The Concept of Violence Among Adolescents in Brazil - Research Paper Example

Introduction The use of different techniques in film can also portray a deeper meaning to the film. Each of the artistic effects can then be used to design the essence that the director is trying to convey. In Pixote, the Law of the Weakest (Hector Babenco, 1981), and The City of God (Fernando Meirelles, 2002), there is use of specific techniques to show the theme of violence in Brazil. The violence is defined in genre, technique and the portrayal of the different stories. This is combined with the different ways in which the films grab the attention of the viewer to create a deeper understanding and meaning of the violence, specifically which leads to a reaction from the audience about the complexities that are in Brazil. Use of Genre to Convey Theme The first way in which both films portray the meaning of violence in the film is through the use of genre. This is able to create an understanding of the violence in Brazil by depicting the way in which viewers react to the knowledge or plot line which is portrayed. In Pixote, the use of genre is from a documentary. The different images and way in which the story line is revealed is done through factual information and with shooting different scenes that are pertinent to the movie. Using the realistic perspective as the basis creates specific types of film techniques that are used and also changes the perspective of the violence, specifically by following the violence in Brazil as well as how this relates to the corruption that befalls on the children which are in the city. The same concept is seen with the City of God, which is in the genre of crime and drama. While the depictions aren’t based on real life events, there is the ability to use techniques that are specific to crime films which create an intense reaction from the audience and which portrays a deeper meaning to the concept of violence and the effects which it has in society. The use of genre is then able to combine with the understanding of how culture will respond to the different effects through the release of the films (Marsh, Oritz, 5: 2001). Pixote: The Law of the Weakest The statement of genre in Pixote as a documentary is followed with different techniques used throughout the film to give a realistic feel that portrays the violence of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The main concept is to show the aesthetics that are related to the violence as well as how this affects the viewer. The aesthetics are based on portraying the realities of violence while stimulating the bizarre ways in which this forms in the region. The use of creating attractive and repulsive features through the use of technique and highlighting the world through the story of the children involved in violence are not only used to display specific types of information in the documentary. There is also a sense of defining a reaction that responds to the corruption of the violence in Brazil from the aesthetics and techniques that are used throughout the film (Stam, 44: 1983). The first way in which Pixote depicts the adolescent violence in Brazil is through the use of lighting. This feature is what creates the aesthetics of the film and which leads to a visual response from the different segments of the film. The use of highlighting the characters is one of the lighting effects that are used. For instance, in the beginning of the film, there is a darker set of pictures that are taken and which highlight the faces of the adolescents that are in the film. The looks of the faces are outlined then move out to show that there was a fight or violent outbreak from the children. This is followed by darker scenes which are bringing several of the children into the police office. The time when the light moves into a lighter setting is when the different children are being filmed while their names are being called out with the family members’ status. These two different effects show the dark lighting to portray the violence among the children as well as to show an aesthetic understanding of the position of the children while framing them as being in the darker side of the violence in Brazil. When the film moves into the light, there are looks of innocence on the children as well as an understanding of the conditions of those involved in violence. The aesthetics of the lighting are portrayed in this manner throughout the film, all which show the contrast between the children and their main attributes as well as the violence which they are a part of. Another concept which shows the contrasts between the aesthetics of the innocence of the children and the violence which is carried out is from the different perceptions from the film angles and use of lenses. A specific scene which shows this is when the children are at a dance club as they are called in to do work for someone. The scene starts with the two boys on the dance floor dancing with a stripper. The angle is taken from a wide shot which shows the boys that are smaller than the stripper and which create an altered perception because of the height of the stripper and the scene which they are in. The next scene moves into several close – up shots of the two children giving the drug delivery to the man and waiting for money. The close - up shots continue with the two boys going to speak to Deborah and asking for money. In this scene, the focus is on the stripper putting on her make – up and making the boys secondary. The scene ends with a fight, which is shown from a far away perspective and shows Deborah beating the boys, then screaming and falling back. The shot moves to a close – up view with the boy holding a knife that he has just stabbed Deborah with. One is uncertain of what is happening and only sees this through the close – up, which shows the controversy of the child who is participating in the violence in the film. This shows the difference between the adolescents and the adults while focusing on the corruption which the children are subjected to. Each of the angle shots through the zooms then works to highlight the concepts of violence throughout the film. Another aspect which is used with the film technique is based on the context that the director highlights throughout the movie. There are several scenes that show the two opposing sides of children acting as children then being subjected to the street life and conditions that are expected of them. For instance, one scene highlights the boys playing video games at a location. The highlights of this scene show the children acting as boys and falling into the scenery that is more natural. The next scene changes the context to the boys watching a prostitute and negotiating the amount of money which can be given to her for one night. The scene following this show Pixote watching two men negotiate over a gun. The highlight is on Pixote and the two men are only seen with chest length and the gun in the middle. The context of these scenes show the contrast with the children looking and acting as children in specific instance, then immediately being subjected to the harsh realities of violence that are a part of the setting they are in. Another component which works in the movie to highlight this contrast is through the use of audio. There are few places which music is used in the movie, which is specific to the documentary genre and to the way in which the film is depicted. The opening scene shows the first area with music, which is displayed while the children are going through the streets in a police car. A close – up view is given of Pixote, who is looking at the different street vendors and has an expression of sadness on his face. The music is slower and has flutes playing to highlight the look of Pixote. The other contrasts with audio show the speaking of adults to the children, which have a softer tone and is often followed by the street sounds of the environment. For instance, after Pixote speaks to the nurse about his friend, there are some seconds of silence. When the scene changes, there is a larger sound of a siren going through the streets. This is contrasted with another second of silence to show the friend who has been beaten to death in the streets. The scene then changes to show the gang listening to the TV and eating, as well as highlighting a hip hop beat in the background. The director contrasts the speaking, silence, street sounds and music throughout the movie to show the contrasts and the shock of the violence throughout the movie. Each of the techniques which are used in Pixote is designed to show contrasts with the concept of being a child as well as the violence which each participate in. The use of lighting, film technique, audio and context work together to define different scenes that shows the violence in the streets as well as the realities of the children that are forced into drug dealing, violence and the street life in Brazil. The depictions by the director are then able to provide a different and deeper level of understanding to the contrasted realities of the children on the street and the realities which they are forced to be a part of. The City of God The City of God takes a different setting and meaning that is a component of understanding the realities of violence among adolescents in Brazil. The techniques which are used in the crime film combine the different elements of Soviet and American techniques, all which have offered in specific techniques that work in crime scenes and drama. The lighting, action, depiction of specific scenes and the audio which is used highlights the same contradictions of the violence while building the intensity in each scene to show the violence among children that is prevalent in Brazil (Hart, 4: 2004). The first way in which the violence among children is shown in this particular movie is through the use of lighting throughout the film. The lighting is mostly taken in the outdoors and is focused on highlighting the children through the use of natural light. Not focusing as much on the lighting, such as the dark and lighter shadowing is the main element, which makes the scenery more realistic in nature and creates a secondary feature of the lighting. The natural light is depicted mostly in the outdoors, such as by the beach where the children are mostly scene. When the natural light moves to the indoors, there are natural shadows which create the contrasting effect. For instance, when the children are sitting at the table and the main character comes in with the new shirt, there is a dark set of shadows on the table. The children are seen doing drugs in this scene, which shows the darker side of the reality while holding the natural light that is in the scene. By making the lighting secondary, there is the ability to make the feature on the crimes of the children. While the lighting is natural in most scenes, there are also depictions that define both light and dark to show the different pathways of the children as they go into the gangs and the streets. For instance, the main character that is assigned as the photographer of the group is seen in a setting by shooting portraits. During this scene, there are several snapshots that are shown of the individuals in the gang. When each of the snaps is taken, there is a pause as well as a brighter light on each of the adolescents in the gang. At some points this is overexposed with the sun to highlight the different individuals and the personalities which they have. At other points, there are shadings and darker settings, such as when the photographer tells his friend to move back and shoots him with shading and to the point where he is almost not seen. This specific point is to show the jealousy of the boy in the film that the photographer has and to create a contrast that is based on the emotions of the different characters in the film. Highlighting these types of scenes then allows the lighting to remain natural and to highlight the emotional concepts and personalities of each of the characters. The second element which is seen is through the zooms and lens shots that are in the film. Most of the shots are done through a straight angle, which doesn’t lead to different or complex techniques. The areas which are zoomed out are mostly when the groups of children are together and are done to show a specific angle that is focused on a group that works with the drug deals and crimes together. The close – up angles are based on the times when the violent scenes occur. For instance, when a child is asked to shoot another child, there is first a wide angle that shows the group fighting over two children in a corner wall. The two children are seen with a close up lens, first one which is crying and the other which is in the corner. The lens then focuses on the gun that the child is holding while blurring the child in the background. This shows and highlights the violence of the crime that the child is about to take. The different lens angles then show a close up shot of the child after he has killed the other child in the corner with speaking to highlight this and to welcome him into the group for the act of violence. Depictions such as this highlight the violence and show the violence, sex and drugs in close up shots while the rest becomes secondary. The context of the film is another element which works to show the violence that is in the different parts. The context is one which relays that the violence and actions of the children seems natural to them and is what they are trained to do. This element is able to provide a different meaning to what is occurring while allowing the violence to be the main part of the controversy. For instance, when Shaggy is trying to get away from a crime he committed, there is the context of the two getting away in a car. This is followed by Shaggy pushing the car and the adults going after Shaggy with guns to stop him from getting away. The context is then followed by his label by the police as a “murderer” then is followed by the narrator stating he always wished he had a camera then stating that he and his friend should go to school. The narration that is used is minimalist; however, it is able to show the violence that is depicted in the film and how this links directly to the concept of the adolescents being a part of the violence. The audio that is used throughout the film is also able to highlight the adolescent violence in the film. There are different scenes which use music in more silent parts to highlight the shootings and violence. For instance, when Shaggy gets shot, there is a slow and serene audio in the background while the girl gets away and watches Shaggy get shot. The next scene changes the music to a more upbeat song that is based on a funk or hip hop song. The music is followed by dialogue of the two children going from the crime scene and deciding to go to the beach. The audio is used to highlight the emotions and realities of the children through each scene and to highlight the violence that is used throughout each scene. The different depiction of elements in The City of God is used specifically to show different parts of adolescent violence as a natural part of life. The different scenes highlighted with natural light, straight shots of the different scenes and with the use of context and audio to show the training which the adolescents receive in violence are related to the main theme of how violence shapes the children in the gang. This is combined with highlighting different crime scenes while making the children out as criminals, specifically which shows the viewpoint that is seen by society toward the children as well as the realities in which both live when facing the street life and violent situations. Comparison of Films Both of the films depict the violence of children and adolescents in Brazil through specific genres of documentary and a crime film. This is followed by techniques of lighting, film angles and shots, audio and context of the film. Each of these techniques is able to define the main theme of violence through different approaches. Both films use different lighting, one which shows more contrast to light and dark while the other uses surrounding light. The film angles remain similar, specifically with the zoom in on the violent scenes and to show the complexity of the violence among the children. The context of both films also differs, specifically as one show the contrasting elements of children who are in violence and the other which creates a statement based on the natural appeal to children being a part of a gang. The last difference is seen with the contrasts to audio, one which highlights the emotion of different scenes and the other which uses little audio to depict each scene. These main differences are done because of the viewpoint of adolescents in violence. The documentary approach shows the innocence of the children and how this contrasts to the violence they are forced into. The crime movie shows that this is a natural element of the children and that the desire to be in the gangs and to commit the violent acts is a part of their upbringing. Conclusion The concept of violence among adolescents in Brazil is one which has been recognized as a leading epidemic of the nation. When depicting this in film, there are several different elements and techniques which are used to portray the conditions of those who are a part of the gangs and violence in Brazil. The themes of both The City of God and Pixote show the complexities of violence among adolescents in Brazil. This is followed by different depictions of the children that define both the innocence of children and how this contrasts to their desires and also shows how they are trained into violence and drugs while making it a natural part of their lives. The question of how adolescent violence in these regions continues and creates a specific mentality among children then remains a conflicting problem among those in Brazil. References Babenco, Hector. (1981). Pixote: the Law of the Weakest. Brazil: Embrafilme. Hart, Stephen. (2004). A Companion to Latin American Film. UK: Tamesis Publishing. Marsh, Clive, Gaye Ortiz. (2001). Explorations in Theology and Film: Movies and Meaning. UK: Blackford Publishers. Meirelles, Fernando (dir). (2002). City of God. Brazil: O2 Films. Stam, Robert. (1983). “Pixote.” Cineaste 12 (3), 44. Read More