Media Studies Portfolio : Genre Research

Crime and Gangster

Genre Conventions - Content

The important characteristics that make a crime and ganster movie genre interesting is on how it can engage

the audience to sinister and illegal actions made from the point of view of the criminal minds in different

productions. The audicence makes a connection with what regularly be considered the antagonist in

comparison with the typical movie where the hero saves the day. The term gangster can refer to different

people who do not obey the law at all, for example; drug traffickers, bank robbers, outlaws, anarchists,

murderers and many more.

Violence, sex, drugs, corruption, greed, girls, money, success and brotherhood are some of the important

aspects that make a gangster film. A gunfight, a courtroom scene, a tactical scene and a lot of violence is

what can be regularly be seen in this type of pictures. Real life outlaws and gangsters are used for the making

of these movies, for example; Whitey Bulger in Black Mass by Scott Cooper, Ronald and Reginal Kray in

Legend by Brian Helgeland and many more.

Tom Hardy as Ronald and Reginal Kray in Legend (2015)

Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger in Black Mass (2015)

Genre Conventions - Production techniques

The production techniques used in this type of movie are made to make it as reallistic as possible. Most of the films in this genre use a darker and shady color to create a more depressing and a more pessimistic mood to the audience. The costume design tends to be a more classical and elegant for the characters, using mostly suits that portray their superiority and power. These movies have an estimated budget of 30 to 100 million dollars including the actors salaries. A lot of the money spent in the creation of the film is on the production design, as directors working on the film try to make the ambience of the picture as reallistic as possible by making the setting genuine to the time that the actions are taken. Like for example a gangster film that is set in the 1930', the costumes, cars and the environment is completely changed to make it look like if is set in that time. Probs are a very important factor that affect the story completely, the most famous probs are weapons, money and drugs.

Image result for gangster squad behind the scenes

Gangster Squad (2013) Behind the scenes

Public Enemies (2009) Behind the scenes

The Godfather (1972)

Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972)

One of the greatest movies in the history of cinema, directed by Francis Ford Copolla in the year 1972, starring Academy Award winners Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, The Godfather stands as great example of an American gangster epic film. Set in the 1940's in New York, tells the story of fictional family the Corleones and their involvement in the mafia during that time. The movie is about the chronicles of this family with the patriarch of Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and the transformation of his son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) from outsider to mafia boss. This movie is the complete example of what makes a crime and gangster movie. It is about the illegal mafia in this case from the point of view of an Italian-American family, it involves a lot of violence and corruption to make the characters seem more powerful towards their allies and enemies. Some elements of its production design are the costumes; elegant and well made to the time the movie is set, the Mise en scene of the film on how everything in it has a purpose from the setting of classical New York to the probs used like the weapons used by the gangsters.

Goodfellas (1990)

Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Paul Sorvino and Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)

Another example of a film that contains everything about the crime and ganster genre. Goodfellas is made by legendary director Martin Scorsece in the year 1990, it stars Ray Liotta and Academy Award winners Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. The movie is about Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his life in the mob in the Italian-American crime syndicate along with his partners James Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). The movie is all about illegal actions taken by a group of gangsters and how all they ever try to achieve is success and greed. The movie is a very violent and dark film that tries to show as reallistic as possible the life of people making criminal actions and how the audience has to choose if they want to root for them.

A few more examples:

The Departed

2006