Locations used:

Act 1

actors needed:

Sophie Leslie, Theodora Valkerou

Scene 1: Gorey village houses, brick wall. – or St. Peters ruin

Montage 1 – Various locations around Jersey, maybe St Peters valley or sand dunes.

Overhead shot of little girl sat at desk – Maija’s house

End of Animation – playground

Montage carries on – Interrogation room – (studio)

Day 1 – My room ,

Act 2

Character needed:

Sophie, Theodora, Sophie’s mum,

either Maija or Skyla as ‘walker’

Walking up Hautlieu hill, in front of Highlands – statue of Virgin Mary.

Play Ground – either parade park, or Fort regent park ‘boqeejuep’

Act 3

Characters needed:

Sophie, ‘police’ men.

Outside My house, dolly shot

Country lane (on the way to school, or cow sign if easier) SUNNY

Grave – on P walk – near field on bench

Country Lane NIGHT

Interrogation room – studio

Country Lane NIGHT

Grave – on P walk – near field on bench

The end

Shooting in half term – Monday 27th May – Friday 31st May

Plan:

• Will film at my Family’s farm.

• Hopefully will incorporate day and night scenes.

Alone 

*Girl sitting at desk and doing homework then gets email from schoolteacher* 

Good morning, Class, 

In tomorrow’s lesson we are going to be presenting the childhood memory projects you’ve been working on for the past 2 weeks. You must bring in your projects tomorrow. No excuses. 

Thank you, Miss Stone 

Annabelle – *reads out letter from teacher* Muuumm! Where do we keep the old pictures from when I was youngerr!! *No reply* Oh she must have left for her dinner. Mm I bet the pictures will be in the attic. *Annabelle gets up from desk and heads to the attic* 

*Annabelle walks up the stairs and see’s the attic, she grabs a chair and puts it under the opening, then reaches for the sliding lid/door to open the attic, camera switches to a POV shot of the ladder inside the attic facing down as she pulls the ladder out* 

*Annabelle climbs up the ladder steps and reaches the top* 

Annabelle – They better be in here.  

*Annabelle climbs into the attic and starts looking for the pictures, she finds a box labelled ‘childhood memories’, she opens the box and finds an album labelled ‘Young Annabelle’* 

Annabelle – Aww I remember these so well, I’ll take this whole book down with me. *Camera switches to POV of opposite side of attic facing the back of Annabelle but clear that a black gloved and hatted figure is peering into the attic watching her and accidently knocking something over*  

Annabelle – *turns round to the entrance of the attic* What was that. *Looks around and gets creeped out from the attic* It’s getting kinda creepy in here now, I better go. 

*Annabelle shuts the box and grabs her album and then climbs down the ladder, switches the light of, pushes up the ladder and closes the door* *She then sees a black glove on the floor, and looks around her with a scared expression* 

Annabelle – Hello?! Is anyone there?! *Moment of silence as she stands there and looks around* I’ve been watching too many horrors recently. *Shrugs then goes back downstairs*  

* * * 

*A bit later, Annabelle is doing her washing, she opens the washing machine and camera switches to a POV of washing machine door, so we see Annabelle as she opens the washing machine door* *She puts the washing powder in and turns the washing dial to ‘mixed load’ button, then she switches it on to start washing* 

*Annabelle’s phone starts ringing and it says, ‘No caller ID’, she answers, very sceptical about who’s on the other side of the phone* 

Friend – *camera is still on Annabelle, voice over is speaking* Hey, have you done your project, It’s due tomorrow? 

Annabelle – Oh thank God it’s only you.  

Friend – *camera switches to friend who is watching Annabelle through the window* Who did you think it was gonna be?  

Annabelle – Oh haha, just had this feeling I was *as Annabelle is speaking, there is her friend dressed in all black in the background appearing in the window, looking into the utility room where Annabelle is facing the other way still talking* I don’t know being stalked or something? *She looks around again* 

Friend – *camera is showing the back of the friend as she watches Annabelle through the window, we see her too* Right, you’re overthinking this, you’re probably just paranoid cause your home alone.  

Annabelle – Hahah, yeah, you’re right, that’s what I was thinking. Wait how did you know I was home alone? 

*Camera switches to POV of the figure watching through the window so we see Annabelle standing there on her phone* 

Friend – Oh, I was guessing. Anyways I’ll see you tomorrow. 

Annabelle – Uh. Yeah Okay.  

Filming week 1 – Monday 27th May to Friday 31st May

Location 1 (Tuesday 28th) – House (EXT and INT) – The aim here is to get a first shoot of the majority of scenes featuring the character of Seb.

mise en scene: In city of god the Mise en scene is really good. The directors thought about the different time period of the film and altered the sets to match those in real life. for example: the drug house is very bare and has little decoration of warmth about it. However Bernice’s house is more homely and has utensils and decorations on the walls like pots and pans

sound: The use of needle drops build suspense as it gets the audience more engaged. In this case it is bunny’s death which turns out to be a massive turning point in the narrative of the film.

The use of Leit Motifs such as the ones use for Lil ze and goose; are used as it make the audience make the connection between the music and the character. The music also describes the character such as there intentions or personality like with lil ze. His leitmotif is more rash and rough music

cinematography

The use of 360 degree shots in this scene is very clever as it describes the entire narrative. On one side you have Lil ze and the gangs such as Carrots etc and on the other side you have the police who are trying to stop the conflict. In the middle is rocket who isnt one a certian side and is trying to document the whole thing.

editing

the use of the captions maker it clearer when a subplot has begun and helps give context behind certain characters

Part A: The important characters of City Of God are almost all male. Women in the film are presented as simply bodies for men to carry out acts of violence against them. An example of this is the Wife of Shorty who is murdered by Shorty after having sex with goose. In this regard, Gender in the film is not presented equally and is favoured towards men

Part B: How does director Del Toro use Aesthetics?

Tone: The overall Tone of the film is that of perilous violence. We see many different narratives of characters end with bloodshed. This happens to villainous characters such as Lil Ze, however it also effects good people like Goose and Benny. We see countless acts of violence throughout the film to men, women and children which showcases the poor situation the city is in.

Visual Style: The film begins with brighter colours within the slums. During darker moments in the film the visual style switches. The atmosphere created when Benney dies changes significantly from the colourful and joyful disco to the dark and gloomy streets.

Realism: The film is very realistic in its portrayal of the rough streets of Brazil. Since the film is based off of a true story, a lot of realism is involved as it enhances the viewing experience. An example of this is the any gun fight scene. The scene’s present gunfights as short and quick. This is different to other movies which follow more overdramatic gunfights.

Sound –

By having the main protagonist, Rocket, narrate the entire film this places us in his eyes and throughout the course of events within the film, As we are seeing these events and what led up to them from the films non-linear structure, we are able to see his narration as the narrative “truth”. Another example that can be heard is the soundtrack, which is all historically accurate to the timer periods in the film and is used in conjunction to scenes that have action, or are summarising events.

Mise en scene –

The mise en scene of Lil Dice converting into Lil Ze is done through a voodoo christening ceremony to evoke the dead and sanctifies his violent behaviour. the overall design of the setting including items such as the voodoo doll and candles as well as the aeshetic tone of being mysterious, this stuck out as it provides the further info about his character as to why he behaves the way he does as he believes he’s free from consequences.

Cinematography –

The use of handheld shots creates an immersive experience of the film where the audience are there with the characters experiencing what they are. with shots positioned at angles on surfaces this makes it feel as if we the viewers are watching it as a fly on the wall.

Editing –

Through fast cuts in a sort of rhythmic montage to the soundtrack of Brazilian samba music, a busy cook-out can be depicted through the use of these fast close-ups.

Sound

City of God utilises sound in this scene, as his prayers are used as narration as he joins the church and abandons his gang lifestyle. This contrast with his sinful lifestyle, and shows his sudden salvation to God and a lifestyle of faith grants him the luck of not being shot by the police, thus extenuating the tragic and dangerous reality of living a life crime.

Mise-en-Scene

Fernando Meirelles crafts this scene with the use of mise-en-scene, it aids the storytelling whilst communicating time passing. The different elements that make up the room tells the spectator a lot of information about the owner of the drug empire at that time, such as their success rate and cumulative decline in safety and credibility.

Cinematography

The use of cinematography, specifically lighting in this scene communicates an array of ideas to the spectator. The first being, a connection to a main motif present in the film; photography. The use of strobe lighting gives the sense of the whole scene being captured in snapshots of a camera, similar to the one Rocket is gifted, from Benny, and then stolen, from lil’ Ze. Not only does this further a significant motif of taking pictures, this also amplifies the suspense in this scene for the spectator, the lighting matches the tone of the scene, and builds tension when things go south.

Editing

The cyclical structure of City of God’s narrative is a clear example of where editing is used to create meaning in the film. The movie begins in what is called ‘en media-ris’, where the scene starts in the middle of a key event. The film then picks up this narrative strand in the falling action of the film, it provides context within the scene, and shows how this scene is in a way one of the most important; it is where the day the war between both business comes to a violent end. Rocket is significantly places between both sides; one being the lifestyle of a criminal and drug dealer, and the other the police, representing a life of morality and ethics, this could be argued to be the motive or ‘message’ of City of God; the culture of gangs and violence being something that is a last resort for poverty or even something that is brought on by the idea of ‘masculinity’ and proving yourself.