Project Script written by myself

City Of God Redraft

AS Media Assessment Redraft

In the opening of City of God, diegetic sound effects like the slicing of a sword are used to emphasise the size of the knife being handled by the man. It makes it seem like a weapon as flash cuts between the chicken and the knife emerge. Also the chicken tilts its head to make it look confused and realise what is going to happen to it. When the chicken escapes, a close up shot of a man who seems to be the boss is used to show that he wants the chicken, then the camera cuts to his workers chasing the chicken, and then back to him laughing at them, as if to say it will be easy. We get a sense of conflict between the ages and between the gang and normal people in the community. When the chicken is running away, a tracking shot is used to highlight the speed it is running at and also the determination to get away. We can identify this because the camera isn’t still so it looks like the chicken is trying to find any way of escaping and any direction to make it easier. At this moment, fast-paced, upbeat music is played throughout to emphasise the quickness of it and the tension. Whenever the chicken or the men ran into something or closely by, sharp, loud sound effects were used to show that the chase was becoming harder and that the chicken was becoming more likely to get caught. Also the camera kept cutting back to close ups of the boss to show he was confident that they would catch it.

As the men run into the boy and his friend, slow motion occurs on the boy and the boss to show the boys realisation of who he has witnesses, and it also highlights the irony of the situation as just before, the boy says rhetorically: “why would I want to meet up with the hood?” to his friend. After his realisation passes, he immediately listens to the boss and an establishing shot of him is used when he focuses on catching the chicken. This shows that he is the main focus of attention and power has been handed to him. Suddenly the Police arrive, and the men hold up all of their guns, ready to fire, and gun cocking sound effects are used very loudly to emphasise the arsenal of weapons they have and the power they possess.

After this happens, all sound is blurred out and a 360 pan shot on the boy sped up and slowed down to show that he is in a very dangerous position, and that he needs to think of how to get out of it. This is also ironic as before, during the conversation with his friend he mentions that he would indeed risk his life for a picture, and at that moment he is in a perfect position for a picture, and at the same time risking his life. We can also call this dramatic irony. When the pan shot is slowed down, the setting rewinds into his past as a child, with him in the same stance between the goal posts. A match-on-action shot is performed when he dives for the ball as it shows him diving from the front then from the back. Two other boys walk up to someone he was playing with and then to him, where slow motion occurs again to possibly emphasise that he was too nervous to introduce himself, or that he maybe should introduce himself instead of starting trouble. This scene of him as a young child and the scene of him as a boy between the gang and the police, relates because they both show he is in the middle of something and that the scene as a young boy is an equivalent of what happens when he is older.

Project Research

Market genre/research:

Snatch is another product similar to ours, a crime drama and movie based on London's criminal underworld. The film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter who finds himself in trouble with a ruthless, big-time gangster who carries out unruly acts of violence and has no care for anyone.
It is written and directed by Guy Ritchie, who aimed the film at an audience of young men aged up to 25 or 30. However teenagers possibly as young as 12 or 13 would prefer this film mainly due to the principle that the film is remarkably lacking in sex of any kind.


Analysis of existing products:

Scarface is a 1983 American crime film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone, a remake of the 1932 film of the same name. The film tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana who arrives in 1980s Miami with nothing and rises to become a powerful drug kingpin. The cast also features Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Steven Bauer, and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Scarface was released on December 9, 1983 and was a box office success, grossing $44 million. Initial critical reception was mixed, with criticism over excessive violence and profanity and graphic drug usage. Some Cuban expatriates in Miami objected to the film's portrayal of Cubans as criminals and drug traffickers.

The Departed is a 2006 American crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, and Alec Baldwin in supporting roles. The film was a critical and commercial success and won several awards, including four Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Scorsese), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. Wahlberg was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor.  This film includes my favourite actor, Matt Damon, and I think he plays an amazing role in this film. I believe that his acting is some of the most influential to mankind and that the acting in our opening sequence should be influenced by his.

The Bourne films are a series of action spy thriller films based on the character Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), a CIA assassin suffering from extreme memory loss who must figure out who he is, created by author Robert Ludlum. The Bourne Legacy introduces a new main character, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), a Department of Defense operative who runs for his life because of Bourne's actions in Ultimatum.
All three of Ludlum's novels were adapted for the screen, featuring Matt Damon as the title character in each. Doug Liman directed The Bourne Identity (2002) and Paul Greengrass directed The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and Jason Bourne (2016). Although this isn't completely a crime drama, I want our opening sequence to be based around this kind of story and plot as it is the most interesting and really makes you think about what may happen later on in the film.

The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero thriller film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second part of Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, starring an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman. In the film, Bruce Wayne/Batman (Bale), James Gordon (Oldman) and Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organised crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by a criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger) who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and create chaos. This film is also another which I would want our picture and filming to be based on because it is extremely well organised and Ledger's role as the Joker is one of the best roles ever acted in any movie in history.