Abbigail Azirou

  City Of God   "The Runts" Scene Analysis This scene differs strikingly to the usual highly stylised and kinetically edited scenes that City Of god is known for; instead this scene utilises more traditional shots such as close-ups and class over-the-shoulder shots. The result of this is to highlight the grim and shocking consequences of the gang violence rather than displaying it as merely action in a movie. Inevitably, the audience is much more emotionally evolved in this scene due to being aligned with Lil' Ze's victims for a brief moment, the significance of how young these children are, the traditional use of shots which are usually avoided to create a more upbeat and almost glamorised version of the violence, and finally the performance.  In the beginning of this scene, we are aligned with the youngest boy through a high angle shot when he reaches for the sweets as the runts hold up the shop- this establishes his youth.  This clever technique makes the shooting...

City Of God- Opening Scene Analysis The opening scene of City Of god displays very typical stylistic use that can be seen throughout the film. Immediately, within the first five seconds the films kinetic style and unique use of cinematography can be detected. The first noise we hear is the diegetic sound of the street noise which clarifies the urban setting. Next another diegetic sound of a knife is utilised to elude to the theme of violence. Traditional Brazilian music becomes integrated as kinetic editing takes place, intertwining all of the diegetic noises together. Additionally, in hindsight the audience is aware they are in the present day due to the extremely cool -toned lighting. Soon, a chase after a chicken unfolds which has an added element of threat due to the low angle shots as we are aligned with a chicken. These shots emulate a very claustrophobic feel to a very otherwise upbeat scene which includes dancing and drinking. Various close-ups of the street life are edited tog...