The beginning sequence of film is taken from perspective of a chicken running from a street party. It is very untraditional, there are no establishing shots, no traditional opening shots showing setting or character instead the film uses mis en scene and sound to represent the nature of the city of god. The first sound we hear is a knife being sharpened, while seeming innocent at first it is clear foreshadowing of the violent nature of the film as the very first exposure to anything comes from a weapon. We then see and hear a street party with high pace traditional Brazilian music, food being prepared and people celebrating and dancing, the editing is very non traditional almost in a montage style with close up shots and frequent cuts. The way this scene is shot represents the chaotic, fast paced and almost confusing style of street life in the city. We are then aligned with the chicken as we get our first real look at the city, putting us in the lowest place possible in the city, trapped in looking up at it. We get very little glimpses at the sky and no overhead shots making us feel trapped in the city and representing the desire to escape, a narrative theme throughout the entire film. As the chicken tries to escape we get our first look at lil ze, one of the main antagonist of the film. He is shown in an uncomfortably close up shot shown from a low angle like the rest of the city streets the actors performance comes in with lil ze's sadistic and unsettling laugh. Following the opening mis en scene of the knife, many guns are now shown in focus of the main shots as the street kids chase the chicken. We get one medium overhead shot of the kids as they rush through the streets showing just how many of the kids have guns putting more emphasis on the theme of violence. As the chicken continues to run it leads us forwards narratively leading us towards rocket the main protagonist. Rocket is introduced much more traditionally in stark contrast to lil ze and the city, outlining his character and foreshadowing his as the outlier in the city. We get him walk into frame in a mid shot holding his camera which is a very key item for rockets character, having that as his main figurative weapon instead of the guns seen in the city. Rocket then runs into the chicken and lil ze in the middle of a standoff with the police where a flashback begins. This flashback heavily outlines another underlying theme, the deterioration of the city. As the flashback begins the lighting instantly goes from a harsh cold to a softer warm lighting, the camera is in line with a young rocket bringing us up from the very bottom of the city, we see blue skies and open spaces in the city. This drastic change of mis en scene shows how the city has become much darker and claustrophobic for the citizens over the period the narrative is set.
