Other:

Half an hour opening

Michal is main character
Genre: gang, crime. (Suits, Italian, dark rooms)
Mes en scene: they show a lot of suits and drinks in many scenes.
Keeping this in Italian for effect (which makes what happen in the scene more dramatic as we dont
fully know whats going on we have to rely on what we can see.)
They use juxsatpostion when Michal looks at newspaper and sees his father has been shot.
They show a lot of wide shots and sometimes track into someones face to show emotion or cut
into there face in scenes when they sit around chatting about what to do. But most of the time in
these scenes they try to show everyones movement and reactions in-group conversations.
Dinner scene with cops use wine bottle opening to build tension. They cut between him in the
bathroom to them in the restraint to build tension
Sometimes the shot is still for almost the whole scene and we see the action move within that
showing us people reactions the conversation and the shots with little cutting and little movement
the scene is carefully set up and choreographed to work within that one shot.
The fight scene at 1.44 is mainly wides from one angle showing the beating and the crowed
around trying to see whats going on.
The cut between New York and Sisley a lot showing whats going in both places at a similar time.
Woman in red = danger
The five family scene shows us all the character by panning down the table until we are on the
godfather and he gives a speech. There are a lot of close ups until about half way.
The Godfather says he wont do anything. But he knows Michal will. The speech sets up the rest
of the film.
Michal meets up with his old girlfriend this shows us the change from the beginning when he says
he wont be like his farther but now 2 hours in the movie he has started to be more like his farther.
Shows us the difference in Michal and there relation ship at this part of the movie compared to the
begging.
In the scene when Michals back when he is with the godfather we see him become more powerful
and more like his father
There is short fading montage to show change of location.
At 2.16 Michal says ill make him an offer I cant refuse (just like his father did)
Once the godfather is sick and no longer the head of the family we dont see him in suits any more
just more lounge and comfortable clothes. To show he is no longer in charge.
Michal and godfathers conversation tells us a lot in there conversations.
They use a lot of dissolves and fades to show a change in time and scene
The scene where carlo gets strangled at the end the camera is fixed to the car and his foot comes
though the wind screen into our face.
Throughout the film they try to make us focus on whats going on and make the camera angles and
shots simple so they are not distracting just complimenting the acting and whats going on to be
more effective. By it being simple it lets the story be more complicated.

Unit 16 LO1 task: The Godfather analysis

Over the next few lessons you will be watching The Godfather Part I. As you watch the film you will
need to take comprehensive notes in order to complete the task. Your notes will be submitted and
marked as part of your final assessment for this unit so please make sure they are full and detailed.
Your task will be to create a display piece covering the history of filming and editing techniques and
how they have changed over time. You will use examples from previous weeks and compare them
to the techniques in The Godfather.
As you take notes on the following think back to how they were used at the beginning of the 20 th
century, through to Hitchcocks black and white era up to the 1970s Godfather trilogy.
There are a lot of shots that show a wide overview of whats going on before then getting closer for
a more personal look.
They set up a lot of shots to make them look rich and show the era. My using mis en scene and
making the surroundings more of the era and style of gangsters.

Development:
1.

How does the camera follow the action in the Horses head scene [31.12]? How does the
movement create pace?

Slow tracking into the man sleeping on bed and slowly turns until we are just above the man. Then
it stays still for a bit as we see the blood for the first time. Then it moves down with how the bed as
he pulls the blanket away. Then we see the horse head then it cuts out with each scream going
further away. When he sees the head the music cuts. It was a simple pan and edit to let us engage
with the story. During this they build tension in their camera techniques and slowly revelling what
happened. They zoom out more and more so we can see the blood. They set the camera up so we
can see the bed the blood the horse and the shocked man.

2.

[1.49.39] also follows the action from room to room why do you think this has been used here

to let us see whats going on in real time, to build up the action and tension. We see the whole
scene in one time zone. Its all almost one angle very little cuts. Steady movements mean we can
keep looing at the action and see how the scene develops, and how it builds up we see hear more
than we see in some of it. There is no editing so we can basically see everything. By keeping it in
one camera it makes it more uncomfortable and makes it more raw and real. It makes it more
personal as we see the whole thing and fully engage straight into it. As the argument heats up the
fast the movement is to show the stress. Because they move so much the camera moves a lot and
it makes it tenser and we begin to have to concentrate to see whats going on. By using no edit
one shot it makes it more real like we are there and put us there like its real and makes it more
uncomfuible. Flows to next scene because of screaming and baby.

3.

How does this compare to the camera following the action in the Lumiere Brothers The factory
(research this piece)

They show more of whats going on in the godfather they set up the scene and action of the story
within the shot when the Lumiere bothers just show live action real life. Also the Lumiere Brothers
camera stays still the whole time and doesnt move. Whilst in the Godfather moves the camera
with the action. They also use more cuts in the Godfather meaning they use more camera angles.

4.

Are there any scenes which show multiple points of view? Please note them down and explain
what happens?

During meeting scenes they show a few different angles and shots, which gives the look of peoples
different points of views and gives us a wider look into what people thinking. We see these

conversations and meetings from different peoples views as such by what we can see in the shot.
Like in a lot of the killing scenes we watch like we are the person about to be killed. In Sonnys
Murdered we watch from sonnys point of view as we see the gunmen appear.

5.

There are multiple shot variations throughout The Godfather List the ones you believe to be
the most important. For example were there close ups on faces which allowed the viewer
closer to the emotions of the actor, how about low angle shots to show the mood or importance
of a character?
Wides they used wides to show everyone in the scene. Quite often during chat scenes they
showed the group in the scene sitting a arrangement showing all the characters and using the
wide with can see the scene fully, we can see whos saying what and how others are reacting.
Close ups they used close ups to show the emotion and expressions with more detail, in
scenes where there where quite a few characters they cut from wides to close ups to give us a
full view of the emotion.
They also used a lot of wide or medium angled tracking shots to show the action and scene
whilst its going on. Using the tracking with these angles it gives the viewer a full view of
whats going on and usually these tracks doesnt have any or many cuts so it doesnt pull the
viewer out of the scene, and keeps them engaged.

6.

How do these shot variations compare to those shown in A Trip to the Moon (look back at the
film and discuss)
In the trip to the moon its pretty much a wide the whole of the way though. In the good father
they use multiple shots and a lot of camera movement to show the viewer what they want us
to see and keep us engaged by using the camera to help build up the scene.

Storytelling
1.

How would you say the Godfather engaged the viewer and kept them interested? Explain how
the story developed over time? How much time passed from beginning to end of film?
They build strong characters by using a lot of character development. At the being we see the
Godfather in power and Michal doesnt want to be involved with his father at all. But by the end
they have a complete role swap where Michal has pretty much become the godfather. the
original godfather is seen wearing PJs and older peoples clothes witch shows us hes retired,
and then he dies and Michal is then the full boss. So that is the main character development.
Also the film does have a lot of killing but its not the entire film, there is a lot of build up and
consequences shown to us around each death. Its more of a tactical drama rather then a full on
blood spilling action film, they try to focus of building the action and realism which draws the
audience in as they are sucked into the story to see what happens. We follow the characters for
quite a long time about 5 to 7 years passes within the film. The main focus of the film is dialog
and character development.

2.

How has the rhythm of the edit engaged the viewer? Is it slow or fast compare to other films
with similar editing.

Slow for most of the film epically in the beginning. Fast shots and editing during shooting scenes.
Mostly the rhythm is slow and steady letting us watch the action and story from prime views and
steady shots. Mainly there is tripod and tracking shots that follow the action and characters, with
this most of the time they revel what happens when the characters find out what happened so we
see the reactions. By using the slower rhyme it builds this effect up even more by increasing the
tension and making it easier engage.

Conventions and techniques:

1.

Watch the dinner conversation [29.00.00] minutes in how is the 180 degree rule used? How
effective was this technique?

They stay on one side of the actors; they follow the action from one side. They mainly stay in one
place with some movements when he gets angry. By using this we engage into the conversation. It
was very clean cut and works simply but well it make the scene easier for audience. They also used
the shot revers shot to show reactions. The dialog is the important at this point so by using these
simple no distraction shot techniques we listen more to what they are saying and what they are
saying comes arcos stronger to the viewer.

2.

There are two scenes where parallel editing and montage is used
a) Towards the beginning of the film when Tom, Sonny and Vito discuss doing business with
Sollozzo.
We see two men talking business whilst out side they are singing and dancing. And a
famous singer comes and sings. And there are lots of screaming girls. We also see the army
son talking to his wife about his father and how he made a offer he couldnt refuse. We
see back in the room the two men talking about how they cant get hold of something. The
god father gets angry at him being sad, the godfather says your not a real man unless you
spend time with your family. The room they are in is dark and quite the party that it cuts to
is bright and loud. Contrast of family vs business. Man vs woman, Men do business whilst
woman party with family.

b) Baptism and murder scene [2.30.00] in

They show the baptism where Michal is saying his baptism vowels of becoming a Godfather
(which has two meanings). But at the same time we see his gang talking out another gang
with a series of brutal murders. Here again similar to the begging parallel edit we see
family vs business and the mix that exist. Its a contrast and comparison to the two sides of
the gang life. We see Michael giving voles and we see the set up and the killing of other
gang members. We also see Michal announce satin whilst the killing actually is going on.
This scene also shows us Michal becoming a godfather and The Godfather at the same time
as such. Whilst hes saying the vows his gang is in action and laying down their roots again.
This marks the end of the whole 360 of Michal saying hes never going to be like his father
to taking his place and basically becoming him.
How do these two scenes use the technique of parallel editing and how effective is it?
They both show two events at the same time. They are both effective in what they want to achieve.
The second one in my opinion is better as its more dramatic but the first one makes its point
strongly. They both also have some sort of comparison and look at family with and vs business and
the gang life.

3.

Modern day montage is used at [1.25.49] Explain what is happening and how it differs from
the soviet montage effect

They show the news whats happened and how the people are reacting to what happened. We see
news headlines come across the screen. There are scenes of people bring killed. It shows us time
going past a bit and shows pasting of event and times. It shows family and boniness time passing.
Its more info formative than manipulation. They tell us wants going on not what to think unlike the
soviet montage.

4.

Continuity errors: [1.52.27] there is a continuity error detail what it is and the effect it has on
the viewer.

The windscreen was blown with bullets and suddenly perfect again. It pulls you out of the film
and you remember its not real. It pulls you of the story instead of making it flow and keeping
you engaged.

5.

[1.52.31] in the film changes pace discuss how and why this effect has been used.

The cuts and edits area fast and more frequent. They show the gunmen and cut back to him and
cut fast between that. Making it fast and deadly like the killing was. They make it more real and
tense by the way we see they gun men then the shots then the man and blood which shows us
whats going on. But because its so fast it makes it seem more like a rush as the action is so fast
pasted and so much happens so quickly and we see how deadly and quick it was, the guy had no
time to process and defend as the view we have a similar experience because of the speed of cuts.

6.

Use of transitions: Would you say the film used a lot of cuts or tracking movement to develop
the story?

They make it slower so we can engage with the story. They focus on the dialog and create a slow
but steady pace. The camera helps focus on the whats going on. There is very small and little
movement and motion of the camera in most of it, which helps us focus and not be distracted. Also
this makes it slightly more tens and makes you concentrate more. There is not much jumping in
time in most scenes we see it how the characters see it. The camera goes with them showing what
they see. There is a lot of juxsipition to show what Michal or the characters see and to let us see
how they react. But with the cuts and tracking they use and do it helps develop the scene or action
to either reveal more or move on with the story.

7.

Whose perspective is the film shot from? How do you know this?

Michals, they focus on his change. From the beginning where he says he doesnt want to get
involved with his fathers business to wanting to kill a cop.

8.

The shots are long and slow paced how is this different from Hitchcocks fast paced cutting?

Hitchcock uses a lot of fast paced montage more often then in the godfather. Hitchcock uses more
angels more frequently when building up a scene. When in the god father the camera cuts less but
moves more doing more tracking to follow action and the scene.
9.

Transitions [25.14] in; quick dissolves to show change in location and time How effective is
this and how does it compare to the transitions for change of time and location in a trip to the
Moon?
It shows us many establishing shots of the surrounding area with lots of fades. They introduce
us to a new location and scene in this. It gives us a look of the surroundings and builds us the
scene for location and establishing the era and area.

10. What is the relationship to genre? How has the producer stuck to the conventions of the genre?
They have used a lot of classic gangsters conventions. Like old cars, slick suits, hats, little
moustaches, guns these are all things most people would expect to in a gangster film. There are
locations that are typical to the genre like mansions and city streets.

Make extra notes on any other editing technique you feel important or useful in order to complete
your task. There will be a few so use other side of sheet to make notes.

Once you have gathered all the information and research you will work in groups to put
a wall display together focusing on how editing techniques have changed over time
using The Godfather as your main example
In order to gain a distinction you will write sections such as The 180o rule developed very early,
being used in the silent era. It was developed so that viewers could follow an action without getting
confused, and is particularly useful when two related sequences of action are happening
simultaneously. For example, in Platoon, when Barnes is pursuing Elias through the jungle in order
to kill him, Barnes always moves from left to right across the screen, and therefore away from the
rest of the platoon, while Elias always moves from right to left, which is back towards his platoon
and hence to safety. Once this sense of direction has been clearly established it is carefully
maintained, so that as we cut from one to the other, we can tell not only who is going where, but
are vividly aware of the fact they are about to meet each other.