CITY OF GOD - COMPARISON

 HOW CAN A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE OPENING AND CLOSING SEQUENCE IN CITY OF GOD INFLUENCE THE SPECTATORS UNDERSTANDING OF THE FILMS CONTEXTUAL AND REPRESENTATIONAL ISSUES?

SIMILARITIES	DIFFERENCES
KEY ELEMENTS  - blue tinted lighting in the day time - colourless  - Repetition of the chicken escape, yet much faster in quicker editing  - Set of the favelas  - Handheld cinematography  - Performance: Lil Ze' and Ned die a very similar death, not grand, by a young child - Rhythm of the music, mirrored by the camera movement and editing  - Music integral to culture of favelas - The sequence slows down when Lil' Ze emerges when he spots Rocket, when Otto kills Ned the same slow motion occurs - signifies danger  - Both repeat motifs - danger and violence knives and guns	- POV of the camera lens through Rockets eyes - we end the film maintaining our faith in Rocket, trust in his perspective  - Slow and quiet ending - no more chaos, deathly silence  - Opening presents more chaos - Closing, more sound effects; multiple - not diegetic to emphasise diegetic sounds - surreal effect  - The chaos at the end - slower, less music, literally quite, still many things happening; horrible reality at the end compared to the party at beginning
CONTEXT  - Violence is common place  -
REPRESENTATION    - No change of the corruption of the police

Plenary: "Beginning of the End" - key elements, context, and representation

• Mise en scene when filming in very real / raw locations
• Attention to aspects of sound 
• Restricted narrative - representative of the complexity of the C.O.G
• When we re-view the opening we have different understanding, missing insight when we first view the opening
• Masculinity as a gender attribute 
• Metaphors: Knife and chicken

PERFORMANCE:

On screen and off screen acting or performance 

Movement of actors - how they use the space of the cinematic frame 

How actors interact with each other 

What movement and performance means for individual characters within the context of the films themes: poverty, crime, violence 

Persona of a role 

Benny: 

- Benny obtains a swagger when on screen, his presence is very noticeable due to his confident stance and collective manner. Influences us to like his role. 

- Benny's performance can also be relief from tension, most of his scenes tend to be quite relaxed or void of violence, until his farewell. 

- His performance makes him seem out of place in the environment, Benny is more in touch with his feelings compared to Lil' Ze or even Rocket. 

- Presence of stability 

- Benny's red shirt with Hawaiin leaf pattern - indicative his longing to escape; out of place - tropical patterns contrast the slums where he lives

- Lil Ze's best friend - shows that in the favelas friendships are political (polar opposites) if not band together, both be dead 

Lil' Ze:

- Sensitive side, but rejects these feelings; can show more masculine side to uphold his image - surface - influence the on-screen persona 

- Presence - seems strong e.g chasing the chicken - looks dominant and in charge (not a natural presence) tries to make him look strong

- Takes up a lot of space in the cinematic frame 

- Towards the end - loses control and so we literally see less of him by the end 

Knockout Ned

- 3 different aspects  (not toxic): on the bus as a driver (compared to the gangs in the favelas): at the party where humiliated for being sensitive, guy who wants revenge 

- He changes - forced to adapt - by the end with Otto 

- He ends up being as violent as the rest of them, whereas his earlier persona as a driver is so different .