Sagal Hassan
AS MEDIA
Task 1: History of Crime and Gangster Movies
Task 2: Conventions of a gangster films.
My aim for task two was to state what the conventions of a gangster movies are and also my understanding on these conventions. I have analysed a couple of movies to explain this area, and I have found out what the main used things are in this genre and throughout the research of the films I have analysed I have found that they are all similar in many ways.
Task 3: Existing companies.
What are the existing companies that link to crime and gangster?
There is a high amount of film
production companies associated with the crime and gangster genre
and those companies are:
- The Warner Bros Studios
- Miramax Film
- Village Roadshow Production
- Universal Pictures
- Paramount Pictures
​
The Warner Brothers:
Warner Brothers is a highly well- known company, and the name Warner Bros was from the founders of the production which are: Albert,Harry,Sam and Jack. The company was first found in 1923. The first movie The Warner brothers released with a soundtrack (talkie) and it's called The Jazz Singer. The Warner Brothers bring a sense of realness to the movies that they produce.
Overall, despite all the genres that this film production had come up with there are also a good amount of successful and well-known crime and gangster movies that was produced by The Warner Brothers and they are:
- Bullets and Ball made in (1936)
- White Heart made in (1937)
- Smart Money made in (1971)
- Brother Orchid made in (1949)
- The Departed made in (2006)
​
Paramount Pictures and it's background.
You will find that paramount Pictures is a very well-known film production company and this production company is to be known the fifth oldest company in the whole world.
Paramount Pictures. The production goes back to 1912 when it was first found by Adolph Zukor who was Hungarian. Adolph had signed a lot of famous actors as he was strongly passion about stars, one good example of who Adolph signed was Douglas Fairbanks. Paramount had won it's first ever Academy award for the best pictures in 1927. In the recent years actors like Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford and even the director Steven Spielberg have been associated with The Paramount Production.
Paramount Pictures is another film company associated with well-known crime and gangster films and these are:
- Godfather made in (1972)
- The Untouchables (1987)
- The Musketeers Of Pig Allay made in (1912)
You will also find that all of these movies are quite older and the main reason is that the company was found a long time ago.
The film Untouchables grossed higher than expected which was $106,240.936 with only a budget of $20 million.The highest grossing gangster movie of all time is The Godfather which had grossed £355.44 million.
Task 5: Looking into a director.
What I have learned from task 1.
what I have learned throughout the research I have done about the history of crime and gangster movies is that it has changed in some ways over the decades, for example, costume,use of language and the acting has changed. This then I believe has changed the target audience through this time period.Another thing that came under might light is that the purpose has changed as well as the movies and the reasoning for this were that the past crime and gangster were about them wanting power and the power was used in an unwanted way.Whereas in the present they are more affected by their childhood which makes them end up in the streets and drugs are involved and also they do have power but not as much the gangsters in past.
What have I learned from task 5.
Throughout my research, I have done about the director Quentin Tarantino was very interesting. Tarantino has been involved in a good amount of movies which he either he directed,wrote or even acted in. With award winning movies Tarantino has been involved in well-known crime and gangster movies that were very successful.
With the amount Tarantino had multi tasked has motivated me with my planning and had gave me ideas. The style in Tarantino's films I am also interested in as it creates realism and overall that is what I want to achieve.
What have I learned from task 3.
Throughout this research I have studied about two well-known companies which are The Warner Brothers and also Paramount Pictures. They are both very successful film companies that were around for a long period of time. Both film companies have been involved in a good amount of crime and gangster movies that are very successful and they are still watched til this day.
Task:11 Target Audience
Overall, I believe this avatar highlights my target audience for many reasons that I stated above.
This is a questionnaire I have created to get an idea of the viewers of crime and gangster movies and also their knowledge and expectations.
The main target audience for the crime and gangster genre is mostly 18-25 year old, my reason for this rate I believe that this age group have disposable income therefore they are more likely to go to the cinema than an 40 and over as they have to think of many other things. The age range I have chosen are more likely to be interested in this genre,as it contains violence,inappropriate language and lots of older people disapprove.
The rating 15 means that the content is only suitable for anyone at the age of 15 and over. Any films with rate of 15 must not be viewed by anyone younger than that age in the cinema;they must not rent or buy a video work that is rated 15.
The main things that would be expected from a 15 rating movie are:
-Discrimination: It may contain any sort of discriminatory behaviour or language and the themes might be either homophobic,racism or other.
- Drugs: It may contain drug taking(not in detailed form).
- Imitable behaviour: May contain dangerous behaviour(for example,suicide,hanging and self harming) This could be used as an example form viewers.
-Language: The content may contain strong language.
​
- Nudity: There might be nudity contained in a sexual content but usually with much detail.
- Sex: Sexual activities may be portrayed but usually without much detail.
-Threat: Might contain strong threats and also horror, sexual threats are unlikely to be accepted.
- Violence: Strong violence may included but to a certain extent. May be be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but must be discreet and justified by context.
​
​
​
The rating 18 means that the content is only suitable for adults meaning that no one under the age of 18 must see a 18 rated film in the cinema. Anyone younger than 18 must not rent or buy a 18 rated movie.
In a 18 rated movie explicit images of sexual activity may be permitted.
​
Task 4: Analysis of film.
Task 6: Influences on Style
This task has taught me that the first few minutes of the opening contains important Information which is about the movie and the people involved with it. This is done with text with music. This provides a good amount of information to the viewers as they find out more about the genre, cast film company in two minutes.
for my planning I would like to sort my timings which this task helped me understand more on and also the amount of information we out in as it may be too much or even too little.
Lock Stock
The Godfather
GoodFellas
Task 8: Theory
This task has helped me gain insight in these different theories and also helped me realise that these are theories that we see in every day TV or movies and they are the reason that movies are very successful nowadays.
Task 7: Conventions of chosen sub-genre
1920's
1960's
1980's
2000's
In the 20's the main style was mainly short suits and the longer suites were worn occasionally for formal occasions,waist coats and homburg hats. The style with with the suits were influenced by the uniform that was worn by the military. Back in the day this style has influence a lot of people.
In the 60's the style had mainly stayed the same but it was more relaxed and the suit jackets were not worn at all times the ties were not worn at all times as well and also top buttons were undone which looked more relaxed.
In the 80's style has changed a lot and it changed to baggy tops and baggy jeans and this style has influenced a lot of people.
In the 2000's they style has changed to track suites and hoodies and casual clothing which is what you would see everyday now as it's apart of a everyday thing.
I have used photo peach to highlight the what dress code would suit with my overall idea.
Dress code is the most important concept in a crime and gangster movie or even any movie as it tells you more about the genre, time period and the character themselves. What I have done here is I have weighed the changes within the dress code, and It showed that It has changed a hugely and it has also influenced a different audiences each time.
Task 10: Analysis of students work.
Click on me.
This task has helped me gain insight on how successful the movies in my chosen sub-genre are and it has helped me with my narrative structure. My aim is to go for a classic mobster and to also keep my viewers captivated and that is my reasons why I look in these classic mobster movies.
This is a good start as it already provides you with a good amount of information about the what film company had produced this certain film.
What I really admire about the beginning is that straight away we see that this is a film noir, and the reason for this is because of the costume,editing and also the non-diegetic jazz music. The narrative is easy to understand as the voice over that is used blends in with the film style.
What I really like about this shot is that the editing is incredible and there is more than one image and they are transparent which creates an awesome affect.
This shot is very is captivating as it keeps you interested and the reasons for this is because of the quality of the editing.
overall I believe that this is was very good in many ways such as the camera work,the editing and costume and immediately in that couple of minutes you can identify the genre which is very good.
Buy even better if they had tried to change the content in their own way instead of coping the stereotypes.
Task 9: Inspirations and Influence.
Firstly, the narrative to this movie is what inspired me mostly and the costume is also great because is right for the time period which again gives me good amount of ideas for my planning for example editing wise I might show the time period with that and costume could be more modern or the other way around. It has also made me think about the setting and also the Mise-en-scene and overall,this is what influenced me about my overall planning.
What made me like this movie is that with a split minute we as the viewers understood the time period and genre throughout the costume and the text in the first few seconds. And overall the opening is what inspired me to have similar opening and this is because I want to keep my audience captivated and I believe this would be useful for my planning.
