The Godfather Cinematography Analysis

Amirah Bilqis 17211144010

The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford

Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-
selling 1969 novel of the same name. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al
Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John
Marley, Richard Conte, and Diane Keaton. It is the first installment in The
Godfather trilogy. The story, spanning from 1945 to 1955, chronicles
the Corleone family under patriarch Vito Corleone (Brando), focusing on the
transformation of one of his sons, Michael Corleone (Pacino), from reluctant
family outsider to ruthless mafia boss. Here is the analysis of cinematography of
the godfather.

Size of the shot in the godfather

opening zoom

The Godfather starts with the words: “I believe in America,” and we see the close-
up of the top-lit face of Bonasera, a funeral parlor owner, in a dark office. The
first shot is a very slow zoom out (almost 3 minutes long) that gradually reveals
the silhouette of a mysterious man behind a desk listening to Bonasera asking to
avenge the violent assault on his daughter. The zoom out settles to a wide shot,
and Bonasera steps out of frame and comes back in the foreground to whisper his
revenge wish to the Don.

The two dark out-of-focus silhouettes obscuring the frame in the foreground are
emblematic of Gordon's frequent use of concealment to create dramatic tension.

Camera angel in the godfather

In this scene, the shot switches from a brief ensemble shot of Michael sitting
beneath the lamp, the only source of light in the shuttered room, to a medium shot
of Michael in his chair. It shows that he now has an authorithy. He start act like
his father. Wearing a suit and so on.

Camera movement in the godfather

There are several basic techniques in the video given by the lecture:

- Pan
Panning techniques is the moving of the camera horizontally, either left to right or
right to left. The movement just on the direction and the position of the camera is
not move.

In the video, this technique is shows in the first scene.

- Zoom

Zoom in technique is used to make the subject bigger, while zoom out is used to
make the subject smaller. The video is use both of them.

- Tilt

Tilt technique is the moving of the camera vertically, either up to down or down
to up.

- Pedestal

Pedestal technique is the moving of the camera vertically while it is fixated in one
location.

The most technique used in the moviee is tilt and pan

Lighting in the godfather

The opening scene a caretaker is asking Vito Corleone, “The Godfather”

to avenge the attack on his daughter. The low-key lighting on the face of the
caretaker casts a large dark shadow over the entire scene and immediately makes
the audience feels the gloom, despair and fear coming from the rhetoric of the
caretaker.
 The benefit from using this lighting technique is it sets the stage or
foreshadows the dark, violent and criminal nature of the film. So the audience is
immediately drawn in to the characters and theme of the gangster genre. Most
gangster genres have the classic struggle between good and evil, and The
Godfather  is no different. Also, a gangster genre film sometimes asks the
audience to empathize with the evil element of the film. In the opening scene Vito
Corleone is asked by the caretaker to play the role of justice for his daughter. In
this way, the audience can support the evil element and possibly justify violence
being done to others.

The film does use different lighting techniques to change moods from
scene to scene and further contribute to the theme of good vs. bad. For example,
after the 1st scene, the next scene switches to Vito’s daughter’s wedding. The
high-key lighting reflects the happy mood of a wedding, dancing, and the arrival
of Vito’s godson, a famous singer. Also, Michael, Vito’s son, is introduced as a
war hero and son who will not work in the family business. The high-key lighting
accents the introduction of all of the innocent characters such as Michael, his
sister, his girlfriend and his mother.

Clearly, the change in lighting would create different emotions. For

example, if the caretaker was speaking to Vito outside at the wedding, the bright
key-light would not give the audience a chance to feel the emotion and dark
nature of the film and violence that will occur. I also think of the baptism scene
that uses three-point lighting in multiple scenes as the director cross-cuts from one
scene to the next. While Michael is baptizing his nephew, the right side of the
screen shows dark light and the dark side of Michael, while the left side shows a
choirboy in white and brighter lights.

References

Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C.P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San
Diego, CA: Bridgepoint.

Frederickson, G (Associate Producer), Ruddy, A (Producer), Evans, R (Executive

Producer), & Coppola, F, (Director). (1972). The Godfather (Motion picture).
United States: Paramount.