Construction of the diorama of the Godfather’s office in the first scene of the film.
I chose to do the first scene of the film The Godfather, because it represents a true icon of cinema.
As with every diorama I make, the first thing you have to do is establish the proportions of each element that will then form the scene.
I must say that Francis Ford Coppola’s choice of this house is not at all random, even the furniture is not left to chance and studying the scene you can clearly understand that everything evokes Sicily. Starting from the baroque style of the furniture to the painting of the Greek temples found in Agrigento, to the small painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci placed on the left that reminds us that they are Italians. In short, a true masterpiece of screenwriting that immerses you in a dark and attractive atmosphere at the same time.
In order to study the details that make up this room I had to see and take many screenshots of the film and by dint of seeing the scene I greatly appreciated the great performance of Marlon Brando that earned him the Oscar. About 5 minutes of acting that have become a must that all the most famous actors have drawn inspiration from in their future acting.
But let’s get to the first step, as I said the first thing I do is the study of the scene, the details, the proportions of the room, the study of the light that in this diorama is one of the most important things.
As you can see from the photo I attached to this post I took a screenshot of the room that was reproduced in the Godfather Museum in Los Angeles California., it is not the original one because the original one is different both in terms of furniture and room. But to be able to make the proportions it was the image that best lent itself because the original images of the film are difficult to decipher as they are almost all in the dark half-light.
I post two images in which it is possible to observe the differences between the original and the one exhibited.
I point out that for those who want to watch the film, this setting is only in the first scene of the film, because in the other scenes of the film that take place in this room, the furniture also changes considerably.
For example in the scene in which the godfather retires from business and nominates his son Micael as successor, the floor is carpeted and no longer parquet, and many furnishing objects have completely changed because they are a sign of the time that has passed.
Note that the shelves are embedded inside the walls and not outside and therefore are flush with the wall, while the radiator is located externally and not recessed.
Once I took the measurements I decided to make the diorama of the Godfather’s office in 1/23 scale.
I also made the decision to make the walls entirely of wood as expanded polyester does not suit the shelves and the wood paneling that surrounds the entire office. Also considering that the walls are covered with wallpaper.
So this is the first step to which I dedicated about three days of research and study.
The diorama room will have these measurements: Width 260mm, depth 230mm and height 125mm.
In the next post I will update you on the first steps I took and so on until the diorama is completed.
This is not a tutorial, but only how I work to build dioramas, I hope this will please those who want to follow me.
Above is the office room exhibited at the museum, while next to it is the office in the actual scene of the film. Below and next to it is the second scene of the film and how the furniture has changed.
