City Of God: Opening Scene Notes

The opening sequence of City Of God portrays to the audience the rapid pace of life in the favelas in Brazil and introduces us to some of the characters that will be important in the film.

Important key film terminology to take note off in the opening scene:
- Cinematography
- Mise-en-scene
- Editing
- Sound (diegetic & non-diegetic)

The sharpening of the knives at the start:

- Frantic, a faster piece with each sharpening of the knife

- Diegetic sound
- The imagery of the knife foreshadows danger
- Replaces the establishing shot

Music/Sound in the opening scene:

- Non-diegetic - allows the viewer to be introduced to the atmosphere of the favela & introduces the culture of Latin America by using traditional music from Brazil

- High-tempo music is used which portrays the vibrancy of the City of God
- The music builds louder and louder as the scene progresses to convey how tension increases as the scene continues
- Lots of energy from both types of sounds -> the energy is present immediately as the action starts straight away and the opening scene foreshadows that the film won't slow down in its pace as the film progresses.
- The non diegetic soundtrack alongside the sharpening of the knife shows the juxtaposition between celebration and violence

Editing:

- Fast paced & quick to present the intensity of life in Brazil

- The transition between each shot of the knife is in pitch black which represents blinking -> this makes the audience feel that they are there as a person waking up into this fast paced world

- The sound + camera flashing doesn't relent & wakes you up

- The opening scene uses the blinking effect of fading in and out

Mise-En-Scene

- Lots of props are used in the opening scene in order to give an introduction to the area

- Many tight shots/framing is tight -> this creates a sense of claustrophobia and intensity which creates uneasiness in the viewer

- The film focuses on one specific aspect per shot and is handheld

The momentary silence in the opening scene allows the audience to take in what they are watching, gives them a chance to breathe and relax from entering this world

Cinematography:

- The cinematography in the opening scene gets brighter as the scene progresses

- The scene with the knife starts with little colour, however an overwhelming use of colour is used during the rest of the scene

- The colour palette: blue at the start of the film and gold when the film flashbacks. The blue represents coldness and how Rocket has been desensitised by what he has witnessed whilst he has grown up. The golden colour represents warmness as Rocket is unaware of the violence that occurs in the City of God. The golden colour also represents how Rocket feels he has loads of opportunities and is presented as naive & excited. The cinematography conveys how Rocket sees the world.

- Flashback: the camera presents a wider angle which conveys that Rocket has more freedom & feels less trapped. However Rocket's experiences take away his vision of life being golden so the camera uses a smaller angle during the opening scene.

- Historical context: 60's -> all got their own place/making a living

                                 80's -> favelas are more claustrophobic & dangerous

Flashback: 

- happy, uplifting non diegetic music is used to mimic Rocket's mood

- Audience sees foreshadowing of danger in this scene due to the language used between the 'Tender Trio' and the shooting of the football, wheras Rocket just sees Shaggy's tricks with the football as being cool and he associated the guns with fun (due to the shooting of the ball) and not the violence that they actually cause.

Camera:

- Fernando Meirelles (the director) uses low angle shots in this scene of the children to present the chaos that they cause and the power that they have over the chicken; the chicken is also shot from a high angle which also conveys that the chicken is being chased by something that has more power than the chicken. Merielles also uses a low angle shot when the children are aiming guns at the chicken to emphasise the children's power over the chicken.
- In the opening scene, the viewer sees an extreme close up of the chicken's blood on a plate which foreshadows that the chickens are just the start of the killings in the film and that this film will have themes centred around violence and killings.