vital element in filmmaking since sound can be utilized and edited with the same amount of intelligence and complexity that image can. Directors typically have the option of choosing one or both diegetic sound and a non diegetic one.

The director of this film chooses to apply both forms of sound. Throughout the film, the audience hears music intrinsic to the 1970s, gun fire, and chaos, conversations of distant people and enduring background narrations of Rocket (Meirelles and Lund, City of God). The integration of music into a film enhances the feel of the movie, thereby providing the audience a greater experience of the story. Interpretation The director makes use of flash shot and crosscuts within the film’s opening scenes in order to provide a succinct description of the poor living conditions inherent in the Cidade de Deus slum of Rio de Janeiro.

The director further makes use of extremely rich lighting and color, especially in the retro