Crime GenreBy Johrul Haque

PropsFor crime films the props play a major part. Props are essential because it shows the viewer what genre the film is. Most of the props that are involved in crime films are violent. For example in films like Adulthood, Kidulthood and Menace II Society, they use violent props like;

Weapons e.g. guns, knives

Drugs

Tools e.g. saw, hammer, screwdriver

Machete

Crow bar

Cars

Money

CostumeSimilarly as the props, costumes play a huge part in crime films. For example, the criminal will be covering their face most of the time so this means that they would have more of a darker outfit rather than bright. For a low budget/hoodlum film they may choose for the criminal to wear a hooded jacket or fleece set. Whereas, in high budget films like Godfather, they may wish to dress the criminal up as an intelligent person wearing a tuxedo or being smartly dressed.

EditingA variety of editing techniques are used in these types of films. For example if there is a drug exchange a shot reverse shot would be used by the director to show there is a relationship between both actors and they are having a conversation. Another edit that may be used is parallel edit; this is an essential edit because this shows two different things that are happening at the same time. In crime films this may be used to show a criminal in action and in another scene the police going to the crime scene. An action match may also be used in a scene where and actor is walking to a place where something big is going to happen.

Camerawork

There is a range of camera shots used in crime films. First of all an extreme close up may be used on the criminals face which allows the viewers to see details of their face e.g. scars bruises or injuries. A close up may be used on the actors’ hands. This will show the viewers what is in the actors’ possession. In addition there will be a birds eye view high angle shot, which will show the viewer the location. Another shot that could be used may be an extreme long shot this shot allows the viewers to see the setting and mise en scene.

Sound

There are a variety of sounds that are included in crime films. For example there may be an upbeat tune if there is a police chase in addition there will be sounds such as sirens, when there are polices in the scene also there will be gunshots which will emphasize violence in the scene.