mise en scene: The mise en scene of the city of god consists of wide open spaces, drier locations and run down housing. This gives a barren and poor feeling to the slums which presents further of how harsh it can be to grow up in.

cinematography: Throughout the whole film hand held camera shots are used. This shaky effect gives off a sense of realism as the imperfect camera gives of the impression that the film is more of a documentary than fiction. It is also seen to build tension as seen when lil ze takes over carrots apartment. This techniques allows the audience to see the fear and unease the other characters feel.

sound: narration from Rocket is used throughout the film to give the audience important context that they might not have known beforehand allowing them to get more immersed within the plot. An example seen here when he is describing the tender trio who have a bigger role later on.

editing: a form of metric montage is used to portray lil ze as an extremely violent character. With different clips of him shooting a gun as he progressively gets older showing how he is an inherently bad person with no signs of redemption.