City of God:Opening scene analysis

In the opening sequence of city of god, camera angles such as a close up and lots of short shots of a knife being sharpened, it being used to cut things and a chicken, that quickly cut away transitioning into darkness are used to encode the fear and frantic nature of things in the scene like the chicken and the knife and their relationship. The camera transitions between the chicken and knife being used to cut things with many times, all the while staying zoomed in on the chickens face, making it clear to the audience that it’s in fact chicken that’s being cut up and this chicken observing feels like it might be next. Throughout there’s a sense of danger as were unsure what exactly is going on the whole way through, there’s also fast passed editing and pleonastic gunshot sounds that emphasise this, both knives and guns are prevalent in this scene, both of them being indexical signs of death and danger. Although the chicken is a key part of the scene, it is not the main focus for it is just a tool used to aid in the portrayal of more important characters, e.g. the gang, to the audience. The use of tracking shots when following the boys chasing said chicken helps the audience decode that there’s a clear difference in power between these two forces (gang and chicken) that we’ve been introduced to, by viewing it through the tracking shot we view the chase as if from one of the kids chasing perspective and so we as the audience feel included in their predator nature. We can also see that many high and low angled shots have been used, higher angled shots when looking at the chicken as if looking down on it, this is important as looking down on something implies than you’re superior to it, in this case the pursuers who have more power in the scene and are literally bigger and so would naturally be looking down at the chicken, however when the chicken finally starts to get away by flying near the end of the chase sequence a low shot is used, showing empowering imagery of a chicken silhouette gliding across the bright sky which can be seen being it, escape, freedom and liberation are signified here. Although predatory in nature, this scene is far from malicious as this chase scene is being used to establish culture rather than demonise. The possibly malicious imagery in the beginning is contrasted by the lively music that plays in the background connoting a festive community rather than savage brutes. The real focus however is on two characters, the gang leader who is always shown to be violently shouting, ordering people around or laughing through close ups of his face and mouth every time we see him and the kid who gets caught in the crossfire of all this. Showing close ups of the gang leaders mouth and unappealing teeth while he shouts and makes lots of noise the whole way through serves to portray him as the villain. Were able to decode that this kid feels surrounded when the camera pans around him 360 degrees showing a gang of people with guns at either side, more importantly we can see him in front of each side as the camera shoots from behind him as he looks at them, shifting the focus from the fact that there are gangs with guns to the fact that this boys in the middle of a conflict between two gangs with guns. The scene then changes to a flashback of his past which has a bright warm colour palette that heavily juxtaposes the cold and desolate colour palette of the scene so far.