The Godfather (1972) by Francis Ford Coppola
LIGHTING
The Cinematographer or the D.O.P (director of photography) plays a crucial role in how the film will look. The light affects the way the colours are rendered and it can focus attention on particular elements of the composition.
The Godfather is about a crime family who live in New York and the conflict drugs and money brought to the Mafia. The story starts at the years of 1945-55 and is mainly about the transformation of Michael Corleone.
The lighting used makes the background go more or less completely back so the light focuses the audience more on the actors. The over head lighting creates more shadows on the face then it would with any other lighting. This for me puts more attention on where i should be looking when watching the film.
SETTING AND PROPS
There isn’t much to say about the setting for the opening scene for The Godfather. The opening scene is set in Don Vito Corleone office in his house where people are asking him for favors. The beginning oversees the godfathers daughters wedding. For props, there isn’t much that stands out but everything that is in the room looks well furnished and good quality stuff so you can tell that these people are quite wealthy. Also with Don Corleone behind the desk it shows that he is the one in power so the desk is quite important.
EXPRESSION AND FIGURE MOVEMENTS
In this scene you can tell straight away who in control and who isn’t just by the body gestures. Don Corleone is sitting on his chair all relaxed with the cat in his lap. The cat helps him play the role better as it looks like his more in control by the way he is playing around with it while doing hand gestures while he speaks. The other people around the room are either standing or sitting on the side of the room. At the end of the scene, the kiss on the hand shows that Don Corleone is a well respected man and is very important.
COSTUME AND MAKE UP
The costume is very important for this film because its about the mafia. Especially that its set just after World War II you wouldn’t expect them to dress in common day clothes. Any mafia back in the 1940-50’s were well respected and dressed.
For the make up they used a talented special effects artist called Dick Smith. To create the look for Don Corleone he didn’t use prosthetics because of time considerations. Instead he used stipple effects on his face and a dental device called a “plumper” to create the jaw to droop a little bit.
Marlon Brando having special effects done by Dick Smith
SIMONE HARRIS 