Film forms used on City of God.

In this sequence of the film City of God there are many film forms used to communicate its concept. Camera movement and audio are some of the ones I will discuss on this post.

The chicken is the most important character in the beginning of this part. It takes us to the start of the story in a chaotic manner. Its persecution makes the audience feel anxious about what is going to happen next. This is reveled with the constant camera movement used by the director. Non-stopping chaos and nervousness follow the animal across the favela. Handheld camera is used to create this chaotic notion. Trough it’s movement it gives the impression of realism, of being there, running and escaping in that same moment.

We can see the camera follows the chicken and shows it’s escaping from death. But the camera stops moving at the end of the scene, when the chicken is locked between the two groups of people. This stop shows the end of the chicken story to move into City of God stories and its residents. Close-ups to the characters are used to communicate that we are leading to a deep understanding of these characters lives and the city secrets.

Furthermore, the sound in the sequence is also used as film form to transmit chaos. The rhythm of the music emphasizes the idea of persecution. Also, the noticeable fidelity on the noises along the scene fulfills our expectations of what a favela sounds like. During the persecution, the directors show us a sense of sound perspective that makes us feel in the scene. The synchronized sound of the knife, the music instruments, the steps and also the animal noises at the same moment that we can see these elements on screen and disappear in the background when they are out of the camera. This creates a particular mood keeping the audience even more involved being part of the story.

The film forms used in City of God is used to create a precise emotion in the audience. I believe this feeling of danger, chaos and persecution is preparing the audience to what they will see later on in the rest of the movie.