Atrocity
Luke Davies
Sam Felton
Scott Evans
Alex Leeson
Crime Genre...
Atrocity is similar to real life crime films because it contains a few sub-themes leaving the audience entertained on several levels, additionally making it appeal to a wider audience. In suspense thriller style a killer is run down by a vigilante as the killer tries to escape from a quiet hillside location.
Our film follows the basic crime codes and conventions where someone down on their luck either involved in or turning to a life of crime where possessions are a measure of power, they typically strive to better themselves. In our film, it is the vigilante who is trying to do the right thing, not following a moral or partially law abiding life, he is trying to do the right thing, hunting down this killer.
It is similar to the film “Catch me if you can”, the 2002 hit by Steven Spielberg where quite similarly it involves very much a chase based crime genre.
Before producing our film we did some research into the codes and conventions of the crime genre and this is how we developed our own codes and conventions so that our film would be something new and exciting, different to real life crimes.Using our research we looked into the typical appearance of the characters In a crime film, using this research we tried to display both the killer and the vigilante to not appear to be of pure hearted nature but we wanted the killer to look more menacing and I think we achieved this.
I think both groups are portrayed in a negative way, although you could argue that in chasing a killer, the vigilante may be seen in a good light.
The audience are meant to sympathise with both characters. You feel sorry for the killer having no choice but to kill, trapped in a life of crime but you want him to be caught, and you feel for the vigilante chasing him to right the wrongs he has done in his life.Fox Filmed Entertainment (FFE) isn't choosy when it comes to an entertainment medium producing all genres of films through five studios (Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000, Fox Searchlight, and Twentieth Century Fox Animation), and makes television shows primarily for the FOX network (24, The Simpsons). Fox Home Entertainment releases more than 1,000 film and television titles each year to the worldwide home video market. FFE also licenses its content to third parties for use on pay television (HBO, Starz) and pay per-view cable and satellite systems.
I think a media institution like Fox would distribute our film and It would be shown in a big multiplex cinema
Audience
Men
15-40 (Certificate 15)
Using research we did on the typical audience of a crime film we then used this to assess the audience of our film.
Using a questionnaire as research we asked our target audience what they liked about crime films and what they would want to see. We then used this information in conjunction with the production of Atrocity.
The storyline of atrocity is both similar and different to real crime films, this is what makes it appealing. It has a familiar feel that the audience knows and loves but also additional originality which keeps them watching.
From this product I have learnt the value of the internet for my research, I found “Google” and “Wikipedia” to be most useful in researching crime films.
Blogger was quite straight forward to use after you get a feel for it, my blog is located at: http://lukedaviesasmediaportfolio.blogspot.com
Having already been familiar with Digital cameras and final cut the filming and editing was quite easy, if I were to make another crime film, I would use these technologies again as they were easy to use and very useful in the production of Atrocity.The preliminary task we carried out gave us a basic idea of how the cameras work, gave us a feel for the editing software and we played around with ideas for different shots and locations and discussed the effect they had
We used ideas about the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and match on match to plan out several shots for our film, we used some shots more than others but that was due to the fast pace of the film.
Conclusion
For our research we analyses film posters, cuts of crime films, did internet research into the codes and conventions of the crime genre amongst other research such as different shots.
For the filming, we all went to a hillside using our research to plan some shots, we did some filming, went back and editing then went out to do more more
The editing process was carried out with input from all of our team, we wanted to have lots of cuts to make the chase seem fast paced and dramatic. Hence we chose some dramatic and I think very fitting backing music.
I feel overall our research was very sufficient. I’m happy with the amount of filming we did although I would have liked to spend more time editing so we could ass some of the many effects available in Final Cut, although we looked at them I wished we had taken better advantage of them.
Monday 29 March 2010
Wednesday 6 January 2010
Questionnaire
on the crime film genre. Hopefully the information I receive from this will enable me to make a new crime film which is more appealing to the audience, it will meet their expectations. I am going to try and find the key things people look for in a crime film.
1. Do you like crime films?
2. If no, why not?
3. List some features you don’t like about crime films
4. What’s your favourite crime film?
5. Do you prefer lots of action, a very good storyline or a good mix of the two?
6. Are guns essential to a crime film?
7. Do you like detective based crime films?
8. Do you think there needs to be a villain and a hero?
9. What characteristics make a good hero?
10. What characteristics make a good villain?
11. What kind of music do you think should be used? Fast paced or Dramatic/Theatrical?
12. What type of location would you expect the film to be based; built up city or small town area?
13. In a crime film, do you prefer film nior or natural lighting?
Film Nior is black & white lighting where you use shadowing and light to create scenes
1. Do you like crime films?
2. If no, why not?
3. List some features you don’t like about crime films
4. What’s your favourite crime film?
5. Do you prefer lots of action, a very good storyline or a good mix of the two?
6. Are guns essential to a crime film?
7. Do you like detective based crime films?
8. Do you think there needs to be a villain and a hero?
9. What characteristics make a good hero?
10. What characteristics make a good villain?
11. What kind of music do you think should be used? Fast paced or Dramatic/Theatrical?
12. What type of location would you expect the film to be based; built up city or small town area?
13. In a crime film, do you prefer film nior or natural lighting?
Film Nior is black & white lighting where you use shadowing and light to create scenes
Codes and Conventions of Crime Genre
Crime and Gangster Films are developed around the sinister actions of criminals or gangsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and violently murdering their way through life. Criminal and gangster films are often categorized as post-war film noir or detective-mystery films - because of underlying similarities between these cinematic forms
Crime stories in this genre often highlight the life of a crime figure or a crime's victim(s). Or they glorify the rise and fall of a particular criminal(s), gang, bank robber, murderer or lawbreakers in personal power struggles or conflict with law and order figures, an underling or competitive colleague, or a rival gang. Headline-grabbing situations, real-life gangsters, or crime reports have often been used in crime films. Gangster/crime films are usually set in large, crowded cities, to provide a view of the secret world of the criminal: dark nightclubs or streets with lurid neon signs, fast cars, piles of cash, sleazy bars, contraband, seedy living quarters or rooming houses.
Gangster films are morality tales. Success stories turned upside down in which criminals live in an inverted dream world of success and wealth. Often from poor immigrant families, gangster characters often fall prey to crime in the pursuit of wealth, status, and material possessions (clothes and cars), because all other "normal" avenues to the top are unavailable to them. Although they are doomed to failure and inevitable death (usually violent), criminals are sometimes portrayed as the victims of circumstance, because the stories are told from their point of view.
What makes a gangster film?
1. The hero is in a poor state 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 by any means necessary.
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 enemy is society, and the enforcers of the law. The police, the FBI, the CIA represent the enforcers of society
7. The end justifies the means.
Film nior is a type of crime film that usues black and white. The idea behind it is you use dark and light shading to build scenes and add drama and suspense to the film
Suspense Thriller is another type of crime film usually involving lots of violence and action but not always. It involves a dramatic plot which keeps the audience on the edge of thier seat. There is normally a huge twist which creates the suspense part of the suspense thriller.
Crime stories in this genre often highlight the life of a crime figure or a crime's victim(s). Or they glorify the rise and fall of a particular criminal(s), gang, bank robber, murderer or lawbreakers in personal power struggles or conflict with law and order figures, an underling or competitive colleague, or a rival gang. Headline-grabbing situations, real-life gangsters, or crime reports have often been used in crime films. Gangster/crime films are usually set in large, crowded cities, to provide a view of the secret world of the criminal: dark nightclubs or streets with lurid neon signs, fast cars, piles of cash, sleazy bars, contraband, seedy living quarters or rooming houses.
Gangster films are morality tales. Success stories turned upside down in which criminals live in an inverted dream world of success and wealth. Often from poor immigrant families, gangster characters often fall prey to crime in the pursuit of wealth, status, and material possessions (clothes and cars), because all other "normal" avenues to the top are unavailable to them. Although they are doomed to failure and inevitable death (usually violent), criminals are sometimes portrayed as the victims of circumstance, because the stories are told from their point of view.
What makes a gangster film?
1. The hero is in a poor state 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 by any means necessary.
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 enemy is society, and the enforcers of the law. The police, the FBI, the CIA represent the enforcers of society
7. The end justifies the means.
Film nior is a type of crime film that usues black and white. The idea behind it is you use dark and light shading to build scenes and add drama and suspense to the film
Suspense Thriller is another type of crime film usually involving lots of violence and action but not always. It involves a dramatic plot which keeps the audience on the edge of thier seat. There is normally a huge twist which creates the suspense part of the suspense thriller.
Target audience of a typical crime film
I think the typical crime film genre is aimed at all fans of the genre itself, I would say since most are aged 15+ then a typical crime film is aimed at ages 15 to about 40 depending on the film, some films you could argue could be more appealing to those over 40 such as your detective stories. I would argue that the majority are aimed at men, most modern crime films involved lots of action, violence, explosions and gun fights which I would say are going to be more appealing to men rather than women.
History of the crime film genre
Crime and Gangster Films are developed around the sinister actions of criminals or gangsters, particularly bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and violently murdering their way through life.
Criminal/gangster films date back to the early days of film during the silent era. One of the first to mark the start of the gangster/crime genre was D. W. Griffith's The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) about organized crime. It wasn't the first gangster movie ever made, but it was the first significant gangster film that has survived. It wasn't until the sound era and the 1930s that gangster films truly became an entertaining, popular way to attract viewers to the theatres, who were interested in the lawlessness and violence on-screen. The events of the Prohibition Era (until 1933) such as bootlegging and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929, the existence of real-life gangsters (e.g., Al Capone) and the rise of contemporary organized crime and escalation of urban violence helped to encourage this genre. Many of the sensationalist plots of the early gangster films were taken from the day's newspaper headlines. The talkies era accounted for the rise of crime films, because these films couldn't come to life without sound (machine gun fire, screeching brakes, screams, chases through city streets and squealing car tires). The perfection of sound technology and mobile cameras also aided their spread. The first "100% all-talking" picture and, of course, the first sound gangster film was The Lights of New York (1928) - it enhanced the urban crime dramas of the time with crackling dialogue and exciting sound effects of squealing getaway car tires and gunshots.
Warner Bros. was considered the gangster studio par excellence, and the star- triumvirate of Warner’s gangster cycle, all actors who established and defined their careers in this genre, included: Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. Others who were early gangster stars included Paul Muni and George Raft.
Three great classic gangster films (among the first of the talkies) marked the genre's popular acceptance and started the wave of gangster films in the 1930s in the sound era. The lead role in each film (a gangster/criminal or bootleg racketeer of the Prohibition Era) was glorified, but each one ultimately met his doom in the final scenes of these films, due to censors' demands that they receive moral retribution for their crimes. The first two films in the cycle were released almost simultaneously by Warner Bros.: Mervyn LeRoy's Little Caesar (1930, William Wellman's The Public Enemy (1931).
Howard Hawks' raw Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932), a Howard Hughes' produced film from UA starred Paul Muni as a power-mad, vicious, immature and beastly hood in Prohibition-Era Chicago (the characterization of Tony Camonte was loosely based on the brutal, murderous racketeer Al Capone).
The ultra-violent, landmark film in the depiction of Italian-American immigrant gangsters included twenty-eight deaths, and the first use of a machine gun by a gangster. Over fifty years later, Brian de Palma remade the film with Al Pacino in the title role of Scarface (1983).
The coming of the Hays Production Code in the early 1930s spelled the end to glorifying the criminal, and approval of the ruthless methods and accompanying violence of the gangster lifestyle. The censorship codes of the day in the 1930s, notably the Hays Office, forced studios to make moral pronouncements, present criminals as psychopaths, end the depiction of the gangster as a folk or 'tragic hero,' de-glorify crime, and emphasize that crime didn't pay. One way the studios quieted some of the protest and uproar over "America's shame" was to shift the emphasis from the criminal to the racket-busting federal agents, private detectives, or "good guys" on the other side of the law. In William Keighley's G-Men (1935), the best example of this new 'gangster-as-cop' sub-genre, screen tough guy James Cagney starred as a ruthless, revenge-seeking, impulsive, violent FBI agent to infiltrate criminal gangs on a crime spree in the Midwest. Although he was on the side of the law working undercover, he was just as cynical, brutal, and arrogant as he had been in his earliest gangster films.
Criminal/gangster films date back to the early days of film during the silent era. One of the first to mark the start of the gangster/crime genre was D. W. Griffith's The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) about organized crime. It wasn't the first gangster movie ever made, but it was the first significant gangster film that has survived. It wasn't until the sound era and the 1930s that gangster films truly became an entertaining, popular way to attract viewers to the theatres, who were interested in the lawlessness and violence on-screen. The events of the Prohibition Era (until 1933) such as bootlegging and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929, the existence of real-life gangsters (e.g., Al Capone) and the rise of contemporary organized crime and escalation of urban violence helped to encourage this genre. Many of the sensationalist plots of the early gangster films were taken from the day's newspaper headlines. The talkies era accounted for the rise of crime films, because these films couldn't come to life without sound (machine gun fire, screeching brakes, screams, chases through city streets and squealing car tires). The perfection of sound technology and mobile cameras also aided their spread. The first "100% all-talking" picture and, of course, the first sound gangster film was The Lights of New York (1928) - it enhanced the urban crime dramas of the time with crackling dialogue and exciting sound effects of squealing getaway car tires and gunshots.
Warner Bros. was considered the gangster studio par excellence, and the star- triumvirate of Warner’s gangster cycle, all actors who established and defined their careers in this genre, included: Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. Others who were early gangster stars included Paul Muni and George Raft.
Three great classic gangster films (among the first of the talkies) marked the genre's popular acceptance and started the wave of gangster films in the 1930s in the sound era. The lead role in each film (a gangster/criminal or bootleg racketeer of the Prohibition Era) was glorified, but each one ultimately met his doom in the final scenes of these films, due to censors' demands that they receive moral retribution for their crimes. The first two films in the cycle were released almost simultaneously by Warner Bros.: Mervyn LeRoy's Little Caesar (1930, William Wellman's The Public Enemy (1931).
Howard Hawks' raw Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932), a Howard Hughes' produced film from UA starred Paul Muni as a power-mad, vicious, immature and beastly hood in Prohibition-Era Chicago (the characterization of Tony Camonte was loosely based on the brutal, murderous racketeer Al Capone).
The ultra-violent, landmark film in the depiction of Italian-American immigrant gangsters included twenty-eight deaths, and the first use of a machine gun by a gangster. Over fifty years later, Brian de Palma remade the film with Al Pacino in the title role of Scarface (1983).
The coming of the Hays Production Code in the early 1930s spelled the end to glorifying the criminal, and approval of the ruthless methods and accompanying violence of the gangster lifestyle. The censorship codes of the day in the 1930s, notably the Hays Office, forced studios to make moral pronouncements, present criminals as psychopaths, end the depiction of the gangster as a folk or 'tragic hero,' de-glorify crime, and emphasize that crime didn't pay. One way the studios quieted some of the protest and uproar over "America's shame" was to shift the emphasis from the criminal to the racket-busting federal agents, private detectives, or "good guys" on the other side of the law. In William Keighley's G-Men (1935), the best example of this new 'gangster-as-cop' sub-genre, screen tough guy James Cagney starred as a ruthless, revenge-seeking, impulsive, violent FBI agent to infiltrate criminal gangs on a crime spree in the Midwest. Although he was on the side of the law working undercover, he was just as cynical, brutal, and arrogant as he had been in his earliest gangster films.
Analysis of opening scene of S.W.A.T
The scene begins with immediate action, there is a hostage situation, and masked men are assumedly robbing a bank in a well built up city typical of the crime genre. Almost immediately there is violence and the death of a police officer by the masked men wielding typical mobster/ terrorist weapons.
There is a lot of shot reverse shot between the innocent bystanders and the masked men, this builds tension.
Shortly after, SWAT turns up, dressed in SWAT uniform, they wear professional equipment and uniform that makes them stand out from the rest, they are meant to appear as the pro’s involved. The first four characters you see are assumedly the main characters in the film and they quickly assess the situation.
Focus is on the cops as a group, which is a contrast to your usual crime film focused on a group of mobsters. This parallels the mob structure in the gangster film. Another contrast you have is the uniformity of the group, as in a mobster film they are all well dressed in suits and in this they are all dressed equally in their uniform, arguably you could say they are less dressed than the typical mobster.
The music is also very dramatic and suits what is happening in the scene, the speed of it matches how fast the scene is moving along quite nicely and it makes the scene more powerful.
BBFC 18 Classification
Suitable only for adults
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.
The BBFC guideline states aducts should be free to choose thier own entertainment. However, these are some of the exceptions;
- Where the material is in breach of the law or has been created through breaking the law
- Where the material shows appears to risk harm to its audience. Anything which may have an affect on public health etc.
- Where there are more explicit images of sexual context which cannot be justified by content
Examples of 18 Films
- Saw
- American Pie
- Final Destination
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