The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather (1972)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenwriter: Mario Puza and Francis Ford Coppola

The scene of Michael Corleone talking to Carlo Rizzi, the husband to his sister, Connie Corleone. Carlo was abusive to Connie and received a beating from the now deceased Sonny Corleone, Connie’s brother. For revenge, Carlo had Sonny murdered and Michael finds out telling Carlo he’s been expelled from the Corleone business. Carlo looks at Michael in fear knowing his death is coming very soon.

- In the composition, the light is darker in the bottom of the shot and to the left of Michael, the daylight rests on one side of his body. The top of the shot is lighter and you’re able to see all the character’s faces within the frame.
- The depth of the shot is dark, where all of the characters are also wearing dark colors. In the background, the furniture is dark and the background of the shot shows a wall with an amber color. The dining room has a shade of light brown. One of the character’s standing in the background doesn’t blend in because of his dark suit. The character’s body covers the light through the window. In the foreground, there are three characters all in dark colors. As the scene goes on, you can see all of them within the frame.

- The movement in the scene is steady while Michael talks to Carlo. Michael intimidates Carlo by peering over him. Carlo’s shoulders are hunched over as if he’s embarrassed by what he’s done. Carlo is nearly in tears and Michael never takes his eyes off of Carlo. The other men in the scene stand there as if they were soldiers.

- The shot is low key, high contrast because everything surrounding the characters are seemingly dark, even though technically some of the colors are bright like light brown and amber. The high contrast primarily focuses on Michael’s face.

- The light comes from the window’s natural light, which explains why the background looks somewhat dark.

- The shot distance goes from close-ups of Michael and Carlo engaging in a conversation. When the scene comes to a close, the scene turns into a wide shot of Michael standing up and placing a chair behind the table. One of the men help Carlo put his coat on and walks out of the house.

- The scene was used with wide lenses because of the vastness of the shot. The director wanted to make sure the audience could see all of the characters and scenery.

- The camera stays in one angle through the entire scene. The framing stayed tight through the whole scene moving only once to see Michael grabbing a chair and taking a seat.