My Genre ResearchCrime & gangster

IntroductionThe film genre of crime and gangster bases its plot around the development of illegal acts and the law-breakers (gangsters) who are responsible for this. A typical crime and 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. Crime and gangster films are often set in large, crowded cities, to provide a view of the secret world of the criminal. Dark nightclubs or streets with neon signs, fast cars, piles of cash, sleazy bars, contraband, seedy living quarters or rooming houses are often where the location is set. Exotic locations for crimes often add an element of adventure and wealth.

Technical CodesThe technical codes of a film include effects created by camera position, framing, composition, lighting, etc. For crime and gangster films several different moods are present in the film for different shots and lighting. 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 worry), mysterious and possibly frightening music (which can set the entire mood for the scene itself) and possibly a low camera angle (to make the character looks powerful/angry).

Crime and Gangster Movie I am going to analysis “RocknRolla” for its conventional technical codes and general crime and gangster characteristics. I have chose this movie as it is a movie that is similar to mine. Here is the opening scene that I will analyse I have taken it up to 1:14 - http://youtu.be/NRTymVjdLNQ

My Analysis Straight away you know that this movie is a Crime and Gangster one from the voice over, “People ask the question... what's a RocknRolla? And I tell 'em - it's not about drums, drugs, and hospital drips, oh no. There's more there than that, my friend. We all like a bit of the good life - some the money, some the drugs, other the sex game, the glamour, or the fame. But a RocknRolla, oh, he's different. Why? Because a real RocknRolla wants the fucking lot.” just from this you know this movie is going to evolve all those things, on top of that the clip of a man with a gun in the back of his jeans instantly gets connected with crime. Then as the clip goes on we find out the gun is just a lighter for his drug pipe, which we also connect with Crime. The lighting is also dark this creates a mysterious scene almost in hide away, maybe to do with the crime the person is doing.

After that you see the graphics used that put the credits in, this is done super effectively in my opinion. This is due to the way it flows with the music and the general design of it. Through it shows you the characters and setting and gives clues to what is going to happen, setting up the start of a movie without giving too much away.

The actors name

What that character looks like

The setting (a hint to what it is about/set)

Just from that one image you can tell a lot about the movie without it giving the main plot away, straight away you know it is set in London due to the city background with iconic landmarks of London. This is typical of this genre as they are often set in crowded places like city's. The design is sort of Bansky graffiti looking this also helps the idea of crime.

Idea’s I can take from this movie openingI like the idea of voice over in this movie opening, it straight away lets you know that you are getting talked to someone who is in power, this is shown through knowledge straight away. I like the way the theme of crime is instantly introduced within the first clip. The way graphics are used with hinting towards themes and showing you characters is a very effective media technique.