Crime & Gangster Genre

Crime & gangster films 

Crime films are those films that portray stories about crimnal activity, law enforcement or invetigation. Being gangsters films more of a subgenre of crime film, focusing on organized crime comited by criminal organizations. This films are characterized by a dark thone sparked by a high amount of violence. This aims to reach a male adult audience. 

Conventions

The conventions of crime and gangsters film come mainly from the film noir; popular during the 40's and 50's. Taking elements from crime movies like the classic and original Scarface (1932) but also from movies which plot isn't crime orientated the entirity of the film like Orson Welle's Lady From Shangai (1947), Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950) or even a romance film like Gilda (1946) with Rita Hayworth. Film noir has an unoptimistic vision of society, portraying it as vicious, corrupt and violent. This is reflected in its characters. Being characterized for their cold and sometimes hopeless nature. This can affect the main character even if it is a policemen or detective. This is done with the intentiont of making the difference between good and bad almost imperceptible. This steryotype of a cold main character hasn't died even with the passage of time. In movies like Drive (2011) we got a modern vision to what this characters used to be. 

In film noir there is a key figure called the "Femme Fatale". A charming woman that seduces the main character and usually tricks him to achieve her personal purpposes. This figure is used to show some sence of humanity or weakness in the main character. This element is still being used; for example; the whole James Bond franchise makes use of this element. Now a days with the evolution of culture the audience may want to see humanity portrayed through a different lence and not just succumbing to carnal desire. There are new conventions that are used to depict this; family bonds in movies like The Godfather (1972) or a genuine romantic interest in movies like Carlitos Way (1993) or the desire to protect a son/daugther figure like in the case of Leon the Profesional (1994). 

Production Conventions 

In crime & gangster films the colors used are often dark. Colors as grey and black are predominant. It is also important to highlight the prescence of red, as the color of blood and the representation of violence. Low level lighting, and a lot of contrast between highlights and shadows are conventions that also come from the days of film noir. 

Crime cinema almost without exception takes place in urban areas. Clothing is another really characteristic element of the mise en scene of crime movies. Suits and ties for men, and fancy dresses for women are almost mandatory in gangster films. This can change deppending on the setting, but for classical hollywood gangster films is almost a rule. The props and make up highly contrast with this elegant vibe, being that both usully reflect violence. Crime films use makeup to show blood and scars and the props are ofcourse weapons, like guns and knives. 

Institutional Conventions 

How can movies about the world of crime, which audiences feel so distant from should be marketed. The key to make this stories attractive and capable of reaching audiences is representation. As the stories can choose to play with the audiences morbid that has grown over time and show explicit content. The other aspect of representation that works as a great piece of marketing is using the criminal world to explore social problematics that can concern an adult audience. The already mentioned Scareface talks about immigration and works as a critique towards the american dream. 

Jackie Brown (1997)

Jackie Brown directed by the well known Quentin Tarantino, is a crime film that actually is a little bit special. This movie doesn't have the dark, neutral colors and low lights the genre is characterized by. It actually is a really colorful movie, and this colors have high saturation. The costume design is also different from usual crime films. Samuel Jackson's (Ordel) character who is a weapon delear he wears pretty casual clothes, that match his really calmed energy he reflects despite his dngerous work. But this also is meant to represent how he is not a professional at all, because at the end of the film we see how Jackie a normal woman is able to get her way, ending up with Ordells death. 

Another aspect in how Jackie Brown is different to conventional crime movies is the lack of violence. This movie is mainly driven through dialogue. This gives a deeper view into the characters allowing the audience to see how they can be related to classical figures in the genre. Jackie, the main character  despite being the minor force in the confrontation between the police and Ordilles, her cold nature helped her fight without hessitation. Also the pessimistic look that main characters have is seen as she is really concerned about how she will keep on living making so little money. But there is another thing I found really interesting about her character. It could be argue that she plays a role of a femme fatal a role normally given to a secondary character but as the main character. Being caught in the middle of the confrontation of Ordilles and the police, she is able to manipulate both sides to steal the money of one of Ordilles biggest sell. This femme fatal role is easy to see when she involes Max Cherry a lawyer in her plan, taking advantge of him because she knew he liked her. 

This movie also represents the struggle of the working class being a key element for the audience to feel related. As well as it portrays a woman as a strong figure opening the possibility of a wider target audience.

Casino (1995) 

One of my favorites if not my favorite Martin Scorsese's film. A film that follows the conventions of its genre: luxury and fancy clothing for both man and women, a lot of contrst with deep black shadows but due to the casino environment going a little bit out of the conventions and using more vivid colors. But it is the maximum exponent of a fast pacing and a lot of violence. The film is almost like a montage of events, with its characters as first person narrators (element popularized in film noir crime films) that increase this pacing. 

This movie that offers a contrast between the characters of Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, but both of them fit into classical crime movies charcters. In one hand Ace Rothstein (De Niro) is a more calm and calculator mind, who tries to have everything under control. In the other hand Nicky (Pesci) is a highly impulsive gangster that acts before thinking. Characters like this are really common to trigger clonficts in gangster film. An example could be Sonny Corleone in the Godfather 1972. 

I've talked a lot about the figure of the femme fatal, and Casino isn't an exception. In this movie Ace marries a femme fatal and tries to control her but her selfshish nature is what takes Ace's empire to the ruin. 

Love this movie fr. 

Other Film Samples. 

    La Haine (1995) 

    Taxi Driver (1976) 

    Reseirvoir Dogs (1992)

    Killers of The Flower Moon (2023) 

    Irrational Man (2015) 

    Nine Queens (2000)

Representation

This is an essay analyzing LGBTQ+ representation in a TV show I watched a couple of weeks ago, which I really liked. It is called "No One Will Miss Us." It's on Amazon Prime, and I highly recommend it.

Representation in No One Will Miss Us

No One Will Miss Us is a miniseries released in 2024. It is set in the 1990s in a Mexican high school, following a group of friends who do others' homework in exchange for money. Under this premise, various issues are explored through its characters, with one focus being on the underrepresented LGBTQ+ community and its struggles, which is the subject of this essay. The 90s setting is used so the writers can employ homosexuality as a deeper plot device, as it was less accepted than it is today. This environment affects the characters' self-perception.

The two characters that the series uses to represent homosexuality are Alex and Rafa. Unlike the typical portrayal of gay men in media, these two do not follow the usual stereotypes. Rafa is open about his sexuality, while Alex is in the process of accepting his feelings. Rafa’s character is presented as alternative and unconventional. His unique clothes and accessories, such as earrings, stand out compared to the other characters’ costumes. This reflects a real-life stereotype, where LGBTQ+ individuals are often seen as more open-minded, expressing this through their style. Some aspects of his acting also portray how he is different. He has a more refined way of speaking and sophisticated body language that doesn’t fall into typical stereotypes but challenges the usual image of the Latin American man.

On the other hand, because Alex hasn’t yet accepted his sexual orientation, he doesn’t show any signs of it in his clothing or behavior. He appears to be a regular straight teenager until he sees Rafa for the first time. His body language reveals his nervousness and the development of romantic feelings, highlighted by a subtle and constant twitch of his foot, shown through a close-up. Alex’s narrative arc is accepting his sexuality despite the societal values imposed on him.

Latin American culture has always been closely tied to religious values, which heavily influence how the LGBTQ+ community is viewed. This is part of the show's selection towards representation . When rumors about Alex’s sexuality start to spread, his environment responds with bullying and rejection, trying to break him down. Alex is mentally strong and isn’t deeply affected, but it does change his mindset toward the topic. Another character who represents the LGBTQ+ community is the teacher, Ilse, who is a lesbian. She offers Alex support, someone to talk to, but Alex, influenced by his surroundings, rejects both her help and his own feelings. In the end, he is able to accept his true self after self-reflection, but Ilse’s character shows how important a supportive environment can be.

No One Will Miss Us provides excellent LGBTQ+ representation, as it portrays challenges that members of the community can relate to. It creates a realistic depiction that fulfills its purpose. 

Sound Project

Sound is an often overlooked element while consuming media, but it is extremely important and arguably the most difficult element to produce. I consume a lot of media and try to appreciate sound design, but I didn’t know much about the terms used or how to classify the different types of sounds. So, the lesson before the actual project was really useful. Through different examples in films, I understood how the different types of sound work together to create meaning. It was a good starting point for our project, which consisted of creating our own soundscape—at least one minute but no more than two minutes long. Like the previous project, this one- to two-minute story had to be something that could happen in real life within the same time frame.

To plan our project, my partner and I decided to set our story somewhere related to water. We thought water provided a lot of opportunities to create a deep soundscape with a variety of sounds. To focus on making a rich soundscape, we chose a story about a man fishing in a swamp, where we could incorporate a lot of animal and nature noises. Thinking about these elements was our main task during brainstorming because the sounds a man could make while fishing were easy to imagine. We wanted to focus more on recreating the sound of nature in a swamp. So, we wrote down different kinds of birds and bugs, which ultimately created a pretty good background sound.

Our outline was divided into six plot points, which helped us plan how to change the background sound to indicate something happening. For example, the first plot point that changed our sound design was when the man arrived in a boat. As the sound of the engine slowly increased, we added sounds of birds flying away or animals jumping into the water to show how they reacted to the engine. In the outline, we also planned a sound perspective where the background noise would go silent, allowing the audience to focus on the moment the fisherman hooks a worm. We did all of this in Adobe Premiere, where I knew how to adjust the audio volume gradually. Premiere was also useful for creating a static effect in the music, so it sounded like it was coming from a radio, which was an important element in one of our scenes.

I was really pleased with the outcome of the project. It was extremely fun to make, and I think we achieved our goals. For the next project, I’d like to try more complex techniques, but I believe I’ll have that opportunity when we mix both audio and visuals. For a sound-only project, I think there’s little to improve.

Project: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c7iBc0bR8M8-vh72FIMeF6QRMvfPYPLV/view?usp=drive_link

One Word Film Project

This project consisted of making a 1-2 minute short film based on a random word given to us. The short film had to follow several limitations, such as no dialogue, allowing only instrumental music and sound effects, and the story presented had to be something that could realistically occur within 1-2 minutes in real life.

The word given to my partner and me was "hateful." The condition of a real-life 1-2 minute story really limited us, so during our brainstorming, we focused on finding a way to make the word stand out in such a short period. We quickly decided to make the story about a bully, but we struggled for a while to figure out what he could do to make him appear hateful within our limited time. We concluded that we would focus on showing how the bully enjoyed tormenting the victim. This enjoyment would easily make him deserving of hate.

With this as the main drive of our story, we quickly thought of showing the bully in close-up shots so the audience could always see a smile on his face. While drawing the storyboard, we used mid shots for the bully only when we needed to show him goofing around or using his arms. The storyboarding allowed us to plan a narrative where the hateful nature of the bully was easily portrayed through his smile and enjoyment, so we could conclude the short film by materializing the victim’s hatred with a single, simple shot.

We edited the film in Premiere. Both of us had experience with the program, so we worked together on color grading. It was a bit challenging because some of the shots ended up being really dark. However, this didn’t cause any issues with the cuts. Using shot/reverse shot techniques, we enhanced the relationship between the bully and the victim throughout the short film.

Overall, I think the project was solid. The story was simple, but that's what a 1-2 minute real-life story calls for. The editing was really good. Interestingly, my partner and I ended up using very different techniques to achieve the same objective. I think his approach was better, so I’d like to spend more time on editing in my next project. Another area we could have improved was time management. We finished just in time, so some of the final shots were rushed and didn’t turn out as well as we had hoped. However, the project did include some high-quality shots that I’m really happy with, which shows a good sign of improvement.

Project: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13J2b4AUo6ebb3R6_xL4_1zfuRDoiQrUl/view?usp=sharing

Shot Quiz

For our first quiz in this class, we were limited to telling a story through a set of fifteen shots. There were other conditions, such as using inanimate objects as our main subjects, incorporating ten specific types of shots, and working in pairs. The main purpose of the activity was to demonstrate our understanding of the types of shots learned in class, enhancing our storytelling through our shot selections. The primary task for my partner and me was to determine which shot would best communicate a feeling or sensation during the story.

With this in mind, we created a shot list, matching plot points of the story with shots that would effectively portray the particular emotions conveyed in each scene. Our story ended up being quite ambitious for a small task like this one, so we had a hard time ensuring that the story was understood solely through images.

We decided to tell the story of an old book that no one wants to read because it is in poor condition. This results in the book losing its confidence, symbolized by it losing one of its pages. Another book, one in good condition, helps the old book regain its confidence by placing the fallen page back. The story aims to convey a deeper meaning, though it is somewhat subtle. To try to clarify this message, we focused on making the shots look dramatic, with a lot of contrast between highlights and shadows added in post-production. This, I would say, was our strongest point; thanks to my partner's skills, we were able to create high-contrast images that matched the mood we were aiming for.

As previously stated, the story we came up with was a bit pretentious, and I believe we could have done a better job of giving complete meaning to our shots. One particular aspect we could have improved is the clearer identification of the types of shots. Our subjects were books, so distinguishing between a mid-shot and a close-up was really difficult. If we had managed to frame our subjects more effectively, the narrative intentions of our shots would have been more specific, giving us the chance to portray drama through different elements.

For example, this shot was meant to generate intrigue about what the new book was going to do with the page. That is why we chose a mid-shot, so the spectator could see a large part of the subject, as well as the page and its surroundings, trying to anticipate some sort of movement. However, we framed too much of the subject, making it a shot that didn’t fulfill its purpose correctly.

Another aspect we could improve is our management of time. We ended up having to rush the final shots, resulting in lower quality.

Overall, I learned a lot from this assignment, and I’ll focus on improving my mistakes in future projects.

Link: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGPMZNe9_4/--TyNFTMxOimlPCLT-VAHQ/edit?utm_content=DAGPMZNe9_4&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Introduction

-Nicolas

I’m working on this blog for a class at school (AICE Media Studies). I’ll be documenting the process of my project, where I have to create the beginning of a film from scratch. My experience with filmmaking is relatively short. I’ve made some small projects, both personal and for school; and It’s something I really enjoy and want to keep doing.

Films were always in my life; I grew up watching tons of movies and admiring the directors behind them. I would go to the cinema with my parents and really enjoy the little talks we had after every film. Over time, film became something more personal, something of my own. I started going to the movies by myself and enjoyed it even more.

I come from Colombia, a country where filmmaking is really limited. The government doesn't support culture enough to build an industry of its own. Also, filmmakers don't have a lot of diversity in the topics they explore in their films, making it a small industry from every possible angle. I moved to America in January this year, and I'm looking forward to take advantage of all the opportunities the country with the biggest film industry can offer.

To sum up, films are my biggest passion; so more than just doing this project for a class, I’m doing it because I want to.