Similar Genre - Opening Scene Research

I am going to look at the opening scene of 'Goodfellas' as it is of the 'Gangster' genre that intend my final piece to be in and as it is an extremely effective introduction to the film as it effectively highlights the main characters and sets the mood to follow.

The scene opens with a tracking shot which is following a car, this suggests that the people in it are main characters that will be followed throughout the film. The shot then switches to a medium shot of the people inside the car, the rule of thirds is used to show us that the driver is the main character as he is in focus and the camera is focused more on him than the other two, although it shows that they too are important in the film.

Another of the techniques that is used to set the scene in the opening is iconography, the American car gives us the impression that the film is set in America and this is then confirmed when the words 'New York, 1970' come onto the screen. We are then shown the characters inside the car who are all dressed in smart, expensive clothes which are typical of the 'Gangster' genre.

Mise-en-scene is also used to great effect in the opening scene, the opening sequence is filmed at night which has lots of connotations in itself. The fact that it is filmed at night suggests that they are bad guys and something bad might be about to happen, questions also start to be asked by the viewer as to why they are travelling at night like are they trying to avoid unwanted attention from the police? When the characters walk round to the rear of the car they are bathed in red light which connotes blood and violence and also the fact that they are in a wood suggests that they are about to do something that they don't want anyone seeing.