My favorite scene from City of God is when we get introduced to the new Lil Dice, Lil Ze. It starts with a montage of his shooting people while getting older and with Benny which I think is a very interesting way of showing a character aging and how they turned out the way they are.
Micro elements
Mise En scene
The miseen scene of lighting is used to tell the audience what time it is. For example, at the starts when it tuns into the 1960’s the lighting turns much more yellow and dusty which shows how old the period is even for rockets recount.
Another example is the story of the apartments. During this part every time there is a time change the lighting and the location of furniture changes. For example, when Big boy dies the apartment is cool toned and dark which adds to the spooky atmosphere whereas at the start of the apartment before all the drugs the apartment was warm toned and nicely furnished.
Editing
Read the following by the film’s editor:
Daniel Rezende said, “What we tried to do with the editing was attempt to use ‘effects’ whenever we thought that this could bring something extra to the sensation or emotion that we were aiming to evoke. If the situation is tense, and there’s no time to think, we speed it up and make it even tenser. If the
character is going to be important later, then we freeze the face to commit it to memory. If both things happen at the same time, then we split the screen, so as not to lose anything. In the third part of the film, we especially welcomed anything out of the ordinary for the editing style. If a ‘badly made’ cut could increase levels of discomfort in the viewer then we incorporated it.”
The hotel scene – colouring
The colouring of this scene is a yellow warm tone however when it switches to lil dice the colour is drained and its cool toned. Thers a lot of quick cuts between different parts of the hotel and different boys robbing different people. The camera also moves around a lot, like in the red room of the hotel the camera is zooming in and out
The Soun in this scene changes, before they go into the hotel its quiet and the only thing you can hear is the footsteps. Then it changes to have salsa music in the background while they are robbing the people, creating a oxymoron.
Hotel scene, lil Dice
The scene starts off with a dissolve of older Ze into younger Dice at the hotel, the difference in colorings obvious from a brightly colored Ze to a dimly lit Dice outside
Headings
1. Book origin
The movie is adapted from the 1997 Noval ‘City of God’ by a Brazilian author called ‘Paulo Lins’. The screenplay of the film was written by Bráulio Mantovan who adapted the 1997 Novel though the plot was loosely based on real events. The book was named after a favela where the story takes place Cidade de Deus which was established in 1960 in the west of Rio de Janeiro. Lins lived experience in being in the favelas. The book was shocking because most people didnt know the depths of the favels
2. How did Meirelles and Lund get involved?
Mirelles read the novel and didn’t immediately like it although he was impressed by it. and was optioned for the rights, but he didn’t have much knowledge of the favelas/slums which would make it difficult to direct the movie alone. Lund was a film maker who had plenty of experience working in the Rio slums, so Meirelles took help from Lund. Lund also helped build relationships with residents in the favelas and to create a believable atmosphere for the movie.
3. Casting and filming:
There was a different approach to actors in City of God, they use mainly nonprofessional actors from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro including the City of God instead of using made sets (although the city if God slum was too dangerous to keep shooting so the moved to high city right next to it). They didn’t want anyone famous to be a part of the movie to make the real-life slum kids actors feel intimidated. intimidated. They put out ana advert in a local paper in Rio and only chose a few to become actors.
4. Box Office / Funding
In Brazil the movie saw a lot of success and has the largest audience in 2002 for a domestic film. $3.1 million tickets were sold and had a gross of $10.3 million and worldwide it had a gross of $30.5 million. The production cost to make the film was $3.3 million. Funded by TV Globo which is Brazil’s biggest tv company
6. Critical reaction
City of God had an approval rating of 91% which an average of 8.3/10. On metrics, the movie has 79/100. A lot of other film critics thought positively of the Film such as Roger Ebert gave the film 4/4 and wrote in his review “City of God churns with furious energy as it plunges into the story of the slum gangs of Rio de Janeiro. Breathtaking and terrifying, urgently involved with its characters, it announces a new director of great gifts and passions: Fernando Meirelles. Remember the name.
Aesthetics
Colour pallet – golden hue during flashbacks makes it seem more innocent since they’re younger. Meanwhile when they are older and fully into the drug dealing business, it turns into cold tones and dim lighting. The city of God is very clammed together showing how close everyone is and how everyone in the movie is has relations to one and another. It also gives the movie a claustrophobic feel.
Social Realism- The movie ‘City of God’ is loosly based on a real event that happened in the favelas in Rio Brazil. The main character Rocket is based on a real-life photographer called ‘Wilson Rodrigues’. We can see all the different characters and the real-life people they were based off at the end credits of the movie, showing that this movie is heavily inspired by real world events. Even a clip of Knockout ned at the end credits where he’s being interviewed, this interview is featured towards the end of the film where the character of knockout ned says the same thing while being interviewed.
HyperRealism – The film is realistic to a point. While the majority of the movie is extremely realistic and even set in the actual favelas in Rio, the editing style and the flashbacks take away from hyperrealism. However, the movie being based on real people and having real people of the favelas as actors adds an immense amount of realism that you can’t get from general actors.
I liked how natural the film felt and the inclusion of social realism without becoming a documentary. And the hand-held camera work made the film very immersive. I also enjoyed the storytelling within the film, I liked how we got to see the development of the different characters like Rocket and Lil Ze and the different outcomes of life the City of God leads too.
Stand out scene:
I found the scene where Lil Ze gives one of the children in the younger gang the choice as to if he shoots them in the hand or foot, then really shooting the option they didn’t pick. I think it highlights the unfairness within the favella. I also like how it shows the violence that occurs in Brazil’s favellas as its two children who are stereotypically seen to be quite innocent, yet they are still in a gang.
Cast List:
Rocket: Alexandre Rodrigues the narrator, who dreams of becoming a photographer. His real name is Wilson Rodrigues.
Li’l Zé/Li’l Dice: Leandro Firmino, power-hungry sociopath, who takes sadistic pleasure in killing. “Dado” is a common nickname for Eduardo and means “dice”, and “inho” is a diminutive suffix in Portuguese. As an adult, he is given the name Zé Pequeno in a Candomblé ceremony, which may be unrelated to his actual name and more to his short stature. Zé is a nickname for José, while pequeno means “little”. Douglas Silva portrays Li’l Dice as a child.
Benny: Phellipe Haagensen, Zé’s longtime partner in crime, he is a friendly City of God drug dealer who fancies himself a sort of Robin Hood and eventually wants to lead an honest life. Michel Gomes portrays Benny as a child.
Carrot: Matheus Nachtergaele, a drug dealer who is friendly with Benny but is constantly threatened by Zé.
Knockout Ned: Seu Jorge, a handsome, charismatic gentleman. As a veteran, he is an excellent shot and can shoot better than most “soldiers”. His name was changed from “Mané Galinha” for the English subtitles because in English, “chicken”, which “Galinha” translates to, is a term for a coward (in Brazil it denotes womanizing tendencies and popularity among women). “Mané” is a nickname for Manuel, but also denotes an individual not intellectually gifted.
Shaggy: Jonathan Haagensen, older brother of Benny and the leader of the Tender Trio (“Trio Ternura”), a group of thieves who share their profits with the population of the City of God.
Berenice: Roberta Rodrigues, Shaggy’s girlfriend, who convinces him to leave the favela and his criminal past.
Goose: Renato de Souza, one of the Tender Trio, and Rocket’s brother. He sleeps with a bartender’s wife and gets kicked out by his father when the police arrive, he is killed by Li’l Dice later that day.
Clipper: Jefechander Suplino, one of the Tender Trio. He later gives up crime to join the Church.
Stringy: Edson Oliveira, childhood friend of Rocket. Emerson Gomes portrays Stringy as a child.
Angélica: Alice Braga, a friend and love interest of Rocket, and later Benny’s girlfriend, who motivates Benny to abandon the criminal life.
Tiago: Daniel Zettel, Angélica’s ex-boyfriend, who later becomes Li’l Zé’s associate and a drug addict.
Steak n’ Fries: Darlan Cunha, a young boy who joins Zé’s gang.
Blacky: Rubens Sabino, Carrot’s manager.
Charles / Uncle Sam: Charles Paraventi, a weapons dealer who’s supplied by the police. After returning from a deal empty-handed, the police kill him.
Marina Cintra: Graziella Moretto, journalist for Jornal do Brasil, who hires Rocket as a photographer.
Touro: Luiz Carlos Ribeiro Seixas, an honest police officer.
Melonhead: Maurício Marques, a corrupt police officer.
Lampião: Thiago Martins, child leader of the Runts gang.
Otávio: Marcos Junqueira, child leader of the Runts gang.
I think that the film takes place over around 30 years from the 1960s until the mid 1980s. I would describe Rocky as the protagonist as it’s the story of the City of God through his narration. I would describe Lil Ze as the antagonist due to his influence in the City of God and on Rocket’s story, as well as his life being portrayed from the start of his career in crime.
Micro Elements:
Mise-en-scene: The film begins with a flashback to the 60s and we see the city in a baron form, the buildings are obviously very cheaply constructed, and a warm, yellow colour palette is shown.
A second example is the “story of the apartment” which takes place 36 minutes into the film. We see the different owners of the apartment and through a series of dissolves to show the movement of the apartment from how it once looked like a home, with an amateur drug business to provide for her children, became a run-down drug house.
The beginning of the story uses warm tones which gradually become cooler as shadows become more prominent as well as use of blues and greys. With each person who takes over the apartment the colour palette becomes colder. The lighting also becomes darker.
Sound:
The film primarily uses diegetic sound such as gunshots to immerse the audience within the everyday life and violence in the favela. This also adds to the chaotic atmosphere of the film as the sound used are realistic including some of the music played in the favela coming across through sound.
Editing:
Daniel Rezende said, “What we tried to do with the editing was attempt to use ‘effects’ whenever we thought that this could bring something extra to the sensation or emotion that we were aiming to evoke. If the situation is tense, and there’s no time to think, we speed it up and make it even tenser. If the character is going to be important later, then we freeze the face to commit it to memory. If both things happen at the same time, then we split the screen, so as not to lose anything. In the third part of the film, we especially welcomed anything out of the ordinary for the editing style. If a ‘badly made’ cut could increase levels of discomfort in the viewer, then we incorporated it.”
Performance:
Non-professionals as wanted to recreate the same feeling of the book as it would make the events of the film feel more natural and real. – Meirelles learned from Mike Leigh & Ken Loach to not give his actors a script
– Meirelles would tell his actors the intentions behind each scene & character and allowed them to improvise which also created a stronger sense of reality through this style. 70% of what you see/hear on screen was improvised.
Cinematography:
The ‘restless’ style, characteristic of the film, announces itself from the start. It begins not with the customary establishing shot but with flashes that illuminate a series of close ups – knife, hand, and stone – with a cut to black between each shot. Another photographic flash illuminates Rocket with his camera. He zooms out from behind a network of bars, which collapses down into his image. This is in fact a flash forward to the scene that will replay very near the end of the film, where we will see then that the reverse shot has denied us here, with Zé bribing the police after his gun battle with Ned and subsequent arrest. He has been introduced as a key player in the drama, but still only a fragment. The montage of conflicting shots and the collision of the fast-paced editing now gives way to the spectacular circling shots which will morph Rocket from a young man to a boy, and the favela to its former days of low-rise shacks and open spaces. The meeting between two of the principle characters initiates the story; the circular shot will provide the bridge between what they were and what they will become.
The series of tight close ups zooms in and out on further fragments of street life – faces, a guitar, a tambourine, hands with tumblers of drinks, hands scraping and chopping carrots, chicken feet and chickens being lowered into the cooking pot. The first mid shot of the film is of a live chicken on the table, tethered by its leg. A cut provides the first long establishing shot of the film. The chicken jumps down off the table making a bid for freedom. Brazilians describe a situation that appears to have taken off and be going but will soon crash to the ground as a “flying chicken”. This apparent freedom is illusionary – the chicken might try to fly but it can’t get very far. A close-up low-level shot from the chicken’s point of view shows a plate of blood on the ground, a reminder of the chicken’s fate.
Robbery Scene: At the start of the hold-up the diegetic sound is very chaotic as we hear breaking class banging and various dialogue. This could show the chaotic nature of hold-ups in the favella and how they are quite unorganised as the only objective is to get money. Music is then introduced as non-diegetic sound which is fast paced reflecting the speed of the robbery and the trio’s escape. It’s also joyous to emphasise the enjoyment of the trio and liveliness of the motel. The colour pallet is very warm inside the motel whereas outside it is very cool and dark which could reflect how despite outside being dark and quiet everyone in the motel is still wide awake.
In addition, the trio are shown in warmer lighting whereas when it cuts to Li’l Dice the colour has become drained and the colour pallet is cool with many shadows to reflect his dark intentions and that despite not being a part of the trio he is really the one who is most dangerous. At the end of the robbery (and Li’l Dice’s killing spree) there is very little sound, the music has stopped and there is no more dialogue.
Lil Dice killing sequence: A dissolve marks the beginning of Li’l Dice’s story and his transformation into Li’l Ze. As we go from his taking over of the apartment to the motel where he was believed to have been lost. We then see how it was him who shot all the people instead of the tender trio. We see a low angle of him outside the motel.
This use of a low angle makes him appear larger and less childlike despite him steal only being a child. The lighting also has a drastic change as we go from Li’l Ze being brightly lit to a dimly lit Li’l Dice, many shadows are also used which could foreshadow his dark nature that is about to be presented.
Book Origin
The City of God is a film adaptation of a 1997 semi-autobiographic novel by Paulo Lins. Many people were quite shocked at the book as Brazilian society was shown is a very different light. It’s his only novel and took him 8 years to publish the book. It focuses on three young men who live in the favela the author grew up in, named Cidade de Deus (City of God). This makes the film a piece of social realism literature. The novel is now renounced as one of the best pieces of contemporary Brazilian literature. It was adapted into the film in 2002 keeping its title, City of God. He used his writing of the book and various music pieces to escape the cycle of the favela. The film also ends showing the real characters compared to the actors that portray them in the film. The end of the film also has a book-ending structure.
How did Meirelles and Lund get involved?
Meirelles read the book the year it was released, he wanted to portray its powerful message and characters into a film, despite not being interested in a film about drug dealers and deep violence in the favelas. He wanted to show Brazilian audiences how these places were like a different world and didn’t expect for the film to be a world-wide sensation.
His co-director Katia Lund originally had little knowledge of life in the favelas having grown up from Sao Paulo in a middle-class family before graduating from Brown. She then worked on Michal Jackson’s music video “They don’t care about us” which was filmed in a favela which created a passion and determination to make films about those who live there to raise social consciousness throughout Brazil. Meirelles contacted Lund and invited her to work on a short film also set in a favela, Meirelles wanted her involvement due to her previous contacts in the favelas (she had these through her involvement in a documentary). Her involvement in City of God came from her founding of a non-profit acting school to find the cast for the film her extensive knowledge then gave ger the credit of co-director.
Casting and filming
There was only one professional actor in the film (Carrot) all the others were amatures or had the film as their debut role. Many of the actors were from real favelas and the City of God itself as directors felt using actors from the middle-class was not as natural in addition to the lack of black actors available and the need for authenticity in the film. Casting began around 2000 were 100 children and young people were hand-picked and put into a workshop for acting (unconventional compared to the normal method of studying theatre and having auditions). This workshop focused on stimulating fights, hold-ups and shootouts so that blended with the actors’ real-life experiences performing became natural and easy to improvise as well as creating a more authentic atmosphere within the film. After filming, assistant groups were set up to help the cast have a better future and prevent them returning to their old lives in the favelas.
A lot of filming didn’t take place in the real City of God due to its ongoing conflict so filming instead took place in other favelas in Rio such as Cidade Alta. Throughout production and filming, slumlords didn’t allow productions own security, so production hired local security guards for protection in the favela.
Box office and funding
Despite the films low budget of $3.38 million, it grossed $30.5 million worldwide, with $10.3 million in Brazil alone. The film was shown at Cannes film festival but was not nominated for any awards due to a member of crew on the jury. In Brazil, it was the largest audience for a domestic film with 3.1 million tickets sold. The film was funded by a private company, TV Globo, Brazil’s biggest Tv channel and O2 filmes, Brazil’s biggest commercial company. It was distributed by Miramax.
Critical reaction
Rotten Tomatos gives the film a rating of 91% approval. Rio is stereotypically given a positive image with its sunny coasts and carnival atmosphere. The release of City of God lifted the lid on Rio. The film provoked a debate adding to its success as well as having a lasting impact on Brazil through changes in government policy relating to security.
Technology
“Digital editing really allowed the characters to be shaped in the edit” Daniel Redende.
Character interpretations were created when editing, the same footage could give different results and scenes became from actors’ improvisation each one being unique. Technology allowed editors to create characters and stories though many unique shots.
Aesthetics
The colour pallet changes throughout the film, the second section is a lot darker, like the narrative. The previous bright, golden lighting has been replaced with darker hues.
This can reflect looking back on memories in a more positive light, with hold-ups still happening they are not fatal. There is an element of hope seen through the children’s football matches and teens first love. The lighting paints these scenes with golden giving a nostalgic feel and romanticizing the past creating a feel of endless summer. The colours then change from golden to greys and browns with blue tints, low lighting is also commonly used creating shadows. More scenes are shot at night. This reflects how the hope has been lost due to the uprising of gang lords and drug dealers, with many fatalities. This paints the favela as cooler, and as the film becomes more violent colours get darker, again reflecting the continuous loss of hope for a better life without the violence.
The film often looks grainy rather than being high definition due to it being shot on 16mm film. A documentary feel is created using handheld, smaller cameras.
Social Realism
The film is based on real characters and their true story, shown through the end credits sequence where we see photos of the real people the actors portray. Rocket, the documenter and voiceover in the City of God is based on the photographer Wilson Rodregez, his photography enhances his neutral view of events. The poverty and violence within the favela are seen through the viewfinder of his camera as he documents the final shootout featuring at both the beginning and end of the film. It is his work that portrays what occus in the favela at a local level (the City of God itself) through to a national level (the slums of Brazil as a whole).
Hyper-realism
Hyper-realism is prominent throughout the film through both editing and cinematography. The film is based on a true story, without being a documentary.
My most memorable scene would be during the party scene and Blacky shoots Benny in an attempt to shoot Li’l Zé instead, I particularly liked how the lights kept flickering, almost giving us the action in a series of still frames, which built the anticipation and made the adrenaline the characters felt more cathartic for the viewer.
Alexandre Rodrigues as Rocket: The narrator, who dreams of becoming a photographer. His real name is Wilson Rodrigues.
Leandro Firmino as Li’l Zé/Li’l Dice: A power-hungry sociopath, who takes sadistic pleasure in killing. “Dado” is a common nickname for Eduardo and means “dice“, and “inho” is a diminutive suffix in Portuguese. As an adult, he is given the name Zé Pequeno in a Candomblé ceremony, which may be unrelated to his actual name and more to his short stature. Zé is a nickname for José, while pequeno means “little”. Douglas Silva portrays Li’l Dice as a child.
Phellipe Haagensen as Benny: Zé’s longtime partner in crime, he is a friendly City of God drug dealer who fancies himself a sort of Robin Hood and eventually wants to lead an honest life. Michel Gomes portrays Benny as a child.
Matheus Nachtergaele as Carrot: A drug dealer who is friendly with Benny but is constantly threatened by Zé.
Seu Jorge as Knockout Ned [pt]: A handsome, charismatic gentleman. As a veteran, he is an excellent shot and can shoot better than most “soldiers”. His name was changed from “Mané Galinha” for the English subtitles because in English, “chicken”, which “Galinha” translates to, is a term for a coward (in Brazil it denotes womanizing tendencies and popularity among women). “Mané” is a nickname for Manuel, but also denotes an individual not intellectually gifted.
Jonathan Haagensen as Shaggy: Older brother of Benny and the leader of the Tender Trio (“Trio Ternura”), a group of thieves who share their profits with the population of the City of God.
Roberta Rodrigues as Berenice: Shaggy’s girlfriend, who convinces him to leave the favela and his criminal past.
Renato de Souza as Goose: One of the Tender Trio, and Rocket’s brother. He sleeps with a bartender’s wife and gets kicked out by his father when the police arrive, he is killed by Li’l Dice later that day.
Jefechander Suplino as Clipper: One of the Tender Trio. He later gives up crime to join the Church.
Edson Oliveira as Stringy: Childhood friend of Rocket. Emerson Gomes portrays Stringy as a child.
Alice Braga as Angélica: A friend and love interest of Rocket, and later Benny’s girlfriend, who motivates Benny to abandon the criminal life.
Daniel Zettel as Tiago: Angélica’s ex-boyfriend, who later becomes Li’l Zé’s associate and a drug addict.
Darlan Cunha as Steak n’ Fries: A young boy who joins Zé’s gang.
Rubens Sabino as Blacky: Carrot’s manager.
Charles Paraventi as Charles / Uncle Sam: A weapons dealer who’s supplied by the police. After returning from a deal empty-handed, the police kill him.
Luiz Carlos Ribeiro Seixas as Touro: An honest police officer.
Maurício Marques as Melonhead: A corrupt police officer.
Thiago Martins as Lampião: Child leader of the Runts gang.
Marcos Junqueira as Otávio: Child leader of the Runts gang.
This is Rocket’s story, the protagonist is Rocket, and the antagonist is Li’l Zé.
The film covers three decades; this is shown to the audience by using obvious editing techniques (for example, when we transition from 1980s Rocket to 1960s Rocket – as well as signposting text on the screen giving the date) along with fashion, and the development of the City of God in terms of buildings and landscape.
MICRO-ELEMENTS:
MISE-EN-SCÉNE:
Changes in the apartment; originally the room has a blue hue, when shown the apartment when it was owned by the woman, it has a yellow hue – brighter, a curtain, table with drugs isn’t there/moved, new one because she’s a dealer, Big Boy takes over, curtain is gone. Then there’s a greener hue, almost dingy, when Carrot and Aristotle are talking about his (Aristotle’s) wife, there’s one light illuminating the two whilst there’s another light in the kitchen where Big Boy is prepping some drugs to deal out – lowkey lighting. But then the mood shifts, Big Boy wants Carrot to kill Aristotle, or he’ll do it himself – the only light in the room is harsh, in the kitchen, the rest of the apartment is dark, highlighting the tense situation, high stakes.
EDITING:
Daniel Rezende (film’s editor) said, “What we tried to do with the editing was attempt to use ‘effects’ whenever we thought that this could bring something extra to the sensation or emotion that we were aiming to evoke. If the situation is tense, and there’s no time to think, we speed it up and make it even tenser. If the character is going to be important later, then we freeze the face to commit it to memory. If both things happen at the same time, then we split the screen, so as not to lose anything. In the third part of the film, we especially welcomed anything out of the ordinary for the editing style. If a ‘badly made’ cut could increase levels of discomfort in the viewer, then we incorporated it.”
Split screen during Benny’s farewell party:
PERFORMANCE:
Working with non-professional actors: – Used non-professionals as wanted to recreate the same feeling of the book as it would make the events of the film feel more natural and real. – Meirelles learned from Mike Leigh & Ken Loach to not give his actors a script
– Meirelles would tell his actors the intentions behind each scene and character and allow them to improvise, which also created a stronger sense of reality through this style.
– 70% of what you see/hear on screen was improvised.
Prayer scene before the fight
SOUND:
In the opening sequence, both diegetic and non-diegetic sound is used to build anticipation and atmosphere, as well as signposting when we shift back to a different time. Starting with the sound of a knife being sharpened against stone, this sound is isolated at first. As the cuts become more frequent, we get more diegetic elements such as music and animal sounds. This effectively builds up the tension and atmosphere for the film, establishing the chaotic environment City of God is. When we’re introduced to Rocket, there’s a transition from the 1980s to the 1960s – Rocket as a child. There is a non-diegetic sound effect used to signify the time jump, a woosh sound, along with a ticking clock.
CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The ‘restless’ style, characteristic of the film, announces itself from the start. It begins not with the customary establishing shot but with flashes that illuminate a series of close ups – knife, hand, and stone – with a cut to black between each shot. Another photographic flash illuminates Rocket with his camera. He zooms out from behind a network of bars, which collapses down into his image. This is in fact a flash forward to the scene that will replay very near the end of the film, where we will see then that the reverse shot has denied us here, with Zé bribing the police after his gun battle with Ned and subsequent arrest. He has been introduced as a key player in the drama, but still only a fragment. The montage of conflicting shots and the collision of the fast-paced editing now gives way to the spectacular circling shots which will morph Rocket from a young man to a boy, and the favela to its former days of low-rise shacks and open spaces. The meeting between two of the principal characters initiates the story; the circular shot will provide the bridge between what they were and what they will become.
The series of tight close ups zooms in and out on further fragments of street life – faces, a guitar, a tambourine, hands with tumblers of drinks, hands scraping and chopping carrots, chicken feet and chickens being lowered into the cooking pot. The first mid shot of the film is of a live chicken on the table, tethered by its leg. A cut provides the first long establishing shot of the film. The chicken jumps down off the table making a bid for freedom. Brazilians describe a situation that appears to have taken off and be going but will soon crash to the ground as a “flying chicken”. This apparent freedom is illusionary – the chicken might try to fly but it can’t get very far. A close-up low-level shot from the chicken’s point of view shows a plate of blood on the ground, a reminder of the chicken’s fate.
Key thoughts for representations of violence:
– Why was the material filmed/edited in the way it was?
During the rape scene, there were jerky cuts to convey the harsh reality that it’s out of her control, perhaps providing insight to her state of mind – trying to block out certain moments to cope/disassociating.
– What effects are the filmmakers attempting to have on the audience & how have specific techniques been used to try and achieve these effects?
Hotel Scene:
– Unpremeditated attack
– Cinematography: The camera work is restless, particularly when a man is being kicked on the floor, the lens continues to push in and out with the movement of the kicking.
– Editing: Simple, showing the sequence as it’s happening, paired with the upbeat music, it conveys the fact that this is normal behaviour for them, a regular occurrence.
– Performance: Natural and calm, aside from barking orders but there’s no real intensity – which is surprising given the crimes they’re committing.
The Killing:
– Cinematography: When we’re first shown the deceased people, it’s a wipe from black after the trio drive off without Li’l Dice (he was killing people), and it’s slow and smooth unlike the jerky movements from earlier during the robbery. This shows that Li’l Dice finds killing people to be okay, and this is where he realises he has a knack for it. Blurred focus on the people, you can only make out Li’l dice. Not shown the people he’s killing in the second shot, only the gun firing and Li’l Dice are in frame.
– Editing: Only two wipes when showing the aftermath. During the killing it was a dissolve, once again an eerily calm atmosphere is being created by Li’l Dice’s performance.
– Performance: In this scene Li’l Dice is still a child and is already exhibiting characteristics of a sociopath: impulsive, violent, and apathetic. With his age and behaviour combined, it results in an eerie performance, he’s smiling and laughing in their faces as he shoots them.
1. Book origin
‘City of God’ by Paulo Lins, 1997. The author was raised in the City of God; he did research for an anthropological work about drug dealers in the favelas – boss asked him to write a novel about it. It took 8 years to write, became bestseller in Brazil and it had a lot of shock value as many were not aware of the happenings inside City of God. Cicade de Deus was established in 1960 in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro as part of a government strategy to systematically move favelas away from the city centre and relocate inhabitants to the suburbs.
2. How did Meirelles and Lund get involved?
Meirelles was introduced to the novel by a friend. He was the director of the film; Lund was a co-director and consultant. When Meirelles was asked about his involvement with Kátia Lund, he said that he knew she was familiar with the world of City of God as she had just finished a documentary on drug dealers (News From a Private War). She was focused on the acting, mostly.
3. Casting and filming:
Only one professional actor, Matheus Nachtergaele, played Carrot. Used non-professional actors from an acting workshop, because he (Meirelles) wanted to recreate the same feeling of the book. Allowed the actors to interpret the intentions behind each scene and character, letting them improvise. Filmed in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – location filming, used a 16mm film stock to shoot. Community members hired are security guards to ensure everyone’s safety. In an interview with Slant Magazine, Meirelles said that the police didn’t know that he was talking about their corruption in film until later. PRODUCTION: Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, screenplay by Bráulio Mantovani, produced by Andrea Barata Ribeiro and Maurício Andrade Ramos, cinematography by César Charlone, edited by Daniel Rezende – “Digital editing” allowed the characters to be emphasized through freeze-framing and other features, different results could be achieved with different editing, music by Antonio Pinto and Ed Cortes. Began filming in 2000, about 100 children and young people were hand-picked and placed into an acting workshop for several months. For safety reasons, most of the film was shot in Cicade Alta, a different favela within Rio as the real Cicade de Deus was in the middle of a conflict during filming.
4. Box Office / Funding
Grossed over $7.5 million in the U.S. and $30.6 million worldwide – in the Brazilian Box Office, the film grossed approximately $10.3 million (USD). The film was funded by TV Globo, which is Brazil’s largest TV channel and O2 Filmes Brazil’s biggest commercial company. They had a budget of $3.3 million. Distributed by Miramax.
5. Critical reaction
The raw realism was frequently praised, as well as the fact that the film raised awareness of what’s really going on within the favelas. However, some harsher critiques say the violence was excessive to the point it was ‘numbing’. According to the TV network, Al Jazeera, some critics argued that the film glorified violence and crime, potentially overlooking the complex social issues at play. Brazilian rapper MV Bill, a resident of Cidade de Deus, said the film had “brought no good to the favela, no social, moral, or human benefit.” He said, “The world will know that they exploited the image of the children who live here in Cidade de Deus. What is obvious is that they are going to carry a bigger stigma throughout their lives; it has only become greater because of the film.”
AESTHETICS:
-The look and feel of the film; cinematography, auteur, motifs, and influences
-Documentary-style-handheld camera work, purposely used for conveying the realism of the city, the situation, the relationships, they are a reflection and elevation of reality.
-Social realism
During the end credits, it’s clearly shown that the characters in film are based on real people – like Knockout Ned, a real interview from when he got out of the hospital shown alongside the photo of the portrayed version of him and the actors’ name.
Richly saturated but consisting of lowkey lighting during violent scenes/as time goes on. For example, when it transitions from 80s-60s. The colour grading is powerfully used to intensify the emotions within the scene. From 1960 to 1964 the first phase of Cinema Novo “an idea in your head and a camera in your hand” established modern cinema in Brazil. It transformed its image outside the country because of its critical success. The Brazil that it symbolized of was one of exploitation, violence and deprivation.
Colour palette:
Golden hue on past scenes, reflecting nostalgia for childhood despite all the violence. Also to convey temperature. However, the second part of the film has a darker colour palette, also goes down in saturation, more blue hues to reflect the dire state of the conflict and the way reality settles in on its residents as they get older. Low lighting. Connotes change of fortune. Growth of gangs, gang violence, the situation of City of God has worsened.
‘Book-ending structure’ :
Hyper-realism:
The violence is amplified to signify the danger and unpleasantness of the violent environment. Unlike Tarantino, where he uses violence for comedic effect. Must exaggerate the violence because the extent of the danger in City of God during that point in time can’t be shown in a naturalistic way in a feature length film – condensed version of the truth.
I really loved City Of God. It had the feel of an early Tarantino movie but done far better than he ever could. The non-linear narrative serves to get you hooked in the beginning, and throughout the film works to make the viewer know the world built by the film intimately. The character writing is also phenomenal, from the simple observing mindset of Rocket to the many flaws and insecurities of Lil’ Ze. It serves to portray a gangster lifestyle without romanticizing it like its western counterparts would. The film also looks fantastic. All round this movie is great.
MEMORABLE SCENE: BENNY’S GOODBYE PARTY
In a movie mostly consisting of non-stop violence and gang talk, Benny’s farewell party serves as a brief respite from the nihilism and misfortune the film frequently portrays. It’s the first scene in a while where everyone is having a good time: From the wide shots of the crowd, it really portrays Benny’s popularity and how he was uplifting the community. This is also the first scene where the audience is shown characters from other groups in the favela’s other than the gangs, expanding the audience’s view of the setting as well as showing them that the gangs are only one small part of life in the slums. The scene is also the beginning of the film’s portrayal of Lil’ Ze’s many flaws. Up until this point in the film, Lil’ Ze has been presented as primarily a figure of fear and power. He kills with no remorse, takes over businesses and runs the slums like a dictator. The whole movie seems to be telling the audience that Lil’ Ze is an entirely fearsome individual. But this party, as it is a break from the action of the rest of the film, takes Lil’ Ze out of the context of gangs and violence, instead into a peaceful gathering, and he is immediately seen as weaker by the audience. Lil’ Ze, who before had been fearsome and commanding, is shown standing awkwardly and alone, and failing all types of social interaction. The camera shows this as well, as the scenes with Benny interacting with the party goers shows them all in focus, while Lil’ Ze primarily gets closeups with the rest of the party out of focus in the backgroud. This is the first time we see Lil’ Ze outside the context of power and he is immediately revealed to be a pathetic person. The only way he finds enjoyment in the party is belittling somebody else to regain a sense of power in the party. The audience stops giving him any respect, as he fails to operate like a normal person when not ordering people around.
THE MICRO ELEMENTS
Mise-en-scene:
When the apartment is owned by Dona Zelia, the apartment is warmly lit, well furnished and in good condition, showing that the person who owned it used it primarily as a living space.
After Big Boy took over the lighting became more naturalistic and the apartment looked less well looked after. A lot of the stylish furnishings like the blinds and tablecloths are also gone, and drugs are on the table, showing that the focus is primarily on drug dealing now
When Aristotle is introduced, the table is moved to the side and a clearer view is given to the sofas, in order to portray a focus on their relationship for the following segment. The lighting is also all artificial, indicating night.
The space grows darker and darker as Aristotle’s segment goes on, with less lights in the apartment on, ending with Aristotle’s death in a mostly black space.
Editing
Read the following by the film’s editor:
Daniel Rezende said, “What we tried to do with the editing was attempt to use ‘effects’ whenever we thought that this could bring something extra to the sensation or emotion that we were aiming to evoke. If the situation is tense, and there’s no time to think, we speed it up and make it even tenser. If the
character is going to be important later, then we freeze the face to commit it to memory. If both things happen at the same time, then we split the screen, so as not to lose anything. In the third part of the film, we especially welcomed anything out of the ordinary for the editing style. If a ‘badly made’ cut could increase levels of discomfort in the viewer then we incorporated it.”
3 edits:
Showing Lil’ Dice’s rise to power, after Lil’ Dice shoots Goose we transition to a montage of Lil’ Dice shooting people, all in the same low angle as Goose’s execution, with sporadic zoom ins.
The film starts with cuts to and from a black screen and a knife being sharpened
Cinematography
The Opening (Credit sequence – to the football match) – watch in class (tryout the sound to focus on the camera moves – HIGHLIGHT the correct terminology)
• The ‘restless’ style, characteristic of the film, announces itself from the start. It begins not with the customary establishing shot but with flashes that illuminate a series of close ups – knife, hand, and stone – with a cut to black between each shot. Another photographic flash illuminates Rocket with his camera. He zooms out from behind a network of bars, which collapses down into his image. This is in fact a flash forward to the scene that will replay very near the end of the film, where we will see then that the reverse shot has denied us here, with Zé bribing the police after his gun battle with Ned and subsequent arrest. He has been introduced as a key player in the drama, but still only a fragment. The montage of conflicting shots and the collision of the fast-paced editing now gives way to the spectacular circling shots which will morph Rocket from a young man to a boy, and the favela to its former days of low-rise shacks and open spaces. The meeting between two of the principle characters initiates the story; the circular shot will provide the bridge between what they were and what they will become.
• The series of tight close ups zooms in and out on further fragments of street life – faces, a guitar, a tambourine, hands with tumblers of drinks, hands scraping and chopping carrots, chicken feet and chickens being lowered into the cooking pot. The first mid shot of the film is of a live chicken on the table, tethered by its leg. A cut provides the first long establishing shot of the film. The chicken jumps down off the table making a bid for freedom. Brazilians describe a situation that appears to have taken off and be going but will soon crash to the ground as a “flying chicken”. This apparent freedom is illusionary – the chicken might try to fly but it can’t get very far. A close-up low-level shot from the chicken’s point of view shows a plate of blood on the ground, a reminder of the chicken’s fate.
HOTEL ROBBERY
Fast cuts between members of the Tender Trio
Montage-like sequence
String music playing (non-diegetic)
No loud noises
Minimal violence
No focus on the people, just the Tender Trio
One segment where it pans down from the mirror on the ceiling is pretty cool
Mostly midshots
Camera follows the Tender Trio as they move
Close up on screaming woman
Music cuts immediately after window breaks
THE STORY OF LIL’ DICE
No non-diegetic sound (no music)
Slow
Loud crying, shouting
Gunshots stand out against the quiet
Dim lighting
Quite a bit of violence
Less action, just killing
Violence continues from hotel to the streets
Victims blurred when he entered the room – shows dissociation?
Music comes in during the montage of Lil’ Dice’s rise to power – gangster-style jazz-like music
BOOK ORIGIN
Lins was doing research for a study on drug dealers and was told by his boss to make a book out of it
The book was published in 1997 and was written over the period of 8 years
The book is semi-autobiographical: Lins was raised in the City Of God, and the book is based on the experiences of him and his friend Rocket
Meirelles was given the book by a friend and was told to shoot the film. He loved the book and decided to make the film
The book shocked the population as it revealed the brutal reality of the favelas
HOW DID MEIRELLES AND LUND GET INVOLVED?
Lund was finishing a documentary on drug dealers, and Meirelles thought this knowledge would be useful to have on set
Initially, Lund was only meant to create a workshop for the actors, but they worked so well together she was invited onto the project
Lund was primarily focused on the acting, while Meirelles took the other roles
CASTING AND FILMING
Meirelles wanted to use non actors so he could closer capture the feeling of the book
The “actors” were pulled from the real-life favelas of Brazil, some even coming from the titular City Of God
The only professional actor on set was Matheus Nachtergaele, who played Carrot
The actors were not given a script: They were given the intentions behind the scenes and improvised. This helped with Meirelles’ aim to capture the reality of the book
BOX OFFICE/FUNDING
Meirelles was meant to receive funding from American company Miramax, but the money didn’t come through
Meirelles was forced to fund the whole movie himself
Miramax later worked on international distribution of the film
In Brazil, the film sold over 3.1 million tickets and grossed $10.3 million.
In the US, it grossed over $7.3 million and internationally grossed $30.5 million
CRITICAL REACTION
The film was a critical success
It received a lot of praise from film critics for its plot and filmmaking
There were many negative criticisms, such as people believing it was glamourizing the favelas and poverty, which Meirelles stated was not his intention and something he hoped he’d avoided
There were also worries that it will stigmatize the children of the favela of the City Of God
President Lula of Brazil told Meirelles that the film had a big impact on him, and it influenced his changes to laws on public security
TECHNOLOGICAL
“Digital editing allowed the characters to be shaped in the edit”
A lot of improvisation was filmed and the use of digital editing allowed them to try a lot of different takes and lines of dialogue in the edit.
AESTHETICS
Golden hue for the 60’s – light colours show good memories, yellow indicates sepia tones, heat
Second half is colder colours – connotations of change in the favelas
The film uses a lot of grungy, street aesthetics, as well as an attempt to create a feeling of documentary realism.
The film uses aesthetic elements of social realism constantly. The film is set in Brazilian favelas and follows lower class people, it was filmed within the favelas, and it’s based on a real story and real people.
1960s – 1980s (30 years) We know through the text appearing on the screen, through costume to tell which decade it is, the change in lighting and architecture.
The protagonist – rocket The antagonist – li’l Ze
First Impression Rating – 6/10 I really like the use of cinematography especially with the 360 shots of Rocket as a teenage then being seen when he was a child as well. I thought this idea of the 360-shot showing the different decades was well done and made it easy to follow along to that character being the same in different places, through the same movements.
The most memorable scene for me would be the opening scene as the editing, cinematography and sound is very fast paced creating this intense journey of the beginning of the film and the escape of a chicken which foreshadows the struggle and brutality of the streets.
Micro elements Mise – en – Scene The location of the appartement where people sell drugs at 35minutes in show a dissolve of the appartement being owned by different people. The first owner, who was an owner, made the apartment more realistic to live in, there was much more props for example comfortable chairs and a table and curtains, connoting this richer way of living in the city of God, it shows that the women wanted more of a comfortable and friendlier home, even though she was selling drugs, however this was to support her family. Furthermore, throughout this montage of the apartment over time, it gets owned by a man and continue to be owned by more men. The apartment becomes more isolating and dirtier with very low-key lighting, the apartment in the last couple of clips in this scene show less prop with an old wooden chair and a table covered in rubbish showing the lonelier and dungier lifestyle the male owner was providing for themselves. The apartment is very cold through the colour palette, but it also looks cold to live in.
Editing – film’s editor:
Daniel Rezende said, “What we tried to do with the editing was attempt to use ‘effects’ whenever we thought that this could bring something extra to the sensation or emotion that we were aiming to evoke. If the situation is tense, and there’s no time to think, we speed it up and make it even tenser. If the character is going to be important later, then we freeze the face to commit it to memory. If both things happen at the same time, then we split the screen, so as not to lose anything. In the third part of the film, we especially welcomed anything out of the ordinary for the editing style. If a ‘badly made’ cut could increase levels of discomfort in the viewer, then we incorporated it.”
Performance
Working with non-professional actors: – Used non-professionals as wanted to recreate the same feeling of the book as it would make the events of the film feel more natural and real. – Meirelles learned from Mike Leigh & Ken Loach to not give his actors a script – Meirelles would tell his actors the intentions behind each scene & character and allowed them to improvise which also created a stronger sense of reality through this style. – 70% of what you see/hear on screen was improvised.
Cinematography
The ‘restless’ style, characteristic of the film, announces itself from the start. It begins not with the customary establishing shot but with flashes that illuminate a series of close ups – knife, hand, and stone – with a cut to black between each shot. Another photographic flash illuminates Rocket with his camera. He zooms out from behind a network of bars, which collapses down into his image. This is in fact a flash forward to the scene that will replay very near the end of the film, where we will see then that the reverse shot has denied us here, with Zé bribing the police after his gun battle with Ned and subsequent arrest. He has been introduced as a key player in the drama, but still only a fragment. The montage of conflicting shots and the collision of the fast-paced editing now gives way to the spectacular circling shots which will morph Rocket from a young man to a boy, and the favela to its former days of low-rise shacks and open spaces. The meeting between two of the principal characters initiates the story; the circular shot will provide the bridge between what they were and what they will become. The series of tight close ups zooms in and out on further fragments of street life – faces, a guitar, a tambourine, hands with tumblers of drinks, hands scraping and chopping carrots, chicken feet and chickens being lowered into the cooking pot. The first mid shot of the film is of a live chicken on the table, tethered by its leg. A cut provides the first long establishing shot of the film. The chicken jumps down off the table making a bid for freedom. Brazilians describe a situation that appears to have taken off and be going but will soon crash to the ground as a “flying chicken”. This apparent freedom is illusionary – the chicken might try to fly but it can’t get very far. A close-up low-level shot from the chicken’s point of view shows a plate of blood on the ground, a reminder of the chicken’s fate.
Sound
In the beginning scene of the film the sound is very fast. There is the sound of the sharp and piercing noise of the knife being sharpened. There is an underscore of music which sound like it has originated from Brazil, this music accompanied by the sound of chickens and food being cooked suggest to the audience that the beginning scene is possibly taking place in the street where people are cooking for each other perhaps suggesting that there is a market happening. After the chicken escape the sound really concentrate only on the sound of the chicken making the scene more intense and the audience sympathises for the chicken escaping.
Representation
masculinity and aggressive masculinity. There is a constant battle of power and aggression, especially between Carrot and Lil Ze, they are always trying to be the best between each other and then generate this constant aggressive nature that they have. Another way the film signifies the dominance of male leads is the use of very little female characters, the female characters are often the damsel in distress and are only viewed as an object to the men in the film. The use of aggression is used throughout the film from the male character to show their high status in the City of God and aggression is a feature that everyone knows who they are because of their personality.
Hotel Scene: Unpremeditated attack
– Cinematography: close up of lil dice getting annoyed that he isn’t take part of the attack, it shows that he is still youthful and not able to understand what is going on fully. There is a long mid shot of him practicing shooting somebody and it connotes this aggressive masculinity he is growing up in, especially as he sees his friends who are older creating this constant battle of aggression.
– Editing: At the start of the seen the editing is slower showing this preparation of the attack it also shows the argument between lil dice and goose. It then gets quite quick when they are robbing people to show the same repetition of the robbing scenes
– Performance: A lot of violence was used from some of the character like hitting a guy over the head with the end of his gun etc
The Killing:
– Cinematography: There was many low angles shot used of Lil Dice shooting people it shows how he is more superior than people and if you get on the wrong side of him that he will shoot you showing his ultimate power and status over people. Showing his dominance.
– Editing: the editing of when Lil Dice is shooting people is very quick showing him growing up and how he is still doing the violent act of killing people. It is quick editing as it shows the repetition of Lil Dice doing the same thing, shooting people and then smiling after it.
– Sound: There is the constant sound of guns being shot, there is also a piece of music which is fast and upbeat showing that Lil Dice finds shooting uplifting and amusing for him.
– Performance: When Lil Dice is shooting the people he is always smiling with an evil smile, showing the audience that he has no sympathy for the people he is killing, and that he finds killing people quite joyful and it does not upset him at all.
Use the Internet and the Interview with Meirelles (Slant Magazine) to create notes on the following: (that’s about 10 mins per section)
Book origin The book, by Paulo Lins, took eight years writing it, and was the bestseller in Brazil when published. The book Captured what nobody really knew in the Favelas, and this book was telling the story from story from the inside. Published in 1997. Paulo Lins was raised in City of God. He was doing research for anthropological work about dealers.
How did Meirelles and Lund get involved? Meirelles, was given the book by a friend who said it was amazing, and he should make a film based on it. At first Meirelles wasn’t interested, but after reading the book he thought it was amazing. Katia Lund was finishing a documentary about drug dealers, so Meirelles knew she would know a lot about this universe. They both worked at a workshop for those boys that wanted to work as actors in the film. And then Lunds got invited to join the project.
Casting and filming: The casting was mostly non–professional actors as Meirelles wanted to recreate the same feeling as the book. Meirelles would just tell them about the intentions behind each scene and character and let them improvise. So, 70% of what you see and hear on the screen is created themselves. This is what gives the film a sense of reality. The filming – they had permission from the community centers inside the favelas to shoot there. They didn’t film in the actual city of God as there was daily violence and much conflict however the filmed in another favelas, Alta.
Box Office / Funding City of God worldwide revenue $30,641,770 – 30.69 million. The film grossed over 7.5 million in the U.S. The opening of the film in theaters made $88,292. The film was made on a $3.83 million (U.S dollar) budget. Funded by Tv Globo, Brazil’s biggest Tv Channel and 02 films, Brazil’s largest commercials company. In Brazil the film was a big success, the largest audience watched it. Miramax distrubeted the film internationally.
Critical reaction Despite its critical acclaim and success at international film festivals, “city of God” has evoked a wide array of responses from critics and audiences alike, particularly regarding its portrayal of violence and poverty. The Edinburgh University Film society placed the film as their number one film: “superlatives should not be restricted when describing the marvelous piece of filmmaking… City of God is a tour de Force and the greatest film of the year by miles. (Chay Williamson) Was nominated for 4 Oscars – Best cinematography, best director, best film editing, and best adapted screenplay. Won a BAFTA Award for best editing. Rotten tomatoes have an approval rating of 91%
Technology The editor, Daniel Rezende, said that digital editing allowed the character to be shaped within the edit.
Aesthetics – Colours: there is a warm tone palette (gold, yellows, oranges) when we are shown the childhood scenes, In the 60s, which shows this youthful and younger view on life and oftens shows the more nostalgic and positive side of their life. whereas in the later 70s and 80s there is a cooler tone (Blue, and greys), which shows that they have transitioned into adulthood and are more violent.
Social realism: the use of non-professional actors helps to shows the sense of reality; this is shown through the use of improvised sense. Also, through the use of more handheld shots creating this feeling of documentary style and genre of the film adding to this sense of verisimilitude.
It is based on a true story – the end credits show the actors and then the real people which the story is based on. Furthermore, there is a video in the film of knockout ned being interviewed after he got shot and at the end of the credits scenes there is the actual footage of knockout ned being interviewed. The interview in the film is almost identical to the actual footage.
Rocket, the documenter and voice over in City of God, is based on the photographer Wilson Rodrigues. He becomes Rodriques at the end of the film and his association with photography enhances his “neutral” view of events. The poverty and violence are seen through the viewfinder of his camera; he documents the final shoot out. He is the one who informs us what is taking place both on a local level (the city of God itself) and at a national level (the slums of Brazil). City of God mixes the notion of the reporter with his objective camera that can reveals the truth of a sordid and violent area with the films own highly manipulated and constructed style.
Sense of hyperrealism: colours – the saturated colours. The overexaggerated warm tone in the nostalgic scenes show this hyper realism, make the scenes feel heightened and exaggerated to help show this level chaotic Ness during the childhood. editing – the restless style of the film / frantic movements/ fast cuts / music matches the chaotic nature of the favela/indiscriminate violence. This frantic movements makes the scenes, especially the running and fighting scenes feel more chaotic and very hyper to show this Constance need of violence and the more they shoot people and hurt people the more violent they become. cinematography – extreme angles, framing, 360 pans. Also shows this chaotic and heightened feeling of the film. The extreme angle makes the film feel distorted and almost not possible to feel.
