The Godfather Scene Analysis

     The Godfather is an iconic classical masterpiece, that besides entertaining, has great examples of the power of a well crafted editing sequence. These include the use of sound manipulation, scene order and camera cuts. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is the climaxing scene in which Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, is at his first godson's baptism, while at the same time his men murder several of the rival mafia family bosses and important man at his command. 

     This sequence, besides becoming the moment in which the audience sees the dreaded change in the main character, explicit in his eyes through close-ups cross-cutted with the murder scenes, uses juxtaposition to show the character's real self and his change, as well as match cuts, establishing continuity, simultaneity and connection, also creating a strong sense of irony and cynicism.  Examples are seen right from the beginning of the sequence. The caring handling of the baby, as his hat is being taken out at the baptism is juxtaposed with a vely delicate handling of a gun by one of Michael's man. After the priest gently touches the baby's chin with ointment the scene cuts to a barber spreading foam over a man's chin. As one of Michael's man dresses up as a cop and wipes his face, the scene cuts to Clemenza, another of his man, going up the stairs and wiping his face as well.

     Furthermore, sound manipulation is also used. Throghout this sequence, the sound of the church music is always played, even in the scenes that do not take place in church, enhancing the connection between places, and possibly the connection in Michael's mind, who despite being phisically present at his nephew's baptism, appeared mentally absent, coming out as cold and uncaring. His asassins are all cautiously going about tasks, preparing themselves slowly, and this raises tension and creates suspense. The nature of this jusxtaposition between such opposite situations and the peacefulness or calm apparent in both creates expectation, as something is about to happen. The only real difference is the nature of the calm, as one comes from the general respect by the public who frequents church, and the other comes out of cold calculations and concentration. 

     As the scene progresses, the priest asks Michael if he believes in god and renounces the devil, as part of the ceremony. A close up of his face, showing his serious eyes as they slowly look up is combined with a brief pause of the church organ music, which restarts in a loud volume and more dramatic pace, which both keep rising until the end of the baptism/murders sequence. These techniques call attention and show the coldness, hipocrisy and irony of the character. Following this, the cuts from the church as the priest keeps asking Michael ceremonial questions and he states the he renounces the devil and all evil are juxtaposed with cuts of his man violently and quickly murdering the leaders of the rival mafia families, showing clear contradiction. Examples are Victor Strazzi and his man shot as they leave an elevator, by Clemenza, Moe Greene being shot in the eye at a massage parlour, Carmine Cuneo being trapped and shot in a revolving door, Phillp Tattaglia shot in bed with a mistress and Emilio Barzini in front of a courthouse.

     Moreover, as the priest blesses Michael's nephew and him at the end of the sequence, cuts of the dead bodies of the character's enemies are showed, as the audience hears the father slowly saying "in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sacnti," in a cutting rythm perfeclty timed and paced with his words. The sequence ends with the priest wishing Michael to go in piece as he keeps silently staring and the candle fire, showing an evil side of the character not seen before. Now he is indeed in peace, since he orderer the assassination of all of his enemies. This combination and contrast throughout the climax of the film serves it purpose to wrap up the story and show the complete arc of Michael's character, as he transfroms from the good son in the military, who wanted nothing to do with the family's business, into the new Don Corleone, a far more ruthless, cruel and cold version of the Don his father was, showing Michael becoming "The Godfather." 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfbYp9oaIT8

Final Project - Is it Heartbreak?

Final Project edited from Clarissa Peters on Vimeo.

Audio Portrait

https://soundcloud.com/clarissa-holderbaun-peters/audio-portrait-an-interview

Sound Walk - What I Hear in Bushwick

For the sound walk exercise I decided to take a walk around my neighborhood in Brooklyn. Living in such a busy area like Bushwick, around Broadway, it was unusual but nevertheless interesting to take a moment to pay attention to the many sounds we are so used to, and take for granted during our everyday routine. By taking time to pay attention to each one of these sounds, one can realize how many different noises are always present and are constanlty ignored because it is easy to get used to them, as they mesh into a combination of everyday noise. Some of the Keynotes I heard were far-away road and airplane sounds, conversations, as well as birds chirping, which I mostly do not hear during my usual walks, not because they are not regularly present, but because of a lack of sonic awareness. The Sound Signals, which are easier to identify on a regular basis, as they are meant to call attention, were mostly those of cars honking their horns, or police/firetruck noises, as there are two stations, one for each, on the corner of my apartment. The main Soundmark for this area would without a doubt be defined as the outside subway sound, as it constantly passes by on Broadway. I would also consider traffic sound as a Soundmark. Taking time to listen was a good experience, as it made me realize how much actually makes up the everyday noises we are so used to, and how many different types of sounds would have to be included in film, in order to make a simple scene sound real.

The Museum of the Moving Image - Visit

The Museum of the Moving Image, in Astoria, Queens, is a space dedicated to the history of filmaking. The museum holds many exhibits that show a variety of filmaking items, ranging from early cameras to props used in different well-known films, such as Star Wars and The Exorcist. While everything in the museum was very interesting, a couple of the things that mostly called my attention were the early kinetoscopes, zoetropes and thaumatropes. Although I knew of these devices before, and understood how they worked based on optical illusion, it was very interesting to see them and have a chance to peek at an original kinetoscope. Also, seeing up close the effects of a strobe lights in moving devices and sculptures called my attention to the concept of "moment of rest" which our eyes need in order to make the images appear as if moving in a certain sequence, even though they have a different orientation or do not move at all. Another very interesting part of the visit was desconstructing the sound effects in a movie scene, in this case one of the final sequences in The Titanic. During the visit, our guide showed one by one the effects included in a scene when the famous ship is sinking, and after, played the scene without the entire combination of sountrack and effects, instead showing them one by one. Watching the scene with the isolated sounds made me realize how much effort is put into sound, and how the combination of several different effects can create tension and convey emotion. It was also very interesting to find out that effects such as elephant sounds and gunshot sounds were used in a scene where neither is actually present. Overall the visit to the museum was great, and it was definitely very nice to be able to see up close so many filmmaking devices and props.

Flaherty Film Festival

The Flaherty Film Festival is a nonprofit organization for film, media and arts, that supports the production of independent documentaries and short films, among other forms of media. It aims at further stimulating the production of independent material, as well as providing a chance for discussion of the same, among the general public. It is currently on its fifth showing on a series of six, at the Anthology Film Theater in New York City.

In its fifth installment, "Waste and Other Forms of Management," the festival showed a series of short documentaries and films regarding issues such as recycling, garbage management and social issues. Among these was the short film "Overseas," by Wichanon Somumjarn and Anocha Suwichakornpong, which tells in a few shots, the story of Wawa Kai, a Burmese woman who works in a seafood processing factory and wants an abortion after being raped. One very interesting instance in this short happened when Wawa Kai descends from a boat, and feels dizzy. At this point the camera becomes unsteady and blurry, expressing the state in which the main character finds herself. It also leaves a clue as to her pregnancy, foreshadowing that which at this point is still unknown to the audience.

"Pigs", by Pawel Wojtasik, showed the process in which pigs are fed the rests from Casino buffets in Las Vegas, at a slaughter farm. Wojtasik did a very good job in shocking the audience. Throughout the short film he shows close-up and extreme close-ups of pigs in a pig-pen, walking on their excrements as they defecate and eat food from the ground. The rests from the restaurants are in plastic bags, which the animals also eat. The combination of the close-up shots of pigs drooling and of their backsides and bottoms as they defecate, as well as shots of the animals rolling around in a mixture of dirt, feces and food, achieve the director's goal of causing disgust and shock. Moreover, the sounds of pigs screaming, which escalate towards the end, as well as the pace that fastens with shorter shots and quicker cuts, work very well as far as building up tension. Despite the appaling nature of the short, it was greatly done.

Another relevant short documentary from Pawl Wojtasik as well as Toby Lee and Ernst Karel, presented in the festival, was a video filmed in a recycling plant. Some shots within it were in fact very artistic and elaborate. One example is when bits of shreded paper and plastic are blown in the air slowly, in a process of waste separation, as well as close-ups of the garbage separation beds as the garbage moves through it.

Overall the festival and the variety of works was very interesting as well as the chance to discuss these works with the directors, after the screenings.

Define a Space - Church from Clarissa Peters on Vimeo.