Opening sequence

• Shot 1:

  
• Tracking shot of the chicken - perhaps the chicken is acting as a symbol of hope and Lil Ze and his friends are chasing after it in hopes to escape but are unable - the chicken is flapping its wings which possibly connotes the symbol of wanting to fly by can't (want to escape the favelas and gang violence but can't)
• Ground level shot of the chicken - perhaps implies the inescapable nature of the favelas, they are seen to be at the bottom of society due to their poverty ridden atmosphere, and no matter how hard they try, they cannot escape the violence - innocent people become corrupt unwantedly, this is supported by 100,000 people working in the drug trade and 100,000 people being on the payroll
• Meirelles described the favelas as 'a fun place to be'
• Shot 2:

  
• Diegetic pleonastic sharpening of the knife acts in juxtaposition to the festival/carnival type non-diegetic music - reflective of the duality of Brazil, brings across this aesthetic of violence vs vibrancy, the overlapping sounds could potentially suggest the chaos that occurs in Rio

  • the pleonastic knife sharpening connotes violence whereas the festival music connotes a happy and vibrant atmosphere