The opening begins with a very smooth but alluring jazz soundtrack, which sets a mood of uncertainty, essentially gearing you up for something you won’t expect, yet it is symbolic for a suspenseful crime story. This is also coupled with a pure black background, which implies bereavement, mystery, and evil, and then is contrasted with white writing, which also implies a different sense than before, of something that stands out of all the evil and mystery, more like a greater good. This foreshadows how the audience will see the Godfather as the protagonist in a film full of men above the law. Then it continues to show and say “The Godfather,” with a hand holding puppet strings attached to the word father portion of the title. This s foreshadows and symbolizes the power that the godfather will have in the film has as well as how he controls the people around him like a puppeteer. Giving off the implicit meaning of whoever the Godfather is, they hold the true power in this movie.The title disappears and is filled with a black screen, highlighting the implication of the black color, strengthening the mystery and suspense because the there’s nothing else to give the audience anything to follow on. The music ends, grabbing your attention because that was the only thing for the viewer to grasp on, signifying the start of the action. A male voice starts on with, “I believe in America” in an Italian accent. The scene now fades in, and the first face is shown. The shot is a close up of Signore Bonasera, as he talks to the camera, with the camera being the viewer’s surrogate it is as if Bonasera was speaking to the audience. Emphasizing the explicit meaning of the scene, the significance of what Bonasera is speaking about. The camera zooms out very slowly whilst he tells us about his daughter's rape. The mise en scene here is still dark, absolutely no lighting outside what is shown to us, Bonasera, his collar showing he’s wearing a tuxedo. This first shot is highly vivid in its lighting method, and the audience is drawn in immediately to one single detail. As he reveals the details of his daughters incident, and during all this we still don't see who he is talking to, there is a light above the Bonasera. The lighting is perfect because it creates dark areas under the Bonasera’s eyes, which stress the passion and disgust of what happened to his family. This essentially brings up a major theme in the Godfather movie, family. The background is completely black, so that the only thing we can see is the man. As the camera zooms out the shoot changes from a close up to an over the shoulder shot. The next character is slightly shown bringing that sense of mystery into the film as well as revealing some more about the setting. Since the camera has moved out of a close up you can now see a desk full of clutter, from papers to a phone giving the impression of an office setting. The camera stops zooming out, and as Bonasera starts to cry about his daughter’s situation you can see the over the shoulder shot is from a slightly higher point than how Bonasera is shot. Showing the audience where the power lies and how much of it Bonasera does not have. Even the character in the foreground is completely covered in black. Then it’s revealed that the man in the foreground is the Don Corleone by Bonasera. Marlon Brando’s character speaks with a hoarse, raspy, mumbling accent, showing Don Corleone’s age and essentially giving off the idea of Don Corleone having wisdom and experience of an older more powerful man.The composition of the following close up is used in an interesting way. After Bonasera ask for justice, Don Corleone asks him what. The way Bonasera looks around as if scared or ashamed to ask out aloud where everybody in the room can hear. The camera then moves to focus on a close up of the Don and Bonasera talking implying that Bonasera is asking the Don for a favor; however we can’t hear what either of the characters is saying. The closeness of the shot gives off that close relationship to the characters, yet even thought you are very close to the characters you cannot hear a word, symbolizing the power of Don Corleone that only he is able to hear a request of that magnitude.Then the camera’s shot changes from a shot of the two talking to another close up of Corleone’s face. His face looks like a bulldog facade signifying strength. Yet the props in the scene are a perfect in helping convey the mise en scene. After saying no, the shot moves out to an eye level shot of the entire room. The Deep focus Photography of this shot now brings everything into light. The foreground, middle ground and back ground are all in focus. The set design suggests Don Corleone’s mind state, how he sees and views the world and whoever is in that room is in his world and adheres to his rules. The lighting in his under lit office and as Bonasera states, American justice has failed all symbolize that the Don is the one man who can go past the laws and bring justice to Bonasera, with the dark room as the place where he decides whether or not to give the favor he ask for. On Brando’s lap is a cat, showing two things, a calm humility to the Don’s demeanor, who he pets gently, showing us that the Don softer human side which contributes to the family theme. Even though he pets the cat, he wields colossal lethal power as he decides on the privilege of real Two being the actual presence the Don gives off. To help make this strong another over the shoulder shot is used to focus upon Don Corleone, which then switches into a medium shot. The medium shot brings more significance to Brando’s character, in which you notice him playing with the cat, making Don Corleone seem powerful as he isn’t giving his full attention to Bonasera’s request. Another thing to mention is once the Don’s face is shown it is never in the dark, more so it’s never half in or out of light. Yet the eyes of the Don are almost always in shadow which gives off a very intimidating feel be a big deal to the Don, because you can never tell what he is focusing on. In this sequence of shots the 180 degree rule is used effectively. It establishes the right way, or the way Don Corleone sees it, and the wrong way, the way Bonasera sees life. The Don stating that Bonasera is disrespecting him and asking for something that is essentially an overkill, the camera switches to Bonasera after being refused his murder wish, which represents irrational and passion. He then wants the suffering of the two people who assaulted his daughter. Here we see the Don as a voice of reason and a strong force, since he The shot then switches from a middle shot back to behind the Don looking up at Bonasera to back to the Don. Even though the camera is looking up to Bonasera the visual dominance is still with the Don, because he chooses to sit down while hearing about Bonasera’s plea for murder. As if it’s not that big of a deal to the Don. The linear editing between the shots in this scene establishes that there is only one ongoing force, that won’t stop and will always get what he wants, that force being Don Corleone. As the scene progresses the shot moves to Don Vito walking up and telling Bonasera what has he done to warrant his disrespectful behavior. Here is a keep part in camera placement, movement and Actor-Character interplay. The shot continues with the camera following Don Vito, as if we are Bonasera and we’re watching the Don Vito decided our own fate. The camera pans right, then moves to another middle shot form a lower angle shot. With Bonasera in the foreground in a smaller statue then Don Vito and the Don in a taller light with a physically imposing aura around him. Brando’s acting also helped convey his onscreen persona, the Wheezing, aspirate voice cracked with his age is strengthening with his deliberate gestures, penetrating stare. All which allude to his implicit social status as a Lion, and Bonasera as a sheep asking for help. The light throughout this entire scene was a floodlight, giving the setting of his office a soft, scattered quality, as if the Don himself was in all places of the room that no matter where you stood his presence was there and accounted for. The clothes all the characters wear are suits, suggesting a high status such as authority, prosperity, and a qualified touch within them. As the scene ends Don Vito does a trademark gesture of his and there you see his wedding ring very clearly. Showing he is a married man in all this crime business. However, the ring more importantly signifies that Don Vito is a man of honor, thus an honorable and dependable man, even though he is the head of a family who come into view as being above the law.
No comments:
Post a Comment