Editing blog task

This is a scene from The Godfather which is a crime/drama gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Al Pacino as the son from a crime family.

This scene uses cross-cutting/ parallel editing of the baptism scene and the murder scenes intertwined together. This makes it seem like the events are happening simultaneously, The use of the parallel editing creates a juxtaposition between the scenes as the character, Michael is becoming a Godfather to his niece in the Church as he says he renounces Satan 'and all his works' yet at the same time he has ordered the murders of multiple people which creates immense irony. As he is becoming the godfather of his niece he is also becoming the godfather to his mafia family. This is the first juxtaposition where the audience can draw parallels between the two worlds that Michael is now a part of.

After each murder there is an intentional edit where the scene cuts back to Michael suggesting he is responsible for these murders and the actions carried out in his family's name. Every time we are cut back to Michael we can see that he is ruminating about his actions. This creates enigma codes as the audience wonders if  his actions are worth it and if he feels any regret.

Additionally the music is used intentionally as it intensifies after each murder such as when we see one of the leaders get trapped and shot twice in the elevator. Michael is then seen with his eyes low gazing at the floor as if he is in deep thought of what becoming the leader of a mafia will mean for him as well as the terrible things he may have to do. Michael looks like he was not paying attention or disregarding the baptism suggesting he maybe feeling overwhelmed with guilt.

In the next scene we see another person going to kill someone in a massage parlour, the person is shot in the eye and quickly dies. We immediately see a close up shot of Michael's face as he says "i do renounce him" but this time he seems more sincere which is obviously not the case as another person was killed that he assigned. This makes Michael seem wicked and satanic as he seems calm and composed whilst making vows in the church but he is knows about his sins. This creates an omniscient narrative viewpoint as the other people in the Church do not know what Michael has done but he and the audience know about his evil actions.

Then we see another one if Michael's victims trapped in the revolving doors and shot four times. Again we see a closeup of Michael's face which portrays the magnitude of his sins . The revolving doors could be mirroring how Michael feels trapped in the life that he inherited and that the only way out is by death. It could also be portraying that he cannot ever escape his sins .Immediately after this we see another assassin sent to kill another rival leader and a woman in bed shot multiple times. Michael answers again " i do renounce him". The last murder in this sequence is when the last rival leader is shot and falls down the steps. Lastly, Michael is asked "will you be baptised" in which he replies " i will". This suggests that Michael is finished with his revenge and is trying to relieve and rid himself of his sins.

As the scene progresses, each person that is killed was shot more than the last suggesting that each murder that Michael is responsible for makes him fall deeper into sins and makes the audience wonder if he can be forgiven or if he has gone past the point of redemption.