Conventions Of A Gangster Film

Settings and themes-  

The themes behind a gangster film are violence, guns, lots of swearing, death, rise and fall of people in and out of power, and dark comedy. They are usually set in large, crowded cities to show the way they operate in the shadows of the busy streets. The smaller settings within the crowded cities are nightclubs, bars, streets; the locations crimes are committed for example banks, and other secretive location.

Mise-en-scene

Props are extremely important in gangster films to symbolise a number of things such as wealth, power, status, etc. For example, guns, fast cars, cash. Secondly, the characters in gangster films are usually materialistic, immoral, street smart, aggressive, and violent. These characters fit into the dark criminal underworld perfectly as they suit the setting they are in which is dark, cruel, and very violent. 

Narrative-

The story in British gangster films is usually about different gangs fighting over control of something such as area. In addition, in British gangster films the story can also be the one from original American gangster films where a young gangster or gangsters try to climb the criminal world hierarchy

Sound and camera

There are a lot of diegetic sounds such as gun shots, blood splatters, car sounds, and many more. Also, in American gangster films the background music is usually religious. The camera is used to show the different statuses of the different characters. For example, the characters who have a high status will be shown through low angle shots when talking to characters who have a lower status who will be shown through high angle shots.

After doing this research my group and i are clear or the main conventions of a gangster film and we know have a clear guideline to follow.