R E S E A R C H
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By doing this task I have learnt a lot about the history of crime and gangster. This allows me to see how the genre has changed over the years. This will be really useful when it comes to making my own film opening, as I can choose when in history I want my film set, and I'll be able to make it realistic due to what I've learnt. This task also helped me to understand exactly why the style of film has changed so much over the decades and what impact it has had.
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Task 3 - Research into existing companies that produce and distribute gangster films
Film 1 - American Gangster
American Gangster is a 2007 American biographical gangster film. It was directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zaillian.
The production company responsible for the film are Image Entertainment, Scott Free Productions and Relativity Media. American Gangster was distrubuted by Universal Pictures.
Relativity Media LLC is an American media company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. The studio was the third largest mini-major globally until bankruptcy on July 30, 2015.
Image Entertainment, Inc. is an American independent producer and distributor of television and film in North America, with around 3,200 DVD titles. The company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California.
Finally, Scott Free Productions 1995 and is the film and television production company of film director Ridley Scott. They're responsible for blockbuster films such as Gladiator, and smaller films like Cracks - making them a large, big budget organisation.
Film 2 - The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy. It is widley regarded as one of the greatest films in cinema history.
Paramount Pictures obtained the rights to the novel before it gained popularity.
The Production Company involved in The Godfather was Alfran Productions.
Film 3 - Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is a 1992 American Crime Thriller that depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist.
It was directed by Quentin Tarentino and produced by Live Entertainment and Dog Eat Dog Productions.
The distribution company was Miramax Films.
Paramount Pictures Corporation were formerly known as Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. They're an American film studio, television production company and distributor, they're ranked as one of the 'Big Six' film studios of Hollywood.
Miramax Films are an American entertainment company known for producing and distributing films and television shows.They are headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Miramax were taken over by the Walt Disney Company on June 30th 1993 - making them one of the largest production companies around. Miramax were responsible for Pulp Fiction as well as Reservoir Dogs, arguably two of the biggest crime films ever released.
Film 4 - The Departed
There was a lot of production companies involved in producing the 2006 American Crime film The Departed. These being Warner Bros. Pictures, Plan B Entertainment, Initial Entertainment, Vertigo Entertainment and Media Asia Films. Prehaps all the involvment from these companies led to The Departed to being one of the greatest films in it's genre.
The Departed was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It was produced by Brad Pitt, Brad Grey and Graham King.
Media Asia are a privately owned Chinese production company whose headquarters are in Hong Kong. They normally only service Asia but were involved in American film The Departed as it is a remake of their 2002 Hong Kong film Internal Affairs.
Initial Entertainment (now GK Films) are a British production company founded in 1990 by Graham King. Their headquarters are in the UK and they're also responsible for some very famous films, such as Rango, World War Z and of course, The Departed.
Plan B Entertainment, Warner Bros. Productions and Vertigo Entertainment are all American Production companies headquartered in America (Los Angeles and California). All three are very large, successful companies - with the most well known being Warner Bros. (who also distributed The Departed). All three of these companies are responsible for some of the biggest films in cinema history. Plan B Entertainment was founded by actor Brad Pitt, actress Jennifer Aniston and Brad Grey, who is now CEO of Paramount Pictures. This company is now solely owned by Brad Pitt.
Film 5 - Goodfellas
Goodfellas is an American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Productions.
Warner Bros. Productions is an American entertainment company owned by Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California. They are the hugely successful and famous production company behind many of the biggest films around.
In conclusion, by doing this task I have learnt a lot about the production behind Crime Gangster films (particularly the sub-genre of Mob). The big budget films, such as Goodfellas and The Godfather generally have very big, very famous companies like Paramount, Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures behind them. The companies behind these American Films are generally American too, based in film-famous areas like California. Finally, the production companies don't really just specialize in crime, they are responsible for all sorts of genres. For example, Vertigo Entertainment are responsible for lots of horror films like The Grudge, Quarantine and Poltergeist, but they also make kids films.For example, The Lego Movie and How To Train Your Dragon.
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Task 4 - Analysis of gangster films
In Task 4, I analysed the two-minutes openings of three films in my sub genre. I chose American Gangster, GoodFellas, and The Godfather.
Doing this allowed me to create a detailed timeline of events, including shot changes and audio details.
This task will really help me when it comes to evaluating my own film opening. This is because it will help me to break down my own opening into a timeline and assist me in considering which institution my film would be linked to.
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By completing this task, I have a much better understanding of Quentin Tarantino as a director and the style he works in. His films that come under crime and gangster are mostly mob films, which is they sub-genre I intend to work in. Understanding this style should hopefully influence and help me when it comes to making my own creative decisions. For example, something I would specifically take from his style is the non-linear storylines. I really like these because I think they're extremely effective and make any film a lot more interesting.
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For Task 6, I explored and created a mood board on the influences of style (costume) of different gangster related media. Doing this task will help me when it comes to planning costumes for my own film opening.
The style that constitutes the gangster look has changed quite dramatically over the years, but still has a few similarities. This Photopeach presentation demonstrates different traditional and modern styles and I will go on to talk about how they're influential.
Most of the images in the presentation show the classic representation of a gangster. This classic, traditional style is characterised by suits (often black), white shirts, ties and trilby style hats. This is demonstrated in GoodFellas, Pulp Fiction, The Making of the Mob, Casino and Reservoir Dogs. These all fall into the mob sub-genre, but this classic look can be applied to all gangster films, from film noir to British Gangster.
Most of these films are also set in the 80's/90's. This is important because by looking at The Godfather II, Peaky Blinders, American Gangster, Gangster Squad and The wire (which are not set in the 80's or 90's) we can see that the style and costume is similar, but has it's variations. In the Godfather II, we can see the pinstripe suit and slick hairstyle, these two things are another popular style choice but give more of an Italian Mafia feel. Peaky Blinders costume features tweed flat caps and trench coats - two unmistakably 1920's items. This gives variation on the classic gangster look, but still ties in with the hat and coat costume in American mob films. Gangster Squad and American Gangster still feature the smart suit, but in more brown tones. Finally, The Wire is the most modern of all the films and shows featured in the presentation. The series is set between 2002 and 2008, so the costume matches the era. It features baggy denim jeans and modern street-wear. However, most of the characters are still wearing a coat and hat - just like all the other films from different eras.
Despite the differences in costume, it is easy to spot a classic gangster look in film or television and I think that using these stereotypical costumes, the director can make it easy for the audience to see the different characters. A hat and long coat are good for hiding a character's identity or making them look a bit shifty - which is why I believe it is used throughout all branches of the gangster and crime genre.
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Task 8 - Theory
There are a number of media theorists who write about narrative structure. Narrative structure is the content of the story and plot in film and television. Four famous theorists I will be focusing on are Tzvetan Todorov, Vladmir Propp, Claude Levi-Strauss and Roland Barthes.
Tzvetan Todorov
He is a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, literary critic, sociologist and essayist.
His theory states that all narratives come in 5 different stages:
1. A state of equilibrium.
2. A disruption of said equilibrium.
3. A recognition of the disruption.
4. An attempt to restore the disruption.
5. A reinstatement of the disruption.
This narrative is quite a simple one, and Todorov believe this can be applied to any film. This supports the linear narrative where everything happens in chronological order. This is a simple way of making film, but is not used very often in crime and gangster films. They often follow a more circular or episodic structure which is what I would like to use in my own film.
A very famous example of this theory is The Hunger Games.
Vladmir Propp
Propp was a Russian scholar who had a character theory. He analysed 100 Russian folk tales to identify their most basic components. By doing this he came to the conclusion that all tales had 7 main characters. These are as follows:
1. Villain.
2. Donor. (prepares the hero or gives them a significant item)
3. Helper. (assists the hero)
4. False hero. (antagonist who disguises self as the protagonist)
5. Dispatcher.(Tries to prevent the hero completing his task)
6. Hero.
7. Princess. (marries the hero)
This applies very well to most films, even if it isn't as literally as a princess. Instead there may be a lady who the hero falls in love with, even if the film is modern day rather than a folk tale.
Again, The Hunger Games is a good example here, this time using Vladmir Propp's theory.
Claude Levi-Strauss
He was a French anthropologist and Ethnologist who developed his narrative theory around the concept of binary opposites.
Some good examples of these binary opposites are Good and Evil, Weak and Strong, Young and Old, and Male and Female. For example, he suggests we only know what it is to be bad if we know what it is to be good. So if there is an antagonist featured, there must also be a protagonist. By watching a variety of films we can see that this theory is present in many different genres.
Some examples of this theory in film are P.S. I love You, Spiderman and The Ring.
Roland Barthes
Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist, critic, and semiotician (the study of communicative signs and symbols). He came up with the code theory. There are 5 codes in this theory:
1. The Hermeneutic Code - When a story avoids telling the truth or revealing all facts, so to create mystery. For example, Reservoir Dogs.
2. The Enigma Code - The way in which a story builds up tension to leave the audience left guessing. A good example of this is the opening scene of Silence Of The Lambs.
3. The Semantic Code - Points to any element of a text that suggests a particular meaning by way of connotation. For example, a skull could mean death - like in Indiana Jones and and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
4. The Symbolic Code - Similar to The Semantic Code, but operating on a much wider level.
5. The Cultural Code - Looks at the audiences wider cultural knowledge and morality.
By doing this task I've been able to investigate the different theories and see how they relate to the crime and gangster genre. It will also help me structure my own film opening and have an impact on the decisions I make.
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Task 11 - Audience Reasearch
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The target audience for my film will be around 15-25 year old men. This is because, stereo typically, it tends to be young men who are interested in gangsters and crime, particularly of the mob sub-genre due to the violence aspect.
Most already existing mob films are rated 18, due to things such violence, explicit images, drug use and threat. I want my film to be rated a 15 rather than an 18 as it widens my target audience and appeals to more people. This means it will include less violence, no profanity, no drug use and no explicit images.
What to expect from a 15 rated film:
The rating 18 means that no one younger than 18 may see an 18 film in a cinema. No one younger than 18 may rent or buy an 18 rated video work.
The same applies to 15.
Click on me to find out more!
I believe this avatar shows what my target audience may look like and highlights key features like age and gender.
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Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour, although there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language.
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Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.
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Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not show detail which could be copied.
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Language
There may be strong language. Very strong language may be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification.
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Nudity
There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
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Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed, but usually without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.
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Threat
There may be strong threat and horror.
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Violence
Violence may be strong but should not emphasise infliction of pain or injury. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but the depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context.
I have created a survey about the gangster/crime genre. This will help me find out what my audience want and expect from the film opening I will create, meaning I can make it perfect for the audience I am targeting.
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