ESSAY NO 2 - City of God

What is the importance of mise-en-scene and/or sound I'm creating meaning and generating response in the films you have studied?  

City of God, filmed in 2002, directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund follows a group of young boys/men through the space of 3 decades. Throughout the film the mise-en-scene mimics the themes and circumstances the boys living within the favela experience. Meirelles ensured that the actors within City of God are all citizens of the favela adding a sense of realism to the film because they aren't necessarily acting but simply portraying their day to day life. One scene in particular that uses the mise-en-scene to clearly show the dominance of crime is during the interaction of Steak and Lil Zè scene. A LS of Lil Zè and his followers is used whilst talking to Steak and Fries, Lil Zè asks Steak "wanna take a walk?", unlike Lil Zè and his fellow followers he is young boy who although has been introduced to the violent reality of life in the favela, has not yet conformed to it. The next shot shows a LS of the boys behind what appears to be a metal fence, the mise-en-scene creates connotations of imprisonment as they are all behind the cage-like fence. This implies that Steak is inevitably going to become trapped in the life of drugs and violence like  the others as a subsequent of accepting Lil Zè's offer. A high angle, LS is used showing the boys walking down an backstreet within the favela. The mise-en-scene within this shot clearly highlights the poverty within this community evident through the half-built, half-ruined shacks the citizens of the favela reside in. Another aspect of mine-en-scene within this shot which supports the previous point of the inevitable entrapment of Steak and Fries is the fact that the boy at the back is carrying an empty cage. This creates meaning because it shows that if Steak continues to intermingle with Lil Zè and his followers, he too will be introduced to the dangerous life and ultimately be trapped within it. The mise-en-scene of the cage caused me to feel wary of Lil Zè's intentions especially because the director had made such a point to show the theme of entrapment though aspects of mise-en-scene.

Another scene which creates meaning through the use of mise-en-scene is during the scene where Lil Zè becomes obsessed with the idea of fame. After already witnessing a scene prior to this one in which the boys show their gun skills and more importantly their knowledge on operating one, this scene becomes ironic. A hand held camera is used, whilst showing a upper MS of a Tiago trying to operate the camera, after failing to do so another boy mimics his attempt and also fails. A LS of Lil Zè's gang is used showing them all holding guns. The mise-en-scene of the guns and the camera and ultimately the contrast in the two objects highlights the attitudes of the boys and the general population within a favela. They know more about guns than a camera, suggesting that they value gun knowledge more than they do anything else. The community within the favela is often excluded from the rest of the world, they are excluded as a subsequence of their postcode. This interest and concern in gun knowledge enforced by their peers and parents is mainly due to the rivalry between drug gangs and the corruption of the police. The severity of police brutality within the favela is just as  present as the brutality between the citizens. This is proven through statistics, between he years 1997 - 1998,  699 residents were killed by Rio's military police.