City of God Opening

The opening sequence to the 2002 Portuguese film "City Of God" shows great technical editing and the use of jump cuts that have been used effectively within a scene to create a fast paced, interesting and engaging scene. With this being at the start of the film it really draws the viewer in as it introduces a fast pace from the very start. It draws the viewer into the story and the use of fast editing and jump cuts combined with the interesting sound used within the sequence gives the viewer no other option than to be engaged with what is happening. The very first shots are very interesting in regards to the blade of the knife and of the chicken. The extremely fast jump cuts between the knife and the chicken are very interesting and it is clear that there is the link between the person with the knife and the killing of the chicken. It is very out there and goes against

It could also be seen that it is edited from the chicken's point of view. The chicken is on the ground so shots where it is looking up at people from a low angle and shots of things from the ground level such as people's feet shuffling and the view of another chicken being skinned and killed seems as if it could be from the chicken's point of view. Also the fast editing and jump cuts could be linked to this as a chicken's head jerks quite a lot and it is always looking around and moving it's head. But also, the fast cut could be related to how the chicken is feeling. It has just seen a chicken been killed and there's a lot of people around it and it knows that it is next so the quick cuts represent his feelings of panic and alarm at the thought and prospect of being killed.

This truly is a great example of good technical editing and an example of how to create pace within an edit. The fact of the scene being put together so well and so much thought put into the meaning and how it comes across has made it a memorable scene within films. From watching this it has now given me ideas on how to make and create pace within my films and seeing how easy it can be to create a fast paced and interesting scene within a film. I have also took in the use of sound within this scene and how much more interesting and more engaging it makes the scene along with the jump cut editing. It is the sound of the blade and of the music and the chicken that brings the entire scene together.