OPENING SEQUENCE ANALYSIS:

DAISY MAULE

THE GODFATHER:

CHARACTERS:The character to the left, Buonasera, is the one that we first see in ‘The Godfather’. He is also the one that begins talking, stating “I believe in America” then continuing on to tell a story where at the beginning, seems like he isn’t talking to another character.

This is the second character to be revealed, however he is revealed slowly and this is done by the use of different camera shots. He is the protagonist – The Godfather, who is shown to be an authority figure who has the most power.

The casting of the characters may have been done on purpose regarding height. The main character, The Godfather, is taller than Buonasera and this could be to emphasise The Godfather’s power and how he has authority over the other character.

SETTING:The opening sequence is set in what appears to be The Godfather’s office. Linking to mise-en-scene, the surroundings emphasise his position within the Mafia as everything looks quite expensive and the room is largely decorated. Also, this scene is only set in this location.

(See mise-en-scene)

MISE-EN-SCENE:

Mise-en-scene includes props, costumes, make-up, facial expressions, body language, lighting and colour.

In terms of the characters, they are both wearing dark coloured suits that reflect the characters they are being. The Godfather is wearing a slightly smarter suit than the other character is, which is expected.

The props in the room are expensive looking which again reinforces his position. They are also themed around dark colours and the lighting is relatively sombre, with only one main light which is situated to the side of the characters.

In terms of body language and facial expressions, The Godfather has very minimal facial expressions showing he doesn’t have any particular reaction to what he hears. He also looks relatively miserable. The other character, Buonasera, has a wider range of expressions and body movements which implies his is passionate about what he is saying.

CAMERA SHOTS: The scene begins as a blank

screen where Buonasera states “I believe in America”. Then it shows a close up of his face, as shown to the left. As he begins his story, it appears that he is breaking the forth wall, talking directly to the audience which immediately captures our attention.

As he continues his monologue, the camera very slowly pans backwards from his face, to create more of a mid shot.

The camera continues to pan back further until it reveals that he isn’t actually talking to the audience but talking to the protagonist. The positioning of the protagonist works well as a camera angle due to the fact that as we only see a small amount of him, at first we don’t know who it is the other character is talking to so our attention is purposefully held. The fact that what we do see of him is dark and shadow-like shows how his character is potentially an important one who is also mysterious which we discover to be true as he is The Godfather.

The last two shots I have picked out from the scene, emphasise The Godfather’s authority over the other character. I have added arrows showing that the fact he is taller helps to reinforce this authority, which was most likely done on purpose by the director/D.O.P.

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SOUND AND MUSIC:

The music that features at the beginning of ‘The Godfather’ fits the genre of the film. The music is called ‘The immigrant’ by Nino Rota. The genre of the film is crime drama and the music shows this well as it sounds quite mysterious, slow and Italian which also reflects the characters.

As the words to left disappear off the screen, the music continues for a moment before fading out. As soon as it fades out, a character says his line before it shows his face. This is an effective sound technique used as it puts a large emphasis on his opening line.

Also, the main pattern of the music featured here is that it gets slightly louder when text appears on the screen, then fades out for a moment and comes back again when more text is shown.