'What is the importance of cinematography and/or editing in communicating issues of power, poverty and conflict in the films you have studied for this topic?'

City of God

- Opening scene of City of God, close ups of sharpening of knives, shows violence, 'living on the edge of a knife', harsh cut editing, suits the style of the film, is overall about a gang of hoods chasing a chicken, indicates that humans are seen as poultry, disposed, killed in cold blood
- Editing in City of God shows the power that drug dealing gives people, the start of the film when it was based in the sixties, there were no jump cuts, or extreme close ups, it just consisted of quite quirky editing, long shots, this is to show the main drug used at the time, marijuana, which makes people feel very relaxed.
- As the film progressed, editing became a lot harsher and faster, the style of the film felt unsettled, this was to show that cocaine was slowly taking over.
- Lil' Z/Lil' Dice often has power, when he walks into a building in which his brother and his friends had recently gone in and robbed and trashed with a gun, and then kills them all, this shows the person with the gun has the power, this is backed up with a low angle shot.
- When Steak 'N' Fries is asked to shoot the small child, a point of view shot is shown with the gun centre frame, done to emphasise whoever has the gun, has the power.

La Haine

- La Haine is in black and white, represents the lack of colour in life, and the oppression that people were facing
- Time is a reoccurring motif in La Haine, as the whole film is set in 24 hours, and there is a reoccurring ‘ticking’ noise throughout the film
- In La Haine, the gun always comes between Vinz and Hubert, and is always in the middle of the frame, creating conflict.
- The opening scene, close up on Saids face, as he opens his eyes, diegetic sound is heard, shows he is shutting out the world around him.
- Point of view shot looking at the Police Station across the road where many 'Pigs' are standing, this shot was used to show the distance between them, representing conflict.

Chungking Express

- Opening shot uses hand-held cameras and fast editing, shows the realism and the fast pace of Hong Kong.
- Usage of smudge motion shows everything else moving and progressing with Hong Kong except for the cops, they are stuck in the past.
- Throughout the film, there is a wide variety of colours, this is done to show that Hong Kong is multi-cultural, also the usage of diegetic & non-diegetic Indian music shows it is multi-cultural.
- Wong is shoving a new a genre at his audience, a post-modern romance with a new wave editing style, the usage of jump cuts and montage sequences, the on-location realism and narrative dissonance, all make up this new wave genre. Throughout the film is a large usage of slow motion, this signals that the Hong Kong new wave is coming full circle.

- Editing and cinematography creates and adds to conflict, poverty and power in the feel of the film, and puts across issues that the narrative may not in a subtle, but noticeable way.