What is the importance of mise-en-scene and sound in generating a response and generating meaning in City of God?


In the disco scene it begins with a close-up of Benny’s face which flashes in time with the music, thus drawing attention to it. The song, which is by James Brown who was a popular artist in the 70s represents the prominent issue of globalisation in the film, and how lesser economically developed areas adopt the cultures of richer areas of the world. The next shot is of Lil Ze coming into the frame, here Benny’s smile immediately disappears and the lighting suddenly becomes darker. This represents the character dynamic here, and shows the audience that it is strained, therefore foreshadowing Benny’s death and the hands of Lil Ze’s violence with others in the slum. The next shot is a split screen between Benny and the other people at the disco such as Rocket and Carrot. In these shots Benny can be seen surrounded by friends and dancing, apart from when Lil Ze is there and they both become isolated, perhaps creating the idea that Lil Ze holds Benny back and makes him seem almost vulnerable. Rocket then says the line “Benny was the coolest hood in the City of God” which instantly increases the audiences already sparked liking to Benny. On the left side of the split screen the lighting is bright green whereas on Benny’s side the lighting is much warmer. This could represent the envy felt by the other hoods in the City of God towards Benny, such as Rocket whose girlfriend is taken away from him by Benny.
The next shot of Benny and carrot is from above which could represent the fight for authority, or to be above one another, between the two characters. The still pleasant and groovy music in the background still challenges Lil Ze and Carrot’s voices which represents perhaps the concealment of the slums and the violence that goes on in them by western society. The next shot of carrot and Lil Ze arguing and Benny trying to split them up emphasises Benny’s want to calm the violence, the positioning of Benny in the middle, almost haloed by the blue light in the background foreshadows his sad end after being caught in the crossfire for such a long time. The camera is then back on Rocket and Angelica, again with green lighting on them reiterating Rocket’s jealousy of Benny throughout the scene. The scene then moves on to the runts robbing a shop, it is interesting that the placement of this scene comes just after the adults of the slum have been threatening and fighting with one another, it makes the audience perhaps feel more sorry for the runts because by being violent they are only copying and taking influence for what is around them, it is almost as though they are destined to be the way they are.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

evaluation

Evaluative analysis My production is the screenplay “Common People” – the main intention for my film was to show the importance of sincerity and being open. This is something humans have never really mastered. I wanted to create something that people could relate to and I wanted to comment on the world around us, I wanted to show a pessimistic view of the world but give a spark of hope at the end- which was my narrative twist. I want to use a mixture of cinematography to show through my theme but keep a quite drab and realistic aesthetic. The films I have studied for inspiration are  When the Day Breaks  (Forbis/Tilby, Canada, 1999) ,  Curfew  (Christensen, US, 2012) ,  La Jettée  (Marker, France, 1962) ,  The Gunfighter  (Kissack, US, 2014) and  Wasp  (Arnold, UK, 2003) . These films are quite different in terms of genre however they all somewhat study and analyse different parts of the human condition and some of th...
Read more

With close references to two scenes from “Pan’s Labyrinth”, explore how cinematography and mise-en-scene create meaning. (A grade)

The story of the toad in the tree is very similar to Ofelia’s mother’s pregnancy. The baby is making her unwell just like the toad is making the tree. This creates a parallel early on in the film from the real world to the fantasy world and shows that the fantasy world is affected by the real world. When Ofelia enters the tree, we can straight away hear the sound of squelching which really adds to the grotesque aesthetic of the film and begins to create a picture of a disgusting place. The shot of Ofelia’s ribbon blowing away in the wind foreshadow the trouble she is going to get into after this quest which makes it more sinister. The grotesque insects crawling around inside the tree represent life and the frog seems to be eating away at it, the bugs are crawling all over Ofelia almost as though they are guiding her or begging for her help. The long shot of Ofelia as she is crawling through the tree establishes the fact that the tree is dying, the roots seem blackened and some are b...
Read more

Heathers: Personal Response (B grade)

‘Heathers’ is possibly one of the darkest teen movies ever written, as it mocks the American school system’s dismissal of deep psychological issues most teenagers face, whether they are the bullies or the bullied. In the film, main character Veronica (Winona Ryder) accidentally kills the height of popularity, Heather Chandler (Kim Walker) and makes it look like a suicide, therefore setting up a strange kind of trend. The dark humour and strange characters make it so different from all the rest, and the perfect display of mob psychology in schools across America leaves viewers wondering whether they should laugh or cry. One of the most memorable scenes is Heather C’s funeral. The scene begins with a low angled shot on the priest which shows the dominance of religion, this could be mocking the idea of religion, and how little it manages to help the young people in the film. The priest then explains how “video games” and “MTV” were the cause of Heather’s “suicide” providing a humorou...
Read more