Film opening: The Godfather

The Godfather

The opening begins with a very slow jazz soundtrack, which is typical of thrillers. A plain black background, which connotes wealth, death, mystery, and evil, is contrasted with white writing, which has connotations of coldness, fear, reverence, and again, death. The writing simply says 'The Godfather' with puppet strings attached to the word 'father'. This symbolizes the control that the godfather in the film has, and, as the audience will discover, how he controls people below him like a puppeteer controls his puppets.

The title disappears and the audience is left with a black screen, emphasizing the connotations of the colour black, and also adding mystery and suspense - we don't know what will follow. A male voice-over begins in an Italian accent with the line "I believe in America", suggesting where the film is set, and we fade in to see the man (Pacino) who is speaking. The camera begins with a close up as he talks to the camera and the camera zooms out very slowly whilst he tells us about his daughter's rape. This is a thriller signifier as we instantly know a web of crime and corruption will be involved in the narrative. The mise en scene at this point is all dark, with only the man's collar being the only colour of white, reflecting the title screen with white contrasting with black. As we zoom out, however, we discover with the technique of an over the shoulder shot, that the man is infact talking to someone else. The shot now reveals brown mise en scene - a wooden table, with a couple of papers on, making it seem to the audience like some kind of office. The camera stops zooming out, and Pacino begins to cry, and is given a drink by another man (presumably alcoholic) which shows the audience the flaws of the protagonist - his emotion for his daughter, and his drinking habit. This sequence also reveals that our first thought that there was only one person present was incorrect - there are at least three men present, but it is still unknown where this is set and who the men are. The camera then tracks to focus on a close up of the two men whispering to each other, but we are unable to hear what they say.

After this sequence, the camera's position changes to show, using a close-up, the second man that was introduced (Brando). We see that he too is dressed in a black suit, and also can see typical thriller mise en scene, consisting of slatted blinds. The camera moves location again to show the entire scene - revealing four male characters, all dressed in suits, all brown mise en scene, and the only light coming from the slats in the blinds. Another over -the -shoulder shot is used to focus upon Brando, this time as a mid shot, and a red flower can be noticed clipped to his suit, giving connotations of disguised danger. We also see him playing with a grey cat, making him appear powerful as he doesn't give his full attention. The cat connotes cunningness, independence and suspicion, whilst the grey colour has connotations of respect, strength and wisdom.

Throughout the sequence, a range of shot types are used. These vary from slow zooms outwards, which draw the viewer in, to over the shoulder shots which are an innovative way of depicting a conversation. They add variety for the audience, as well as being very effective