Practice exam question- City of God

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques? (35 marks)

The beginning of City of God starts with an extreme close up on a knife being sharpened and this is a metaphor to describe how the people in the favelas are living on the edge of a knife because someone dies every 90 seconds in the favelas. Then there is a chicken which is tied up but it escapes and in this scene there is a sense of verisimilitude because a handheld camera is used with a tracking shot following the chicken running away. However, the people chase the chicken to stop it from getting away and this is a representation of how the people in the favelas are trapped there and that they could die at any moment, just like the chicken.

Another scene in the film shows Goose, Clipper and Shaggy go to a motel to rob it. They walk into the exit of the motel which could be a foreshadowing of their exit out of the film.  Inside the motel they tie up the staff and steal anything of value. The film is very fast paced at this moment too to get across that they are in a rush to get out so that they don't get caught, however there is a moment inside the motel where Clipper goes to steal jewellery but he sees a crucifix necklace and he hands it back to the man. This scene is clearer than all the others inside the motel and this is done to make clear to the audience that Clipper is religious and this is a sign that he can still be saved, he will not suffer the same fate as Goose and Shaggy. After they leave the motel they cannot find lil Z so they assume that he has been taken by the police and then there is a sweeping pan camera motion across each room in the motel, as if they are all one room, and everyone is dead. From this, the audience can assume that Lil Z set them up and went in to kill everyone after they left. He did this so that they would all be arrested, killed or would have to leave, and so that he could assume the position of leader of the rising gang in the favelas. In an earlier scene in the film, we were shown a foreshadowing, of Lil Z assuming this position, where he was sat at the top of the pile of bricks while the tender trio were stood around him or sat below him.