Goodfellas- Is a1990 American gangster film directed by Martin Scorsese.

Set in 1970, Essentially the film Goodfellas is an American based Gangster film, this becomes clearly evident to the audience within the opening sequence, which not only reveals the genre , but also presents the audience with a vivid plot outline or clear idea as to what the film will revolve around. Initially as an audience, the opening sequence alerts us, that the film will revolve around gangs gruesome violence and regular deaths.

The overall context of the whole 1970’s American Gangster theme is evoked clearly amongst the audience due to a variety of tools and devices used by the director. Firstly whilst the characters are in the car we can acknowledge that their costumes that they’re all wearing are very smart ,formal and expensive looking clothes, which consist of silk shirts and sharp suits. Fundamentally these are all stereo-typical costumes for the typical gangster genre, as similar costumes were exhibited in huge successful films like Scarface and Godfather, which all share the same, context and genre. The characters dark, jet black gelled hair also is typical of this genre along with the sheer slickness and neatness to their faces, as we can see there’s not one hair out of line. Another convention which also has helps establish the genre is the strong American accents, the characters have instantly this informs the audience that this film is set in America. The mise-en-scene of the scene enforces our image of the gangsters. The sequence is filmed at night, this connotes that they are bad guys,The dark surroundings create a frightening mood within the sequence. The four characters appear to pull over in a dark and secluded forest which makes it more or less so inevitable to the audience that something major and corrupt is going to happen. The fact that they’re driving at night also suggests that they may want to avoid the police .

Camera angles and movement effect the opening sequence immensely as they exhibit the for coming events whilst also establishing the setting and the tone to the movie. The first initial shot presented to the audience is a tracking shot of a moving car. Classically a tracking shot follows the action and eventually pulls backward from the action. However, this opening scene rejects this typical and rather predictable convention, and instead tracks onwards past the moving vehicle and onto the dark and secluded road in which the vehicle pulls over.A close up focused shot is also used to introduce the main character of the film as shown.

The opening sequence illustrates a gang brutally kill a man who was ruthlessly tied up and severely wounded with blood stains in the back of the car.The dark surroundings create a frightening mood within the sequence. The four characters appear to pull over in a dark and secluded forest which makes it more or less so inevitable to the audience that something major and corrupt is going to happen.

This vicious stabbing instantly creates a violent mood within the sequence followed by this dramatic shooting, the fact that the main character looks so emotionless as he shoots at the poor man, suggest that he’s used to this lifestyle so therefore is a typical ‘American Gangster’ As we presumed.

BY YHARNNA-DIOR JOSEPH