Induction Test:
‘City of God’ Deconstruction
In the opening sequence of ‘City of God’ camera angles such
as close ups are used. At the start of the clip there is a close up of a knife
being sharpened. In this we see fast cuts to black at the end of each pleonastic
sound (knife sharpening). The scene is being presented in a positive ‘carnival’
like way; due to the introduction of the diegetic sound of music. Overall this
scene informs the audience that what’s about to occur is positive and joyful.
We then discover that this scene involves food being prepared. This links back
to the joyful time, as everyone has come together to eat good food and listen
to good music. This tells us that food is very important to their community.
The diegetic up beat music is put with fast clips of food being prepared;
indicating to us that it is a special time for the community.
During this cooking scene there is a group of chickens. As
each chicken gets picked up we see a low angled shot of the humans. Indicating
the power the humans have over them. This is shown again through the high
angled shots on the chickens; presenting them in a weak vulnerable state. As
the scene continues we see a high angled shot of a chicken, tied up by the legs
wanting to break free. This has been presented like this to us so we see the
overall control the humans have over them and due to the fast paced shots we
can assume by this the humans have no care in killing them. This can be seen
also as a metaphor. This is because the chickens that are trying to escape are
in fact the people attempting to escape the gang lifestyle, which is very
common in the streets of Brazil. However they are unable to due to the string
that is tied around their legs, this in other words means the people attempting
to escape this lifestyle are restricted by other factors such as peer pressure.
As much as people try to avoid the gangs in Rio de Janeiro, they are eventually
taken, plucked and boiled by the human’s that are part of the gang, as they
overall have the most power in the community. This causes the chickens to die,
but for the people trying to escape this lifestyle their hopes and aspirations
for the future are killed. Therefore causing them to stay in the gang lifestyle
and work for and help the gang. Just as the chicken does through giving them
food to eat.
After seeing a
chicken being put into water at a low angle, indicating the human’s power. We
then see the loan chicken. There is a close up used to show it slowly get out
of the string it is tied up by. The chicken eventually escapes and falls to the
ground, once it lands we see a close up of a man, who screams with laughter to
‘Chase the Chicken’. This close up is effective as it shows the extent of the
man’s emotions. He seems angered at
first but this anger turns to a sudden laughter; this comes across to the
audience as if it is funny the chicken thinks it can escape. This links back to
the deeper meaning of the chicken representing those who want to escape the
gang life. The man finds it funny anyone
can escape the gang lifestyle and live a real life.
