Godfather analysis

I am analysing the opening clip to godfather that was originally released in 1972.

Miss-en-scene

The use of a dark and ominous room is effective and makes a mysterious atmosphere which helps the audience understand that these people are shady and probably the gangsters. The verisimilitude of the scene is believable as the script acting and atmosphere through Mise-en-scene is all very well done. There is very little props in the scene apart from minor props such as a telephone, desk and a glass of water that is given to the character we are first introduced to. However as we are introduced to our next character we see he is petting a cat. This could connote a feeling of kindness or could be interpreted as evil as most bad guys in this era of film were shown with a cat:e.g

.That one James Bond movie 

The performance space is very limited as this offers more chances to focus on the character acting and allows a slow entrance into the world for the audience. During the first zoom out we only see 1 person until it zooms out all the way in which we see the back of a new character who we yet to know. The blocking could connote binary oppositeness of the characters. The costumes are mostly suits and ties (generally smart clothes) this could connote an intimidation and also allow the audience to establish that these characters could be gangsters. The acting style between the two characters we are introduced to is very different as with one they are shown as sad, due to his daughter, almost nervous. He seems very frustrated and in need of revenge, this is shown through his language and actions throughout the scene. However the 2nd character is shown to be intimidating and almost as if he is annoyed, by his facial expressions and the way he speaks to the other character.

Cinematograph 

The very first shot is a close up shot of our fist character as he is talking about his family and an unfortunate event that happened in it. Through this we have a long zoom out that leads to an O.T.S shot of our second character. This shown us exactly what he is looking at and could connote intimidation or even empathy for the other character as he talks about his daughter and the revenge he wants to have. Later we also get another O.T.S shot of the first character we were introduced to. This connotes empathy for the audience as he is being denied help and through his language you can feel his desire and need almost as if he was desperate for revenge.