Genre: How does Oceans Eleven's opening comply with the conventions of crime films?

In the first two minutes of the film oceans eleven we can see that the film does follow the conventions of the crime genre and with the plot, setting , character and mood we can say whether the film does.

The setting for the opening of ocean’s eleven is a prison this is and obvious location for a film which is in the crime genre as the prison symbolises a criminal and with the prison. The prison is very much a conventional part in crime film as the prison is the place where the criminals will go for their crimes. The prison is not very elaborate and is very simple and most of the films will start with a prison so we can a get a back story of the main character as they have come from a prison and we will be able to understand the character more. The prison normally symbolises the end but it has been used to show how the end of this side of the characters life is ending and how they may come out of prison and they carry on with the normality of the crime which the criminal is taking part in.

The plot is very much adhering to the conventions of the crime film as we find out that the back story for the character is told to us and this then leads us to think that the film maybe about the confidence tricks which we hear about the main character doing for going into prison for. The plot also is revealing the main character is leaving prison and this is very much a convention of the crime film because the character is normally a repeat offender and for the audience to learn that the character maybe doing more of the same things is normally in a crime film. The plot isn’t fully shown this is also a convention as the crimes which the character may commit normally takes some planning and we don’t want the whole story in the first two minutes of the film but we do get some small hint of the plot from what the character is saying.

The character is shown to us and he is the first character we seen on screen he is wearing a prison uniform and this sets the character up and this is not really a convention but the audience then understands that he is the main character and that he is a criminal. We also find out that he is a criminal from the dialogue between him and characters which are off screen as they say he is a 'confidence trickster' this is using obvious expositional dialogue which tell us the main character Danny Oceans back story and this is conventional because the audience expected to know a back story if the character is in prison. After the dialogue that he is going to be released and this shows he a character which is needed for the crime which is going to be committed. After the interview which Danny Undertakes he changes into a suit this gives him a 

The start of this film is very much adhering to the conventions of the crime genre because of the way the character is introduced and how the setting is used to show the character. The mood of the films opening is used very effectively to show the character   can be released from prison and the plot isn’t told to the audience in  the first two minutes this is good for the audience as the plot normally starts from the end the two minutes.

       

Opening Title:Harry Brown

Harry Brown has titles which are integrated into footage. This is a very easy style of title sequence. The footage to start with is like mobile phone footage like a ‘Happy Slap’ which would be uploaded to the internet the footage isn’t the best giving the idea that the footage has been filmed on a phone. There are no characters formally introduced to us but there are characters shown to us but they are part of the gang which are fighting.

Then the footage goes to a title which is on a black background and at this point the footage stop abruptly like the end an internet video. Then there more footage from a bike, yet again  in the home film style and they are going through a run down estate with graffiti and then going onto terrorising people and this gives an idea of how the plot may turn out with the shots of the estate giving us the idea of the location being rundown. 

Target Audience: 4 Golden Rules

When looking into the target audience we have to consider 4 golden rules to ensure that the audience will get what they except and what is best for them in the film.

1. Who is the target audience?  
2. What does the audience expect?
3. How does the text appeal to of cater for the target audience?
4. To what extent does the target audience feel the text is successful in targeting them? 

Target Audience: Certification of Crime Films

To ensure that the target audience is correct, I will look at the certifications of  popular crime films.


Here are some examples of the genre-

The Dark Knight

Oceans Eleven

S.W.A.T.

Sherlock Holmes

Catch Me You Can

Narrative Structure

The simplest way to explain narrative structure is-

Beginning-Middle-End 

But in terms of many film they need to be considered as-

Equilibrium-Disequilibrium-Equilibrium

The largest part of the film is the Disequilibrium as this is where the main character will undertake there main quest. this is where the disruption is restored to the order it was in before.

The last of the ways to explain the structure of narratives is a map of how a film may turn out- 

The Hero/ine are in normaility and then the agent of change occurs either the villian or a problem. The problem then leads onto the quest in which the hero must undertake and when the problem is sorted there is a resolution.

When looking at any narrative this can be applied,

Characterisation: Jules Winnfield & Vincent Vega-Pulp Fiction

Vincent Vega-John Travolta

Vincent Vega is a character which isn’t first shown to the audience but is a character which runs through out the film even though the structure of the film is very different to many.

To start with the Vincent Vega’s occupation is not clear as he is in the car with Jules Winnfield and they are talking about normal things and the idea that he is a hit man isn’t clear. He could be seen as a business man with the suit on and that the other character is his partner. He speaks as if he is well travelled compared to the other character because he is talking about how the ‘cinemas sell beer in Amsterdam’ and that in 'Paris they call a 'quarter-pounder with cheese', a 'royale with cheese’ this shows that he maybe well travelled. The way he talks is very chatty as he is with his friend instead of a hard nosed style of speaking which is conventionally used for hit men and hard men.

From the way he dresses we could say he is a business man or a hit man, who he is, this allows the audience to have questions of the character. The suit is conventional to a hit man but as he is with another character he could have another job which involves using a suit.

We then are able to see that he has a gun in the boot of the car and he puts it in his waist and this is conventional to having a hit man in a film that he has a weapon. There are suggestions that the character is violent because he has the weapon and the audience sees the character as a killer. Also when he has the gun this gives questions for the audience of the character because at this point we don’t know he is a hit man.

Vincent is a lot more careful in the way he acts as a hit man compared to his partner Jules Winnfield he takes a back seat whereas Jules is more forth coming and more the leader of the pair. But in the time which we see him he is a bit more volatile and will snap at any point.

Jules Winnfield-Samuel L. Jackson

Jules also is a character we don’t see for the first part and he only as a few parts within the film compared to the whole which Vincent does feature for most of the film.

Just like Vincent the occupation of Jules isn’t apparent until they go to the boot of the car and take the guns out this then becomes clear that they are not business men but maybe gangsters or even hit men because of the guns. He doesn’t seem to be as well travelled compared to Vincent as he doesn’t know about what Europe is like. When they are talking the way Jules speaks is the opposite way to Vincent as he has the hard nosed approach of speaking.

When he gets to the place of the hit he takes control which gives him this sort of leader to the pair as he takes charge when he gets in the flat and then questions the people in the flat. He uses words which will calm but can be seen as a very crazy in the way he talks to them. He shows he can be very smart as he quotes a passage of the bible and uses it as a reason to kill them. The quote* is from Ezekiel 25:17 this makes him sound like he is intellectual. After he has quoted the bible he shoots the man and Vincent also unloads his whole clip on him.

The way Jules speaks you can see that there is some anger in the way he speaks but also that he is only doing his job because he is only talking in this way when he is on the hit. Jules can be said to be a bit crazy but also a man who will do his job. 

*This is the quote which Jules says

 Jules: There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you." 

Narrative codes:Silence of the Lambs

In the opening sequence the director has used the narrative codes to great effect using them to show small detail which will allow the audience to see what the film maybe about. There are to types of codes Action codes which are an event or moment which motivate the action in a certain direction and Enigma codes which are that are posed by the action or events which are then answered by the narrative.

The film starts with an immediate question when there is a person comes into shot and the audience straight away thinks ‘Who is this?’ then the question is posed when there is a shot of the character climb up the rope and the audience then is think ‘what is she doing?. This allows the audience to get an idea of what is happening to the character this is effective to showing the back story of the character as we later find out why she is climbing the rope.

The character is then seen to start running and the way it has been shot the audience will ask ‘why is she running?’ this is effective in showing how the character will be in the film because there is an edginess to the way the running is shot as if the character is being watched by someone. The audience then see a cargo net and then the question which is asked earlier on is answered that she is doing an assault course and that then gives them another question to answer ‘why is she doing the assault course?’. She then runs off past and the shot is of her running and she is nearly out of shot and another character is shown in the same location and this brings the first of the biggest question in the opening sequence when a man comes along and asks a question ‘Crawford wants to see you’. Then at this point we also find out that the man who is asking for her is part of the FBI this gives us more information into the main character and why she maybe asked to go and see ‘Crawford’.

The scene then changes and we see her running but towards a building and there are a number of other people around and they also are training and we could hear gunfire which gives the audience another question ‘Why is there Gunfire?’ She then walks through the building and she meets someone and they say her name to be Clarice this gives the audience more information to the questions which they may have been asking as the film goes on. Clarice then gets in the lift and when the shot comes on and she gets in a lift and in the lift there are just men and they are all wearing the same clothes and they are all considerably bigger than her, this gives the idea that she shouldn’t be in this work place.

She then walks through the building and there is a sign on the wall which says ‘Behavioural science’ and this give us the question as the audience another question ‘What is in the behavioural science?’ and ‘Why is she involved in the area in the FBI?’  This is good in giving the questions for the audience. The last of the action codes are the point where she gets told to go into Crawford’s office and then she goes into there. This gives the audience another question when she is told that Crawford isn’t there we ask ‘Why isn’t he there?’  And we finish the sequence with a shot of her looking at something and we ask the question ‘What is she looking at?’

Overall I think that this opening sequence for the silence of the lambs is very good for the narrative codes of the film because it gives the audience lots of question and the action codes are more understandable when the film is studied. The use of the subtle hints to the audience of what maybe happening but they are not giving away the whole storyline; they have given us a good number of questions.