CONVENTIONS OF GANGSTER FILMSJoel Griffiths

Conventions

Key Themes

Rivalry

Betrayal Fierce Ambition

Materialism

Self destruction

Evil

Loyalty

appearance vs reality

Key Symbols

Money

Guns

WomenPolice

Grimy Locations

Jail

Sound

Popular songs of time based

Asynchronous sound

Sound Bridge

Voice over

Contrapuntal

Ambient

ShotsTracking (in and out)

Crane Movement

Arc movement Panning shot

Tilt movement

Extreme close up

Long shots

Get Carter Opening Titles• Get Carter embodies most of the

stereotypical features of a British-Gangster film. In the opening 3 minutes we are introduced to the setting and briefly introduced to potential characters. They use an effective POV shot on the train which initially works as an establishing focal point. It takes us through a tunnel and the world of the film opens up to us. A range of panning movements take us around the carriage and allow us to inspect the situation without giving anything away. Several zooming in close ups allow us to pick up on the finer details between titles, for example a potential character taking his pills. There is a constant, simplistic but catchy non-diegetic backing track which sets the mood and atmosphere for the rest of the film

Stock, Lock and two Smoking Barrels Opening Titles

• SLSB is extremely suited to the British Gangster genre. It introduces a main quirky character who goes on to dominate the opening scene. The addition of multiple close and extreme close-ups increase the tempo of the opening and prepares the audience for the eventual chase seen. The introduction of the second character is good because it is framed as a two-shot with the 1st. This allows you to appreciate their working relationship. The non-diegetic song that kicks in at the point the chase starts is well chosen as it directly personifies their character type and the film to come. A narrator also gives the watcher a second focal point and we put our trust into him to lead the film for us.

44 inch Chest opening • Throughout the opening there is heavy

use of low-level lighting to create mystery and suspense among the audience. From the first image the non-diegetic, contrapuntal music is very misleading, it suggests of tragic circumstances yet the ending of the scene doesn’t play up to this. The frequent panning movement across the room presence us with a lot of establishing material to think about, effectively it gives us a lot of thinking time before giving us any real details.The décor of the main character’s room also suggests that he is a fairly successful criminal, allowing us to already build up an image of his character.

Layer Cake Opening Titles• At first we are greeted by the

non-diegetic narration of Daniel Craig before following him into a building. Unlike a lot of films he speaks as if we’ve already been watching the film and puts us right into the action. Perhaps this is reflected by the tracking movement which follows over his shoulder as we progress through it. There are quick camera transitions between shots and angles which connote slick characters and also a slick operation taking place.

Sexy Beast Opening Titles• The start of the opening is extremely bright

with lost of bright, natural light and also a diegetic monologue. It then changes to a shot of the main character lying on a sunbed. This goes strongly against typical gangster conventions and is quite a bold introduction. It also changes shot to mid shot of him and then a long establishing shot of the town that he is in. The editing is slow and pans similar to 44 Inch Chest. In addition the props used features sun cream, sunglasses and a bowl of ice water. This combined with the gold chain prop around his neck and the fact he is spending his time sunbathing could tell us he is a wealthy criminal. Finally the costume the main character is wearing are yellow swimming shorts telling us that he is laid back and relaxed.