In the opening sequence of ‘City of God’ there are lots of close ups used. The close ups are used to display the action and make the audience feel the intensity of the scene. The sequence is edited to be jumpy and fast paced so the audience feel the excitement and business of the favelas’ community. The first shot we see is the sharpening of the knife and the pleonastic sound of it being sharpened which signifies violence and death yet also signifies the cooking of the community because of what we are shown. The camera ‘tracks’ the characters that are important in the frame. Pleonastic sound effects are included to emphasise certain aspects of the scene. When rocket has his first encounter with the gang, slow motion is used to make this scene more dramatic. In this chance meeting there is a 360 degree shot when rocket is stuck in the middle of the two rivalling groups, the police and the gang, this engages the audience because this creates an enigma as the audience can see that he is stuck in between both groups and it makes the audience want to know why. The editing technique match on action is used to go into the flashback scene. Non diegetic narration is used in the next scene to give the audience more information and let them have a better understanding of the character and get to know them. Rocket begins to narrate when the audience are first introduced to him. The sound used in this scene is parallel because it connects and matches with what is happening in the scene. Sounds that would have originated in the diegesis were the people talking and moving about, the chickens making noise and the sound of people cooking, these sounds are used to accentuate the exhilaration and craziness of the busy favela community market and the talking shows that people are mingling so it emphasises the community feel of the place. The lighting in the scene is natural and the scene is light.

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