The Godfather Opening

The Godfather

Genre: Crime Drama

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Year: 1972

Budget: $6 million

Total Gross: $245 million
Distributor: Paramount

Black screen starts this sequence with the opening soundtrack running over, this creates narrative enigma to us as an audience and creates suspense as we do not know what scenario we will be put into when the sequence begins. Titles come at the start along with I-Dents. Titles are minimalistic and san-sarriff creating a very clean and clinical feel to the piece corresponding the the mafias attitude towards such things as violence and business. First character introduced to us through shadow and once again  there is no establishing shot to show us where the location is in context to what country and place we are being brought into, this shows the characters to live in secrecy and being in the shadows, creating narrative enigma I will try replicate into my opening. Characters are also not evenly lit which shows them as quite menacing and devious. Protagonist introduced from shadows and also not directly introduced to us as we see from behind him ( over the shoulder shot ) first before seeing his face for the first time. Soundtrack disappears with the start of dialogue showing the speech is very important for these characters, soundtrack then resumes at the end of the sequence. Pull back shot shows our initial character as becoming less and less in power. Minimal facial expressions are used to show lack of emotion of protagonist (godfather). looking up shots are used to establish his power further and wide shots used to establish his wealth and power as it is revealed he has more men in the room with him guarding him . Speech is and simplistic and spoken in a calm tone. Loyalty is of key importance in crime films and to the protagonist showing a sense of community in the crime which is presented through speech and tradition. Downlighting on actors gives a very unattractive view on them darkening the eyes and therefore hiding identity. Both characters are wearing smart formal attire also. Camera movement is smooth throughout. No violence is used in this sequence.