Crime Genre:
For my coursework I am researching the film genre ‘Crime.’ With the genre there are sub-genres related to ‘Crime’ which include Gangster, Detective films, Crime Horror, Murder Mysteries, Action Films, Crime Comedies, Cold War Thrillers, Spy films, Film noir, Heist Movies and Psychological Thrillers
Sub-Genre: Gangster
Examples of gangster film: The Godfather, American Gangster and Goodfellas
The genre of gangster films is developed around the actions of criminals or gangsters, particularly bank robbers, underworld figures or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law. The crime stories in this genre often highlight the life of crime, with the beginning showing the good side of crime, but the end signifies it what the criminals deserve. The rise and fall of these particular criminals, of bank robbers, murders and lawbreakers are very much glorified. Gangster films are usually set in large, dark, crowed cities. This provides a view of the secret world of the criminals with money, fast cars and sleazy bars.
History of the Gangster genre:
The early gangster movies set the groundwork and the standard for all the great gangster films that have followed. Some of the first Gangster related films were produced during the silent era of cinema. The films D.W. Griffith’s and The Musketeers of Pig Alley are thought to be some of the first, dating back to 1912. They also laid down the foundations for the classic era of gangster movies that started in the 1930’s with the addition of sound.
Codes and conventions of the sub-genre Gangster:
Motifs of the Gangster Genre
1. The hero usually is an immigrant who dislikes his low status in life and wants more.
2. Unlike the Western, this story takes place in the big city. The wide open plains have been traded in for the seedy alleyways and wharves of the urban jungle.
3. The gangster can only gain power by taking it. It is survival of the fittest.
4. The only loyalty the gangster feels is for his own immigrant roots.
5. Success is measured in material goods – flashy cars, expensive clothes, and mansions. Women are measures of success as well.
6. The hero’s antagonist is society, and the enforcers of the law. The police, the FBI, the CIA represent the enforcers of societal status quo.
7. The end justifies the means.
Gangster Film Posters
Title: American Gangster
Genre: Crime
Sub-Genre: Gangster
This Poster looks very simple but has a big impact on the audience.
The poster only contains the title of the film, an image of the two main characters and the films production and distribution information.
The main focal point on the poster is the main characters, the audience cannot see their faces, and therefore we do not know their identity. This creates the image of crime and illustrates these characters are criminals but also adds suspense for the audience. These characters therefore give the impressions of gangsters with expensive suits and a gun. They give the image of the mafia, hard men with flashy cars, expensive clothes (suits), and mansions. Women and items are more than likely measures of there success.
There are really only two colours used in the poster, Black and white. The colours used are dark and contrast, this helps portray the mood and the genre of film. It helps describe the mood of the film, which reflect crime and death.
The information on the poster contains such items as the director, and star appeal which attracts the audience to the film.
Futhermore them man in the poster is holding a gun, this is an iconic signifier of the gangster genre.
Title: The Godfather
Genre: Crime
Sub-Genre: Gangster
This poster looks very simple but has a big impact on the audience.
The poster only contains the title of the film, an image of the main character and a tagline.
The main focal point on the poster is the main character, who gives the image of the Don of the mafia, a hard man with flashy cars, expensive clothes (suits), and mansions. Women and items are measures of his success as well.
The tagline gives a hidden message, a small insight into the movie.
However this poster gives no information about the film, such as age certificates and release dates.
There are very little colours used in the poster. The colours used are dark and dull, this helps portray the mood and the genre of film. It helps describe the mood of the film, which are most likely full of crime and full of death.
The imagery of the title on the poster with the hand and puppet strings, symbolises control and hierarchy suggesting power is a main feature in this film. But also it relates to the title of the film ‘The Godfather’ it represents his level of control.
Sub-Genre: Detective
Examples of Detective film: Se7en, L.A Confidential and Sherlock. Jr
The two main features in a detective genre are a narrative that follows an investigation and the main character that acts as a detective figure.
The narrative of the detective film follows the hero’s investigation of a crime and throughout the film the detective is constantly facing new challenges where this hero is tested. The main character always proves his success by completing their investigation and solving the case. The detective genre has remained popular because of its ability to adapt with the social change of modern life.
This type of genre usually showcases the ‘Perfect Crime’, which the audience then watches the crime unravel.
History of Detective Films:
Sherlock Holmes was one of the first prominent detective characters made into a film. Sherlock Holmes made his debut in 1924.
Until the 1980’s women in detective films provided a relationship with the detective and frequently played the part of a woman in peril. They served as an element of suspense as helpless victims.
In modern detective films, woman can play the role as the hero or work along side the male as partners. The help forward the storyline and are seen with the same respect as males.
Title: Ace
Genre: Crime
Sub-Genre: Detective
This Poster looks very simple but creates a sense of humour for the audience.
The poster only contains the title of the film, an image of the main character, the actor who plays this character and the films information.
The main focal point on the poster is the main character, the audience immediately knows he is a ‘pet detective’, however it seems a pet dog is trying to attack him. This creates Humour in this poster and therefore signifies to the audience this film is a comedy.
There is wide range of colours used in the poster, yellow, blue, red, white, black and purple. The colours used are light and this helps portray the mood and the genre of film. It helps describe the mood of the film, which reflects humour and crime the audience would find funny (e.g no death or blood)
The information on the poster contains such items as the actors name and a tagline which again creates humour.
Title: Sherlock Holmes
Genre: Crime
Sub-Genre: Detective
This Poster looks very busy with a lot happening at once, this creates suspense and makes the audience want to watch this film.
The poster contains the title of the film, an image of two characters four names of the actors in the film and the distribution information, and release date.
The main focal point on the poster is the characters that look directly at you. This creates the mood of the film that tells you that it is more than likely a serious detective film that will take the audience along a hard, mind-puzzling journey of crime solving. These characters portray different images the character at the front gives the impressions of a well-educated detective and the other a ruthless criminal that will be behind the main crime narrated in the film.
There is really only one colour used in the poster, shades of Blue/green. This is a neutral colour, that helps portray the mood and the genre of film. It helps describe the mood of crime and justice.
Sub-Genre: Film Noir
Examples of Film noir films: Sin city, The big combo and Murder, My Sweet
In film noir storylines were often twisting. Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and typically told with dramatic background music, flashbacks, first-person voice-over narration. Amnesia suffered by the main charcter was a common plot device, as was the downfall of an innocent everyday man who fell victim to temptation or was framed.
History of Film Noir Films: (Information found from wikipedia.org)
The words Film Noir are a French term literally meaning ‘Black Film’ this sub-genre was developed in the early 40’s. The features to a film noir are usually dark, violent, urban and downbeat.
The film noir, first applied to
The expressive visual style of film noir helps the audience get inside this world of instability, fear and/ or alienation. The settings and surroundings used in film noir are usually in a big American city with dark alleys, stifling hot apartments, smoky jazz clubs, roadside drives and rainy highways prevail. The use of harsh key lights causes all shadows – reflecting the darkness of the film.
Codes and conventions of the sub-genre Film Noir:
Motifs of the Film noir Genre
The primary moods of classic film noir were melancholy, alienation, disillusionment, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia.
1. Heroes (or anti-heroes),would be corrupt characters and villains which included down-and-out, conflicted hard-boiled detectives, cops, gangsters, government agents, a lone wolf, socio-paths or killers, crooks, war veterans, politicians, petty criminals, or murderers.
2. These characters were often morally-ambiguous low-lifes from the dark and gloomy underworld of violent crime and corruption.
3. Distinctively, they were, tarnished, obsessive (sexual or otherwise), brooding, menacing, disillusioned, frightened and insecure loners (usually men), struggling to survive.
4. In the end, these characters would ultimately lose.
Femmes Fatales
Classic film noir developed during and after World War II, taking advantage of the post-war ambience of anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion, and possibly reflecting male fears of female liberation and independence during the war years. Film noirs first evolved in the 1940s, became prominent in the post-war era, and lasted in a classic "Golden Age" period until about 1960. A film noir story was often developed around a cynical, hard-hearted, disillusioned male character, who encountered a beautiful but promiscuous, amoral, double-dealing and seductive femme fatale. Femme fatale literally means "killer (or deadly) woman."
A famous Film Noir that uses femmes Fatales is The Postman Always Rings Twice. The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1946 drama-film noir based on the 1934 The Postman Always Rings Twicee novel by James M. Cain.
The females in film noir were either of two types - dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femmes fatales - mysterious, duplicitous, subversive, double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, tough-sweet, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women.
This technique used in classic film noirs is wade made their popularity grow and what made the audience enjoy these films.
Film Noir Posters
Title:
Genre: Crime
Sub-Genre: Film Noir
This Poster looks very impressive with the characters looking down as if they are above the audience and this technique makes the film feel very dramatic.
The poster only contains the title of the film, an image of the five characters and the films information such as release date.
The main focal point on the poster is the main characters looking down on you with weapons, the audience feel threatened and intimidated by them. This creates the image of crime and that these characters are criminals but also adds excitement for the audience. These characters therefore give the impressions of criminals with guns.
There are really only two colours used in the poster, Black and red. The colours used are dark. The black is used to portray the mood of voilence and crime. The red is used to distract the audience from the dark and gloomy image and helps focus on the title of the film.
Sin city uses elements of Film noir (dark) and also femme fattall.
All the men hold guns representing protection, ‘Heroes’ and again iconic signifier of the crime genre.
The information on the poster contains such items as the director, actors names and the relase date.
Title: Death by Drink
Genre: Crime
Sub-Genre: Film Noir
This Poster has the look and feel of a cartoon, which has been painted.
The poster only contains the title of the film, an image of the three characters, a tagline and the actor’s name.
The main focal point on the poster is the name of the film, which is surrounded by yellow that attracts the attention of the audience. There is images of the three characters, one holding a gun that seems to have just been fired. This creates suspense and the image of crime. These characters therefore give the impressions of a detective/ or criminal and the women portray an image of the main characters lover or/and victims in the film.
The beautiful women are looking up to the man representing he hold significance and power.
The costumes in the poster of a trench coat and gun portray detective elements.
There is a range of colours used in the poster, yellow, red, orange, black and white. The colours used are contrast and therfore are very eye-catching, this helps to get the audience to notice the film poster.
The information on the poster contains such items as the director, actors and a tagline.
Sub-Genre: spy Films
Examples of spy films: James Bond and The spy who came in from the cold
Spy films can either be realistic (e.g. The Spy who came in from the cold) or a fantasy type film (e.g. James Bond films). The modern day spy-hero is James Bond '007' character that was employed for Her Majesty's Secret Service - was loosely based on the agent/spy character in Britisher Ian Fleming's twelve James Bond novels. A number of Fleming's short stories were developed by other writers. Before the movies, Bond made his first appearance on TV, debuting on CBS in 1954, with Barry Nelson as the American 007 agent named Jimmy Bond in an adaptation of Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale.
History of spy Films:
The genre first appeared in the film The German Spy Peril which was released in 1914.
In 1928, Fritz Lang made the film Spies which contained many tropes that became popular in later spy dramas, including secret headquarters, an agent known by a number, and the beautiful foreign agent who comes to love the hero. Alfred Hitchcock did much to popularise the spy film in the 1930s with his influential thrillers The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1937) and The Lady Vanishes (1938).
The peak of popularity of the spy film is often considered to be the 1960s when Cold War fears meshed with a desire by audiences to see exciting and suspenseful films. The spy film developed in two directions at this time, realistic and fantasy-like.
On the one hand, the realistic spy novels of John le Carré were adapted into relatively serious Cold War thrillers, which dealt with some of the realities of the espionage world. Some of these films included The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), The Deadly Affair (1966).
At the same time, the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming were adapted into an increasingly fantastical series of adventure films. The huge success of the Bond series led to imitations, such as the Euro spy genre and several from America Spies have remained popular on TV to the present day with series such as Spooks.
Spy films also enjoyed something of a revival in the late 1990s, although these were often action films with a spy element, or comedies like Austin Powers. Today, spy films have trended away from fantasy elements in favor of realism. This trend can be seen in Syriana, the Bourne film series and the more recent James Bond films Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).
Spy Film Posters
Title: James Bond – Casino Royale
Genre: Crime
Sub-Genre: Spy
This Poster looks very simple but has a big impact on the audience.
The poster only contains the title of the film, an image of the main character, screenshots taken from the film and the films information.
The main focal point on the poster is the main character that gives the impression of a hard man, who is slick and cool at everything he does. The audience are a little intimated by him and he is portrayed as a spy. The screenshots used show a small glimpse of what this man is like and what the film is about. From these images you get the feeling that this man drives fast cars, always get the lady and is always finding death defying drama. Women and items are more than likely measures of his success.
There are really only two colours used in the poster, Black and grey.This helps portray the mood and the genre of film. It helps describe the mood of the film, which most is likely full of fast pasted drama and death.
The information on the poster contains such items as the director and tagline.
Title: The spy who came in from the cold
Genre: Crime
Sub-Genre: Spy
This Poster has the look and feel of a cartoon, which has been animated.
The poster only contains the title of the film, an image of the characters, and the actor’s name.
The main focal point on the poster is the characters in the poster, which is surrounded by drama and dramatic colours that attracts the eyes of the audience. This creates suspense and the image of crime. These characters therefore give the impressions of a spy and the women portray an image of the main characters lover or/and victims in the film.
The colours used in the poster, such as black, greys and red are used in the images themselves which creates drama and suspense. The colours such as yellow and blue are used for the films information to draw your eye away from the drama happening in the poster.
The information on the poster contains such items as the director, and actors.
Information on the history of each sub-genre was found from the following:
www.wikipedia.org
http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html
http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms3.html
http://www.filmsite.org/crimefilms.html
http://www.filmsite.org/mysteryfilms.html
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