1) The opening scene of The Godfather takes place in the protagonist's office, emphasizing his wealth and authority as head of the mafia. 2) The scene introduces two characters - Buonasera, who is talking passionately, and The Godfather, who listens stoically in a position of power emphasized by his taller stature. 3) Camera shots slowly reveal the characters and their interaction, initially obscuring The Godfather to build mystery around the powerful figure.

1. DAISY
MAULE

2. THE GODFATHER:

3. CHARACTERS:
The character to the left,
Buonasera, is the one that we
first see in ‘The Godfather’. He
is also the one that begins
talking, stating “I believe in
America” then continuing on to
tell a story where at the
beginning, seems like he isn’t
talking to another character.
This is the second character to
be revealed, however he is
revealed slowly and this is done
by the use of different camera
shots. He is the protagonist –
The Godfather, who is shown to
be an authority figure who has
the most power.
The casting of the characters
may have been done on
purpose regarding height.
The main character, The
Godfather, is taller than
Buonasera and this could be
to emphasise The
Godfather’s power and how
he has authority over the
other character.

4. SETTING:
The opening sequence is set in what appears
to be The Godfather’s office. Linking to mise-
en-scene, the surroundings emphasise his
position within the Mafia as everything looks
quite expensive and the room is largely
decorated.
Also, this scene is only set in this location.
(See mise-en-scene)

5. MISE-EN-
SCENE:
Mise-en-scene includes props, costumes,
make-up, facial expressions, body
language, lighting and colour.
In terms of the characters, they are both
wearing dark coloured suits that reflect the
characters they are being. The Godfather is
wearing a slightly smarter suit than the other
character is, which is expected.
The props in the room are expensive looking which again reinforces
his position. They are also themed around dark colours and the
lighting is relatively sombre, with only one main light which is situated
to the side of the characters.
In terms of body language and facial expressions, The Godfather has
very minimal facial expressions showing he doesn’t have any
particular reaction to what he hears. He also looks relatively
miserable. The other character, Buonasera, has a wider range of
expressions and body movements which implies his is passionate
about what he is saying.

6. CAMERA
SHOTS: The scene begins as a blank
screen where Buonasera states “I
believe in America”. Then it shows
a close up of his face, as shown to
the left. As he begins his story, it
appears that he is breaking the
forth wall, talking directly to the
audience which immediately
captures our attention.
As he continues his monologue,
the camera very slowly pans
backwards from his face, to create
more of a mid shot.
The camera continues to pan back further until it reveals that he
isn’t actually talking to the audience but talking to the protagonist.
The positioning of the protagonist works well as a camera angle
due to the fact that as we only see a small amount of him, at first
we don’t know who it is the other character is talking to so our
attention is purposefully held. The fact that what we do see of him
is dark and shadow-like shows how his character is potentially an
important one who is also mysterious which we discover to be true
as he is The Godfather.
The last two shots I have picked
out from the scene, emphasise The
Godfather’s authority over the other
character. I have added arrows
showing that the fact he is taller
helps to reinforce this authority,
which was most likely done on
purpose by the director/D.O.P.
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7. SOUND AND
MUSIC:
The music that features at the
beginning of ‘The Godfather’
fits the genre of the film. The
music is called ‘The
immigrant’ by Nino Rota. The
genre of the film is crime
drama and the music shows
this well as it sounds quite
mysterious, slow and Italian
which also reflects the
characters.
As the words to left disappear
off the screen, the music
continues for a moment
before fading out. As soon as
it fades out, a character says
his line before it shows his
face. This is an effective
sound technique used as it
puts a large emphasis on his
opening line.
Also, the main pattern of the
music featured here is that it
gets slightly louder when text
appears on the screen, then
fades out for a moment and
comes back again when more
text is shown.