Three actors that I would choose from the movie “The Godfather” are:
Marlon Brando — Don Vito Corleone
Al Pacino — Michael Corleone
AND LASTLY:
Diane Keaton — Kay Adams Corleone
Marlon Brando– In the movie ‘The Godfather I think he plays a personality actor, this means it is hard to tell if he is acting or if that is really his personality. Marlon Brando is also considered a star, and has been very popular since the early 1940’s.
Al Pacino- Just like Marlon Brando I believe that Al Pacino is a personality actor, and proof to my opinion on this is how he has been selected over and over to play such roles as he did in “The Godfather”. Al Pacino is also considered a star, he is an actor that almost everyone has heard of.
Diane Keaton- Diane Keaton can be considered a star actress, but I think she also falls under the wild-card/character actress. A wild-card/character actress is an actress who can play a variety of roles and her personality can still match the character that she plays.
Character of Choice:
Al Pacino has played in numerous gangster films, including all of “The Godfather” sequels, he also plays Tony Montana in the movie “Scarface”. “Al Pacino is known for his forceful, dramatic presentation” according to IMDb. Because of his personality, Al Pacino does best playing the role of “Man in Charge” where he is usually the man of authority.
There are three basic categories of sound, they are dialogue, sound effects, and music. Each three categories are different.
Dialogue is when you have two or more characters in a movie talking to each other.
Sound effects are sounds in movies that are used to accelerate action. Recording natural sounds in a usable way is considered a sound effect. Murmur of crowds in the background natural sounds, mechanical noises, and door creaks are also used as sound effects.
Music in movies is broken up into two categories, score and soundtrack.
Musical score in a movie is the music that plays in the background of a scene while action takes place.
Soundtrack is the band of optical, magnetic, or digital data containing the sound of the film.
The movie The Godfather covers all three categories of sounds. The whole movie is full of dialogue, the movie is about rival mobster families that work together to make deals, or they try to talk out their differences. The beginning of the movie starts out with Don Vito Corleone having dialogue with a few people who were asking for favors.
There are also numerous scenes throughout the whole movie that are solely full of dialogue, like when Michael is sitting down with Moe Greene, trying to buy him out of his casinos.
The movie The Godfather is also full of various sound effects, the sound of physical fighting is full of sound effects, doors creaking, gun shots, the hum of people talking during Connie’s wedding, bird chirping while Don Vito is playing with his grandson in his garden.
In this scene, Connie gets a call from her husband’s mistress, she throws a tantrum and starts breaking dishes and her husband, Carlo, starts to beat on her with a belt. Obviously the sound from him beating her with a belt is a sound effect.
The musical score is incredible in this movie. In the scene where Michael murders Sollozzo, the scene is quiet, except for some background noise, like a train, and common noises in a diner, up until he murders him and then the music starts playing. Letting you feel the intensity of the scene.
The soundtrack of the movie The Godfather is full of intense music. The music really lets you feel the scenes that you are watching. In the scene where Michael is in Sicily and finally gets to meet Appollonia for the first time the song that is playing is “Le Parrain”. This song gives a very romantic feel to the scene, letting you feel Michael’s interest in Apollonia. http://youtu.be/JCOaI06zAvg
While Michael is becoming his nephew’s Godfather, the song that is playing is called “The Baptism” by Nino Rota. The music is just instrumental but it conveys the feeling of anxiety, tragedy, and suspense, and at the time the baptism is going on there are also numerous hits going on.
This movie utilized dialogue and sound effects mostly. The use of dialogue and sound effects made the movie feel realistic and it also easily lets you know that the movie is of the gangster genre. I think that this movie uses very realistic sound effects, and because of this you are able to feel as if the movie is real. Removing any of the elements of sound in this movie would pretty much kill the movie. Without the dialogue in the movie, the viewers would have no idea what was going on. Without the sound effects, the movie would lose all of the intense action feelings. Without the music the movie would be boring and wouldn’t feel as intense as it does, and would even lose its realistic feel.
Sources:
Bill Goodykoontz, C. J. (2011). Film:From Watching to Seeing. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education.
Coppola, F. F. (Director). (1972). The Godfather [Motion Picture].
In the movie, The Godfather, various lighting techniques were used in the filming of the video. In scenes of Don Corleone’s daughter’s wedding, natural lighting was used. I think the reason they decided to place Connie’s wedding as an outdoor wedding was to make the scene look more realistic, and to get the viewer to think the movie is based more on real life.
In other scenes the movie uses low-key lighting. In the beginning when Don Vito is taking requests for favors during his daughter’s wedding, the scene is set indoors with the blinds drawn, the reason this is done is to add drama to the scene.
In the end of the movie, the cinematographer uses both low key lighting and natural lighting in the christening scene. When the videographer is recording the “family” committing murders, some of them are committed using natural lighting, to make you feel that the murders are real, and at the same time while recording Michael in the church, low key lighting is used to add drama to the scene.
The genre of The Godfather is a gangster film. Using low key lighting makes sure that the viewer knows that the movie will be very dramatic. With the use of natural lighting in some scenes, you the viewer feels as if the movie is authentic. If high key lighting was used in this movie, I don’t think that the audience would be into the film as much. I feel like high key lighting would make the movie too unrealistic, whereas the low key and natural lighting makes you think and feel that the movie is real.
The GodfatherWritten by: Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola and Fred Gallo
Major Actors: Marlon Brando Al Pacino James Caan Richard Castellano Robert Duvall
Release Date: March 1972
Movie Summary and Plot:
In the movie The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), who is the head of a large crime family, takes requests for favors during his daughters wedding. While the lavish wedding is going on the FBI is in the parking lot taking license plate numbers. Don Vito’s son Michael, who is in the marine corp, shows up with his girlfriend, Kay, and introduces her to the family. This scene sets you, the viewer, up to know that we are about to watch an intense crime filled action movie. After his daughters wedding, all the favors that were asked of Don Corleone, during his daughter’s wedding, start to get carried out.
After many of the favors of Don Vito were carried out a rival family asks for Don Corleone’s protection in their drug business, but Corleone does not agree with drug use or abuse so their request for protection is denied. When Don Corleone denies their request he sends his enforcer to spy on the drug lords. The drug lords then murder Don Corleone’s enforcer, and to prove to Corleone that they know he was spying on them they send his enforcers vest to Don Corleone wrapped around two fish signaling that his enforcer now sleeps with the fish.
After the death of Luca Brasi, the Solozzo family (the drug dealers) attempts to assassinate Don Vito, which sends him to the hospital. While in the hospital, Don Vito’s son Sonny takes over the family business. While the family business is under Sonny’s rule, the Solozzo family kidnaps one of the men that works for the Corleone family, to try to pressure Sonny into taking the drug business deal. Don Vito’s son goes to the hospital to visit his father and to stop an other assassination attempt on his father. After the assassination attempt on Sonny’s father, Sonny orders that the son, of the leader, of the rival family is to be murdered. Michael, Don Vito’s son, then hits (murders) the head of the Solozzo family at a restaurant in the Bronx.
After the Son is murdered and Solozzo is murdered, this causes upset with all 5 rival families, despite the tightening of police and FBI. With the war between families going on, Michael seeks refuge in Sicily. Sonny goes after his sister’s husband Carlo for beating her up and warns him not to do it again, when Sonny finds out Carlo beat his sister up again, he speeds for her house but is ambushed at a toll booth. While in Sicily, Michael meets and marries a woman named Apollina. They were living quite a lovely life until a car bomb, intended for Michael, takes her life.
Don Vito finds out that Michael has joined the family business, and because of this he decides to give up on his opposition to their heroin drug business, and drop revenge for his son Sonny’s death and Michael’s safe return to the United States. After returning home, Michael marries Kay. With his father too old and weak Michael takes over the rule of the family business, with the promise to his wife that the business will become legit within a few years. Michael travels to Las Vegas with hopes of buying the Greene’s out of their casinos. The Greene family decides not to sell to the Corleone’s because they are no longer seen as a threat. Back home Don Vito collapses and dies while playing with Michael’s son, in the family garden. At the funeral, one of the rival families arranges a meeting between Michael and one of their men. Don Vito warned Michael of this and all the trouble this would cause. The meeting is set up for the same day and time as Michael’s nephew’s christening, in which Michael will be the Godfather. During the christening Michael orders his men to murder the head men from the other families.
After the christening, Carlo admits that he had Sonny murdered, when he admitted that, Michael puts a hit on Carlo. Connie then confronts Michael for killing Carlo, and this makes Kay, Michael’s wife, ask if he had anything to do with the murder of Carlo, Michael tells her no and she accepts that answer. With all this said and done, Michael is now named the new Godfather.
Time Order:
This movie is presented in chronological order. If the movie was presented non-linearly, it would have been terribly confusing and wouldn’t have made sense at all. The way this story is presented, you are actually able to follow along with all of the characters and almost feel what they are going through. Because of the story being presented chronologically you watch Michael as he grows into the leader of his family business.
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