CRIME & GANGSTERCodes and Conventions

INTRODUCTION

The film genre of crime/gangster bases its plot around the development of an illegitimate act/s and the law-breakers (gangsters) who are responsible for this. A typical crime/gangster film will include drug-dealing, murder, treason, etc. In this genre of film, the protagonist will usually either be a character leading a force attempting to altogether stop these outside-law operating gangsters, a character within the gang wanting to leave this life, or the leader of this gang causing an uprising due to certain righteous beliefs. As an audience, we only find and can follow this story with the appropriate film codes and conventions applied. These include technical, symbolic, audio and written codes.

TECHNICAL CODES

The technical codes of a film include effects created by camera position, framing, composition, lighting, etc. For this particular genre (crime/gangster) several different tones and moods are present in the film for different shots. For example, one scene can be rather happy; due to some success of a character and therefore the scene would need to be light, the camera positioned at eye level to see the apparent victory of this character. However then in some scenes, a character may have failed to achieve something important to his gang, and to indicate rage there would need to be minimum lighting (for the feel of insecurity and audience worry), mysterious and possibly frightening music (which can set the entire mood for the scene itself) and possibly a low camera angle.

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A very large addition to a scene in a crime/gangster film is the lighting. The lighting is absolutely key in a film of this genre. When you are dealing with a scene that has a very sincere plotline the lighting can be described as the figurative visualization of your feelings in a film, i.e. if the scene has bright lighting, little shadows, then you can feel happy and at ease. Whereas if the scene is dark, mysterious and shadowed, then you can feel worrisome and on edge. A variety of emotions are felt in a crime/gangster film, because as humans not abiding what we feel is the right thing to do, we can become at war with ourselves and question our moral values constantly. Therefore technical codes have a large impact on our feelings towards a scene itself.

SYMBOLIC CODES

The symbolic codes of a film are generally the main things that the audience notices. They include props, colors and symbols, clothing, makeup, dialogue and other items that are visually prominent. Symbolic codes are what people generally observe the most, because they are directly in front of them and very easy to see. Of this genre, symbolic codes are just as important as technical codes. If the actors are not wearing the appropriate clothes that an audience stereotypically joins together with the type of character (i.e. gangster), the film can become confusing, unrealistic and unthought-of. For example, original gangsters and crime lords of the 1930s to the 1960s had the general dress code of tailor made jackets and suits (usually pinstripe), ties and button-up shirts. A lot of them from this era lived in Manhattan, in the seedy underground settlements of the

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city; areas that were unpopulated, dangerous and where they could carry out their illicit activities of drug-dealing, mugging, murdering, etc. Many of these criminals were also Italian-American, so they had a thick mix of Italian and Bronx accents. When films are based on modern day crimes and gangsters, the characters will usually be wearing very large, oversized clothes, a baseball cap and basketball shoes. If these codes for different eras are not distinguishable in a film then the audience will have trouble believing what is actually being said and done. Symbolic codes can change the whole aspect of realism in a film.

AUDIO CODES

Despite the undeniable importance of symbolic and technical codes in a crime/gangster genre of film, the audio codes are probably the most important of any genre of film. They include music, sound effects and dialogue. Without dialogue, obviously viewers are unable to know what is happening in the film and sound effects add that creative touch that make all actions and noises of something more believable. Also, music is the fruit of feeling. The music in a scene determines how you are going to feel about the scene; whether it be sinister or excitable. For example, if something good is happening in the scene and the characters are happy, yet the music contradicts this emotion, then the audience will most likely not feel what they are supposed to be feeling. The audience can

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become confused and questioning over how they should respond to what is happening in a scene. Inappropriate music placement is certainly not ideal in a genre that revolves around actions such as murder and severe law-breaking; actions that are deemed to be so against typical human behavior and moral. These characters also need an intimidating, feisty and overconfident figure. They will not seem at all of their supposed character if they do not have that attitude or appearance. Many props, including firearms, drugs and knives are present in crime/gangster films. These define the terms ‘danger’ and ‘crime’ in the description for this genre. In order to carry out their acts outside the law they must have the tools for the job. These props are important for the confirmation that they do indeed consistently break the law.

WRITTEN CODES

Written codes include titles, subtitles and headlines. These can be quite significant in relation to this genre, obviously title is essential for every genre to provide the name of the film, but subtitles will be used if the characters are speaking a foreign language from the selected audience, or if it is difficult to understand what characters are saying through muffled noises or thick accents. This can be quite necessary in this genre, as mentioned in audio codes, a lot of olden day gangsters had strong accents therefore it may be difficult for those who are not familiar with this to understand what they are saying. Subtitles are often used in documentaries, because there are a wide variety of cultures being quizzed on their opinions, the director feels it necessary to add subtitles just in case some people can not tell what they’re saying.