2. 30’s 40/50’s 60’s 70/80’s 90’s
Where gangster films
originated , which reflected
the prohibition era of the
1920s, when real life ‘bad-
boys’ such as Al Capone,
took the streets-
bootlegging through their
speakeasies. E.g. The
Public Enemy (1931)
Film noir Studios mimicked
the dark lighting and
minimalistic sets used in
the 1930s, yet managed to
change the theme, helping
to reflect a darker attitude
of life, drawing in different
roles for the genders-
alienated heroes and
femme fatales.
The economic and social
optimism of the ‘swinging
60’s’ were reflected by
Crime Copers. This was
done by lighter hearted
narratives and loveable
rogues E.g. Oceans 11
(1960)
During the 1970s, there was the
economic depression in America.
This was shown throughout
crime films in this decade. The
drugs and hard-hitting dons were
used to enforce this. E.g. The
Godfather (1972).
This then turned to the
Blaxploitation films, which mainly
included all black casts, dealing
with issues regarding racism,
drugs and prostitution.
Postmodern crime was
introduced and the age of
postmodernism is portrayed
throughout; overloaded with
ideas, hybrid genres,
heavily stylised and blurred
representation. E.g. Pulp
Fiction (1994)
Post war activities
lead to British crime
coming on the rise.
The British Noir
reflects this and
follows Film Noir
conventions,
displaying the darker
side to civilian life.
E.g. Brighton Rock
(1947)
Cockney actors started
using their cheeky ways
to add comedy to the
crime. This would be
involved in films set in
European settings leaving
the audience with a
cliffhanger. E.g. The
Shakedown (1960)
Gnitty British crime
came about from the
harsh downturn from
the late 1960s/early
70s. E.g. Get Carter
(1971)
Postmodern crime films
also made it in Britain,
they did this by taking
ideas from iconography
used in Britain,
reflecting on the new
‘Lad’ ways in which the
actors were. E.g. Lock,
Stock and Two
Smoking Barrels (1998)
3. Postmodernism applies to media in three different ways and
allows new conventions and ideologies to be challenged by
producers.
Meta-narratives: with Postmodernism the narratives can be
non-linear or use freeze frames and time remapping to
demonstrate anti-narrative devices.
Using pastiche: this allows films to present new updated ideas
from past ideas in other films.
Awareness of hyper-reality: making the audience aware of the
contact between actors and audiences and challenging ideas
using alternative realities.
4. Postmodernism films can use non-linear narratives and use freeze frames to break
up the consistency and flow of a film.
Examples of this are:
In scene from Lock stock poker
there are multiple freeze frames
used so that the camera can
focus on props such as the
cards and poker chips. This is
different to other films as it will
break the flow of the scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=2IrDZtpJcaA&feature=player_d
etailpage
In this boxing scene from Snatch
,slow motion is used to focus on a
subject. So when Jason Statham
is talking to the boxer, the rest of
the audience is slowed down and
muted whilst he is talking and
moving in normal motion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=idDWtqm4Lo&feature=player_det
ailpage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9
8FsEOrOPeM&feature=player_detailp
age
This scene from Sherlock Holmes uses
time remapping. Robert downing Junior
who plays Sherlock, is in a fight and when
he decides to give up, the other fighter
spits on his head. This is when the time
remapping happens and Downing Junior is
shown to be going through a step by step
of injuring the other fighter. A voice over is
used to show his explanation and help the
audience understand what is going on.
Freeze frames are used after every punch
is thrown to emphasise the hard effect this
has.
5. Pistache allows the producer to include updated ideas from old ideas such as intertextual references.
Tarentino- ‘I steal from every movie ever made’
Tarentimo is known for his referencing in films. In this example, his film ‘Django Unchained’ is linking to the
1967 Spaghetti Western film ‘Django’ starring Franco Nero. Many other filmmakers named their characters
Django, not dissimilar to what Tarentino did.
http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=s8CZKbDzP1E&f
eature=player_detailpage
Django Unchained-2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?feature=player_detailpage&v=
Byo-5c-deJQ
Django-1966 (Spaghetti Western)
6. Blurring the audiences ideas of what is real and what isn’t, is what
allows producers to use Hyperreality. The audience is made aware
of an alternative reality which challenges their expectations and
this is where Producers use the hyperreality technique to achieve
this perception.
Shown below is a scene from Lewis Gilbert’s 1966 film ‘Alfie.’ This
shows hyperreality as ‘Alfie’ comes out of the car and begins to
look into the camera and start talking to the audience. This
connects the audience to the film but also makes it different to
any other film as it enforces reality to the audience.
This is from the scene in ‘The Matrix’ called ‘Bullet Time’.
‘Bullet Time is a stylistic way of showing that you’re in a constructed reality.
That time and space are not the same as us today-living our lives’
For Bullet Time, slowing down time to such an extent that everything is
clearer around you. The scene was something that was made for the Matrix
especially.
Firstly, computer simulation is used to build what will happen in the scene.
Around 120 cameras are used to film and are set out in a ‘rig’, which can be
either a ‘s’ curve, spiral or an arc built at different heights. All the cameras
work at different speeds from either 120fps to 360fps. They use a motion
control laser pointing system which takes and animation file and creates a
point on the surface of a cube which informs them on where to point each
camera. These cameras can capture the whole event in the time that it takes
the cameras to take the shots around the rig.
-John Gaeta, the visual effects supervisor for the film explains how the scene
came to life.
7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqLsVh1tDS0
Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy
business associate joins a cross country race with revenge in
mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive
bounty on his head as the race begins.
1- 0:38secs 2-1:06secs 3- 1:26secs 4-1:38secs
5-1:43ecs 6-1:47secs 7-2:22secs 8-2:29secs
T I T L E S
Themes:-
• Crime
• Vengeance
• Anger
• Violence
• Revenge
• Plotting
Characters:-
• PROTAGONIST- Tobey Marshall(Aaron Paul)
• ANTAGONIST- Dino Brewster(Dominic Cooper)
• Lover- Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots)
• Ex Partner- Benny(Scott Mesudi)
Camera-
The camera uses low, mid and high shots.
The low shots are usually for focusing on the exterior of the cars.
Mid shots show the expression on the characters faces and the
zoom in further to show the strong emotion. Then finally, high
shots are filmed on helicopters and show the racing of the cars.
The speed motion of the cameras movements changes from slow
to fast depending on what it is filming. Slow motion will portray the
anger on the characters face and fast motion is to emphasise the
speed of the cars. The aperture is turned up higher when people
are having a conversation. It is then put to a low aperture when a
panning scene is displaying a location. Overall, the trailer is fast to
be able to stress the fact that this is a crime film and that it will be
fast moving.
8. Tony Montana manages to leave Cuba during the Mariel exodus of 1980.
He finds himself in a Florida refugee camp but his friend Manny has a way
out for them: undertake a contract killing and arrangements will be made to
get a green card. He's soon working for drug dealer Frank Lopez and shows
his mettle when a deal with Columbian drug dealers goes bad. He also
brings a new level of violence to Miami. Tony is protective of his younger
sister but his mother knows what he does for a living and disowns him. Tony
is impatient and wants it all however, including Frank's empire and his
mistress Elvira Hancock. Once at the top however, Tony's outrageous
actions make him a target and everything comes crumbling down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pQQHnqBa2E
0:04 0:43 3:09
3:10 3:12 3:16
3:20
T I T L E S
Scarface, a crime film has a number
of different angled shots. They used
high angle shots, mid shots and low
shots. This adds a fast paced
atmosphere to the film, keeping the
audience on edge, not knowing
what’s going to happen next.
