Crime Trailer AnalysisJamie Beveridge

Snatch (2000)

Guy Ritchie

Narrative – Character Types

• Protagonist and Helper: Turkish and Tommy – Anti-heroes. Reluctant (“What do I know about diamonds?”)

• Helper: Mickey – Gypsy (Pikey) stereotype, turns hero.

• Antagonist: Cousin Avi – American gang leader stereotype

• Antagonist: Brick Top – British gang leader stereotype

Narrative Structure• Part 1: Equilibrium – Introduces themes of a

diamond heist by the American gang through the voiceover of the key protagonist, Turkish, who is linked through a paralleled plot of a bareknuckle boxing match.

• Part 2: Disruption – There are two points to the disruption, with one being that the heist appears to have gone awry (“where is the stone?”), and the other hinting at a rigged boxing match (“you’re going down in the fourth round”), showing a montage of action shots, including attempts at “fixing” the disruption (“whoops..”)

• Part 3: The cast are introduced using a Spaghetti Western influenced graphic sequence, involving further hints at attempts to “fix” the disruption.

Camera and Mise en Scene• Props, including the diamond, gold jewellery and

various guns, establish the generic iconography.• Skewed framing gives a Postmodern sense of

unease in the narrative and characters.• Low-key lighting provides an homage to noir films

of the 1940s.• Costume, such as the trenchcoats worn by Turkish

and Tommy, helps to establish the obvious stereotypes used in the narrative (in this case the stereotypes of “cheeky” cockneys), testing Postmodern notions of challenging representations.

• Sets, including the illegal bareknuckle boxing arenas, establish the setting of the bleak underworld.

Editing• Editing used is postmodern: • Time remapping is used, which heightens action

scenes and excites audiences.• Still framing is used as an anti-narrative device,

highlighting key frames in the action, coupled with a voice over similar to the film-noir style, to drive key narrative points.

• Still frames are implemented to highlight key characters using heavily stylised graphics, similar to graphic novel styles, with Spaghetti Western Fonts. This is also highlighted in the soundtrack (“Apache”, by Incredible Bongo Band)

Sound• Voiceover from the key protagonist, Turkish sets the

narrative theme and plot. As an anti-hero with a cockney drawl, the genre of “crime caper” is established, which can be seen as an homage to the British crime films of the 1960s.

• Fast paced dance music drives the action and sets the frenetic pace. This includes a remix of the iconic “Apache”, by Incredible Bongo Band from the 1790s.

• Diegetic sound includes dialogue from the key characters (“The only person who knew the combination… You’ve just shot”) drives the narrative.

• Non-diegetic sound effects such as “fast rewind” is used as the visuals and editing speeds up.

Lock, Stock and

Two Smoking Barrels(1998)

Guy Ritchie

Narrative – Character Types

• Protagonist: – Eddy – Loveable rogue (homage to 1960s crime

capers, e.g. The Italian Job). Representation of the “new laddism” of the 1990s.

• Helpers: – Bacon, Fat Man: “New laddism”, cockney stereotype

(Market stalls, trenchcoats – 1960s iconography).– Soap: reluctant helper (“I can afford it as long as I see

it again”)

• Antagonist:– Hatchet Herry: Stereotypical British gang leader

(tough, violent, cockney)

Narrative Structure

• Part 1: Equilibrium – Introduction of the narrative theme of group of “new lads”, plotting money-making schemes

• Part 2: Disequilibrium: Eddy loses the poker game, along with everyone else’s money, meaning they must come up with a scheme to make their money back

• Part 3: The characters are depicted enacting their plan, with various other gangs getting involved through multiple parallel plotlines.

Camera and Mise en Scene

• Props, including the cards which establish the narrative, with guns and money serving as generic iconography.

• Use of the zoom, when pulling away from Eddie, serves to slow down the narrative, indicative of the postmodern genre, providing a sense of dread shown by Eddie.

• Close-up shots with low lighting demonstrate the British crime genre.

• The costumes are indicative of the lads’ lines of work, for instance, Soap’s chef’s uniform, and Bacon and Eddy’s long coats establishing them as “grifters”

• Sets such as the low-lit backroom boxing ring as the setting for the poker game give the trailer a feeling of the British crime underworld, adding to the tension already being expressed by Eddie.

Editing• Editing used is postmodern: • Time remapping is used, which

heightens action scenes and excites audiences.

• Disruption of the narrative is implemented to display the element of confusion in the trailer, as many groups and gangs are starting to get involved, which heightens the tension.

• Similarly to Snatch, still frames are used, which highlights the key characters, with titles showing up next to them depicting their names in gritty fonts, which is similar to graphic novel styles.

Sound• Voiceover sets the equilibrium of four friends

with a money making scheme that’s “quick, easy, and very expensive”. This sets the narrative them and overarching plot of the film. The cockney drawl from the voiceover helps to establish the genre as a British Crime Caper, which can be seen as an homage to films of the same genre in the 1960s.

• High tempo drum and bass music is prevalent during the second half of the trailer, which drives the narrative, demonstrating the hectic elements of the plot, and heightening the theme of confusion.

• Diegetic sounds includes dialogue rom key characters which drives the narrative. (“If Harry don’t kill ya, then your father will.”),

• Non-diegetic sound such as the slow, uncomfortable noise when Eddy is shown losing half a million pounds is used to demonstrate his horror