Lab 13 Assignment - Editing - City of God Opening Sequence

A spiritual ritual in which chickens are sacrificed is orchestrated by a gang in a housing development in Rio. Accompanying this scene is an Afro-Samba rhythm that begins as diegetic sound. The editing of the initial sequence is rhythmic and connected smoothly to the beats of the music. As one chicken escapes from the knife, the music stops. As the chicken flees, the cadence of the shots becomes frenetic and handguns are produced by pursuing gang members, as what was in one moment, ordinary and predictable, becomes volatile and chaotic. Next, parallel editing is introduced and the escape of the chicken from the ritualistic slaughter is placed in contrast to the life of the story's protagonist. As we first meet Cabeção, a young photojournalist, there is nothing but quiet diegetic sound and a smooth tracking shot following him. The parallel editing flips back to the desperate chicken and the ritualistic music continues as non-diegetic sound. As the two plot lines escalate, the cuts become more obvious and choppy until the two plot lines intersect. The chicken has seemingly escaped death only to be nearly run over by a police van. The chicken and Cabeção are face-to-face between the armed gang and police. There is a non traditional shot that violates the 180* rule, but by having the 360* perspective facilitated by the observations of Cabeção, the climax of the opening sequence is given a circular and complete feeling. To heighten the tension, the next shot is a flashback to the 1960's and the audience is left to wonder the fate of Cabeção in the present. Also, there are at least two POV shots from the perspective of the would-be sacrificial chicken and two slow motion shots of the gang leader, Zé Pequeno.