The lighting in the opening of Goodfellas is quite dark and sinister, when Henry is looking out of his bedroom window; the lighting looks as if he is in a prison cell, which is ironic as most gangsters go to prison at some point in their life. It creates a tense atmosphere and builds suspense, as if not all is right and that dark or evil occurrences may happen throughout the film. Using this type of lighting and colour in the opening of the film clearly states the genre. It illustrates that the film will be about good vs. evil, the gangsters being evil and the normal honest people being good. The narrative of the film is also hinted at, for example, at the beginning when Henry is by the window, the lighting being similar as to that of a prison cell indicates that this character may endure a type of incarceration at some point during the film.
The lighting & colour in Pulp Fiction does not convey the genre or narrative of the film as it does in Goodfellas, I would say that the opening five minutes of The Krays share more similarities with Pulp Fiction as opposed to Goodfellas. The lighting in The Krays starts off bright as it is set in the sky, with a white swan flying around; I believe the swan represents purity, innocence as well as the gracefulness it portrays by flying slowly in the air. The swan has a dark overcastting shadow; this suggests that there is something wrong with the innocence that there is. The Krays however uses colour and lighting to show the narrative and genre of the film.
As in Goodfellas the credits are black and white, I think the effect of this would be the same as in Goodfellas with the idea of Good vs. Evil, this is a typical convention that is used in many gangster films, also in the title of the Krays a red slash is underneath the title, this may represent a knife slash which sets the genre and also may tell us that the twins are going to be danger as red is associated with danger and evil. This specifies the genre. I believe that you are given an insight to the narrative in the instant of the film where you get a shot of the white sheets and red blood trickles down, when the Krays have just been born, I believe this is significant for two reasons, firstly, the film until then is shown in black and white the first showing of colour is the red blood, this is when the Kray twins first enter the world and the film is about them so I think it is how Peter Madak wanted it to start the beginning of the film as anything before that was irrelevant to their lives. Secondly, I believe this is clever juxtaposition as the sheets are white which symbolises purity and when they are born, the red of the blood may portray the devil or danger. This is an important part in the film as it means that what the mother has just given birth to will bring evil into the world.
The result of doing this I think tells you a little about the narrative as you are shown that what has just been born is evil almost devil like and will create danger which the red blood may symbolise.
Sound is an important factor in all three films as it helps structure the narrative and helps to illustrate the genre. In Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas, the dialogue starts quietly, it does this to build suspense so you listen very carefully to what is being said. In both films you hear a lot of foul language, and this is a typical convention of gangster films.
In Pulp Fiction the dialogue shows you that the genre of the film is gangster, because ‘Hunny Bunny’ and ‘Pumpkin’ are speaking about illegal activities. The background sound in Pulp Fiction was parallel to the opening scene as you can hear traffic, a duke box playing and other people’s conversations. The film is quite misleading though as from watching it you may be under the impression that the film is a comedy as the characters who are both obviously criminals, use comical nicknames such as Hunny Bunny and Pumpkin, but you become conscious of the fact the film is of a gangster genre when the couple start talking and making ideas. It is at this point in the film when Hunny Bunny’s voice becomes a lot more ominous. The effect of having her voice change is that you can tell these are serious criminals; this helps to establish the genre. Funnily enough though, these are not the central really dangerous gangsters we don’t see them until later.
Sound is also important in Pulp Fiction as it helps to put the narrative in order, which is essential for a non-linear narrative, because you might not follow or understand the film otherwise. In the first scene Hunny Bunny shouts out “Garcon Coffee” which is a diagetic sound, but also in the last scene while Vincent and Jules are eating you hear “Garcon Coffee” being shouted by Hunny Bunny too, so this helps understand the narrative by putting the events in chronological order. All the sounds in the diner in Pulp Fiction are diagetic creating a sense of realism therefore you can only work out the genre and narrative by the dialogue between Hunny Bunny and Pumpkin.
Goodfellas establishes the narrative and genre more obviously in the beginning of the film. Firstly you have the non-diagetic dialogue of what Henry is thinking this takes the form of a voice over and this continues throughout the film. Henry’s introduction describes his area and makes it sound like a rough place with many illegal incidents happening. This sets the scene and gives us the genre already. However, while someone is being murdered an up-tempo contrapuntal beat is being played, this takes the reality and brutality away from it, I think the effect of doing this is that it makes the film easier to watch. In Goodfellas the genre and narrative are set using dialogue and the non-diagetic sounds of the neighbourhood.
Unlike Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas, The Krays starts off with a calm, relaxing sound with the swan flying in the sky, The Krays also uses diagetic sounds as you hear the swan’s wings flapping. This is an unusual sound to hear in a gangster film therefore it doesn’t convey the genre until a loud scream is heard. This makes you think because the swan represented her dreams and the scream cuts the swan image off, this means her dreams were spoilt when she gave birth to Ronnie and Reggie. This adds to the narrative and helps sets the genre because you have to think why giving birth would destroy her dream.
In the first five minutes of Pulp Fiction, the camera and editing changes dramatically from beginning to end. At first, the editing shows few shot changes and a prolonged medium shot is used, this is a different technique to use compared to other gangster films. As the film progresses and the use of sound, colour and lighting are conveying the genre; the editing becomes faster to give a clearer insight into the genre and narrative of the film. POV shots are used more frequently as Hunny Bunny and Pumpkin speak. I think the effect of using this method is that you become more involved in the film. The film also uses over the shoulder shots to show the character’s postures, this adds to the narrative as it displays their emotions.
Although in Pulp Fiction the camera and editing doesn’t convey the genre it does depict the narrative.
In Goodfellas there are mainly two types of camera shots used in the beginning. There is a POV shot used when Henry is telling his story, I think this adds to the narrative and understanding of the film, as you cannot see in the beginning who is telling the story and it seems as if it is you looking out of the window and not someone else. It also shows what the area is like when the POV establishing shot shows Henry looking out the window, this helps set the genre. The other shot used is a medium shot showing Henry looking out of the window, this helps understand the narrative as it lets you see who is telling the story, and you get to see the face to the voiceover.
Unlike either of the other two films, The Krays has a different approach on camera and editing. The first scene is of the swan; in this scene there is no editing just a plain medium shot that occasionally pans along the screen. It stays like this for a long time and only changes when you get a close up of the woman screaming. This type of editing and camera shots do not reflect the genre or narrative at all, therefore it is not established in the opening five minutes of the film using either camera shots or editing.
In Pulp Fiction the setting and props were in an American diner, this created a sense of realism, no iconography in the scene implied that the film’s genre was gangster until Hunny Bunny pulled out his gun and slammed it onto the table. This is iconography generally used in this genre. Other iconography for a gangster film would reflect crime, drugs, and weapons, which Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas and The Krays all have at some point in the film.
Goodfellas and The Krays also use iconography; the main use of this is to convey the genre and narrative to the audience. Iconography in Goodfellas could be the gun; this gives you an insight to the narrative, as you know that someone is going to get murdered. Additionally, other iconography used in Goodfellas is their suits, jewellery and fast cars, this shows that these people are wealthy which depicts their gangster status, because being a gangster is about making money fast, this also suggests the narrative as you are made aware that at some point in the film you will be shown how these gangsters attain such wealth.
They way they dress in black and white suits is predictable for gangster films this is different to Pulp Fiction and The Krays as the characters in the first few scenes dress a lot more casually. Iconography in the Krays could be the machete that Ronnie Kray always carries about with him. Another form of iconography could be the large piles of money being taken out by the gangsters in The Krays as well as Goodfellas. This shows that they are wealthy and are to be respected, this could tell us about the genre and narrative, as you know that the have high positions in the gangster world.
To conclude from the films that I have studied, I can see that in the first five minutes of ‘The Krays’, ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Goodfellas’, the genre and narrative are established by the use of many cinematic techniques. I believe the themes in each film are conveyed in two different ways. I also found that in Goodfellas the theme is conveyed in the form of a voice over, this differs with The Krays and Pulp Fiction as both of these films convey the theme by using captions. I think the effect of using captions would be that it puts the film in chronological order, for example films like Pulp Fiction with a non linear narrative, captions are used to put the scenarios in order so you can go from situation to situation without getting confused.
I also found that all the films were realistic but the ones that were more shocking were the Krays and Goodfellas, as they showed more violence, I think the directors in each film chose to portray their film like this, as they wanted to show their views of a gangster lifestyle.
In Pulp Fiction I believe Tarantino wanted to take the edge of the gangster lifestyle and make the characters seem real and show emotions, he turned the violence into humour. For example, when Vincent blows that boy’s head off, he turns it into an accident and makes a joke of it, he made the characters appeal to us. This contradicts Madak’s style of showing the unglamorous side of the gangster world as you see the people getting shot and killed, in a way it makes you loose respect for the characters. I believe this is done to show the narrative as you get an insight into who the characters really are, you get to understand why they are as ruthless, brutal and cold-blooded as they are.
The iconography in the films showing the guns, wealth and costumes sets up the genre as well as the standard conventions of a gangster film such as murders, crimes and violence which also appears in all three. The dialogue in Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas also establishes the narrative because it sets the scene of the story. The final thing that adds to defining the narrative and genre during the first five minutes of the three films are the colours used. All three films have black and white credits, which is a classic convention of a gangster film, also the juxtaposition of the red blood and white sheets tells you a lot about the narrative and what the twins are going to bring into the world and all the trouble they are going to cause in The Krays.
