CONVENTIONS O

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GANGSTER C

RIME F

ILMS

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RI D

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AY

BASIC PLOT CONVENTIONS

• Often a self-made man who makes it to the top but has it taken away from them – this was common after The Great Depression as the audience could relate to these themes.

• Gangster is “living the American dream” through the Social Darwinist theory of ‘survival of the fittest’.

• Has very traditional values (family, church etc) however is very untraditional in ethics (killing, smuggling, illegal trade).

MISE-EN-SCENE

• Often set in urban cities with are highly populated as that’s were there would be high incidents of crime – e.g. New York City, Chicago etc

• Members of the crime family are mostly dressed formal (suits & ties) with red accents - possible to connate the danger and violence these people are capable of even though they are dressed professionally.

• Weapons of violence such as guns, bats, and crowbars are evident in these movies which they use on their victims.

• The glamorous lifestyle they live shown through their fast cars, expensive cigars, gentlemen’s clubs and gambling.

Scarface The Godfather

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Mostly scenes with low lighting to portray the darkness and sketchy activity that goes on behind closed doors or to create an atmosphere.

• The colour is also a coding for which period its set it – generally black and white for films based 20s-50s and colour for modern adaptations.

GoodFellas GoodFellas