CRIME

Conventions:

Crime develop around the actions of criminals and/or gangsters, particularly bank robbers, hoodlums and underworld figures (somebody who can't be traced for their actions). Normally the criminal is a man, but it can occasionally be a woman.

Crime stories often highlight the life of a crime figure or a victim of crime. They can also glorify the rise and fall of a particular criminal, gang, bank robber, murderer or lawbreaker in personal power struggles or conflict with law and order figures, an underling or competitive colleague, or a rival gang. Rivalry with other criminals in gangster warfare is often a significant plot characteristic. The plot also include questions such as how the police will capture the criminal, and whether or not the criminal will succeed in their plans.

Gangster/crime films are usually set in large, crowded cities, such as LA or New York, which provides a view of the secret world of a criminal. Dark nightclubs, or streets with neon signs. Fast cars, piles of cash, sleazy bars, contraband, weird living quarters.

A chase, usually a car chase often happens within crime films. There's also a lot of involvement with props, such as knifes, guns, and weapons that can harm people. The villain would normally have some unidentified problems which normally get resolved at the very end of the film. The hero, who saves everyone, normally has a partner. This partner is normally incredibly intelligent, or really stupid. Crime films are normally a murder, drama films are usually to do with the family of the hero, like the wife or the children. There is often a head police officer who doesn't agree with the views and the actions of the hero, and often someones private life becomes public. There is also often some form of betrayal within the film.

Target Audience:

Crime films are typically stereotyped as being aimed at men, purely because of the use of violence, weapons, villains and the justice system. More often than not the main hero tends to be a strong dominant male, such as Christian Bale in Batman Begins. However, when films like “Mr and Mrs Smith” came around, because there was a strong dominant woman who was on the same level as a strong dominant man, a lot more women liked that film. It gave the film a sense of gender quality, so it appeals to both genders. Normally, the film is a 15+, so it probably appeals to audiences over the age of 15. I think people between the ages of 15-24 are the most likely to go and watch a crime film. Overall, the general target audience is males between the ages of 15-24 due to the weapons, violence and the strong dominant men, but as more women start to be involved as strong dominant women within the films, more women are going to watch the films.

Production Techniques:

Depending on the type of crime film depends on how the script is typically written. For example, 22 jump streets script is written very differently from the script of The Godfather. However, the films are about the same thing, crime. This means typical language is used within the film. There's a lot of conversations about contraband, such as drugs and weapons, and there's also police terms that are used through both films, to try and show that with everything illegal, the police will get involved.

Again, depending on the type of film depends on the setting. Where The Godfather is quite dark throughout the film, 22 Jump Street is quite light hearted, however, there are scenes that are set in basements and dodgy street bars in both the films. This is to portray to the audience the shadiness of the situation, whether that is through a jokey way, or through a straight quite scary way. There is often always a crime film.

Lighting in crime films tends to be quite dark and dreary. This is to create the illusion that something that isn't quite right is going on. Also, if there is an interrogation room within the film, these tend to either be really bright, or only have one light on the criminals face.

In crime films there is very reoccurring sounds throughout. The sound of gunshots, the sound of police sirens, the sound of women and children screaming. Again, this creates the illusion that bad things are happening.

Film examples:

The Godfather

22 Jump Street

The Green Mile