Essay exploring how editing in City Of God creates meaning
Exam question: With close reference to the film you have studied, explore how editing creates meaning.
20marks
(would be centred around 2 films for 40 marks in the exam)
In the film The city of God, there would be a great deal less meaning and impact without the editing techniques that are incorporated. The final brutal and depressing meaning that the audience grasp from the film is achieved by using certain types of editing as strategies to portray certain messages that influence the overall affect on the audience.
The film of the City of God, portrays brutal meaning in how in the environment of the slum, using violence is necessary in order to obtain power. A collection of elliptical shots of the character of "Lil Ze", over what is implied as a period of a few years, is used to fast forward time. This illustrates the consistency in the violence in Lil ze's character. This makes the audience become fearful of Lil Ze and gives them the impression that this is how he gained the position of power that he holds at the end of the sequence, creating powerful meaning in showing the audience the brutal nature of the slum; that not only does violence make such an impact on power but that power in a person brings fear to others.
City of God creates meaning that life is cheap. Fades are used in the apartment scene to blend together all of the lives of the people who have lived there, belittling the importance of each individual. This makes the audience feel as if it is unnecessary to remember details about them, and all of the people coming and going so subtly but quickly may blur into one. This establishes the theme that as death is inevitable for everyone, that life is unimportant and cheap.
City of God creates bleak meaning without changing to become the slightest bit safer over the long length of time over which it is set. A fast pace is used to achieve this at the end of the film. The same sequence that appears at the beginning of the film, continuing having short shots to reveal maximum information, however the pace feels faster still due to the audience's knowledge of the events that lead up to the present. The audience at this point are familiar with the scene which reminds them that after ten years that no one has obtained any morals or learned from experience. The audience's background knowledge creates an even bigger impact than at the start, emphasizing the unchanged threatening environment, and creating depressing meaning in the hopeless portrayal of the fate of the City of God.
City of God creates distressing meaning in how ordinary brutal behavior is. A slow pace is achieved in City of God in a short sequence on the street to portray this. By filming the shooting of an innocent person in one long shot; minimum suspense is created which makes it come across as an everyday event. The audience will be surprised at such a bold statement, creating impact and meaning, enforcing the prospect of ordinary violence.
20marks
(would be centred around 2 films for 40 marks in the exam)
In the film The city of God, there would be a great deal less meaning and impact without the editing techniques that are incorporated. The final brutal and depressing meaning that the audience grasp from the film is achieved by using certain types of editing as strategies to portray certain messages that influence the overall affect on the audience.
The film of the City of God, portrays brutal meaning in how in the environment of the slum, using violence is necessary in order to obtain power. A collection of elliptical shots of the character of "Lil Ze", over what is implied as a period of a few years, is used to fast forward time. This illustrates the consistency in the violence in Lil ze's character. This makes the audience become fearful of Lil Ze and gives them the impression that this is how he gained the position of power that he holds at the end of the sequence, creating powerful meaning in showing the audience the brutal nature of the slum; that not only does violence make such an impact on power but that power in a person brings fear to others.
City of God creates meaning that life is cheap. Fades are used in the apartment scene to blend together all of the lives of the people who have lived there, belittling the importance of each individual. This makes the audience feel as if it is unnecessary to remember details about them, and all of the people coming and going so subtly but quickly may blur into one. This establishes the theme that as death is inevitable for everyone, that life is unimportant and cheap.
City of God creates bleak meaning without changing to become the slightest bit safer over the long length of time over which it is set. A fast pace is used to achieve this at the end of the film. The same sequence that appears at the beginning of the film, continuing having short shots to reveal maximum information, however the pace feels faster still due to the audience's knowledge of the events that lead up to the present. The audience at this point are familiar with the scene which reminds them that after ten years that no one has obtained any morals or learned from experience. The audience's background knowledge creates an even bigger impact than at the start, emphasizing the unchanged threatening environment, and creating depressing meaning in the hopeless portrayal of the fate of the City of God.
City of God creates distressing meaning in how ordinary brutal behavior is. A slow pace is achieved in City of God in a short sequence on the street to portray this. By filming the shooting of an innocent person in one long shot; minimum suspense is created which makes it come across as an everyday event. The audience will be surprised at such a bold statement, creating impact and meaning, enforcing the prospect of ordinary violence.
Hi Zara,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to check that this was the completed essay answer?
All the best
Mr Cooper
Ok, the individual points that you make here are good, you have used a good variety of film language and you have used it accurately. However, your answer is lacking the central structure that I would expect to see from a film essay answer. Remember, always refer back to the question. It is the 'create meaning' that is the focus of this question here. Therefore, you need to firstly identify a theme or representation within the film and then explain how the film, using elements of film making, creates that meaning. Don't start with the micro feature of film making first.
ReplyDeleteAlso, include an 'introduction' and 'conclusion' within your answer - two paragraphs to ease you into and round off your answer.
If you could make those changes ASAP, that would be great.
All the best
Mr Cooper
thankyou so much for this specific feedback, this is exactly the kind of critique I was hoping for.
Deletefirstly I will edit each paragraph to refer back to the question at the end.
I intended to start each paragraph with a topic sentence but I need to edit the topic sentences so that they only state the theme and then say where it can be demonstrated
I will then add a conclusion and introduction.
I have just now added more detail and pictures to my notes on the opening scene, I hope it is improved.
Kind regards,
Zara Woolf
Thank you for making these alterations. Your focus is a little stronger but we just need to work on ensuring that your answer flows and isn't just a collection of linked statements. This will come with practice.
DeleteAlso, I think there could be some misunderstanding in how you are interpreting the word 'meaning'.
Please seem at the end of the next lesson for us to go through this together.
All the best
Mr Cooper