BRIEF You are to produce a promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with 2 of the following: A website homepage for the film A film magazine front cover A poster for the film Jack Mcfarlane

Crime Genre

1930’s Original gangster films reflected what was going on with crime at the time -prohibition era -casino >Vegas> Oceans 11 -Heroin This was the prohibition era in the 1920’s when real life gangsters were around like Al capone E.g. Little Caesar (1930) and The Public Enemy (1931) The moral of these films were that crimes are bad were as some of the more modern crime films They often had very dark sets because it would make the light thrilling and also much cheaper. (linking in with film noir)

1940/ 50’s Studios copied the1930s dark lighting and minimal sets They updated the themes to reflect a sinister side of life making it more of a dark thriller reflecting wartime turmoil, including more confused roles for the genders - alienated heroes and femme fatales. Women became stronger because of war, this was shown through women playing more manly roles in films Classic wild cat scene from key largo shows these new dangerous women The soundtrack from these films tend to be very moody to reflect the time after war Film Noir

1940/ 50’s British crime British Noir British Noir: Reflecting post war anxieties Eg. ‘The third man’ Which was set around a post war murder mystery British Crime followed Film Noir conventions charting the darker side of civilian life Eg. Brighton rock 1947 Strong resemblance to film Noir with extreme lighting and very harsh black and white sets

1960’s American crime Crime capers The caper story is a subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes The 1960’s reflected the economic and social optimism of the swinging 60’s, these films started having ‘loveable rogues’ and the bad guy didn't seem so bad. For example in oceans 11, everyone knows its a crime but no one is made to hate the criminals Light hearted narratives Making things more of a comedy with A-list stars eg. The rat pack

British crime cappers 1960’s British crime genre was similar to American at the time, they stared lacing comedy in the crime genre Austen powers, secret agent in the 60s and is very much about comedy within the retro london sex scene, but was made in the 1997 ‘Cheeky cockney’ characters Eg Snatch Kaleidoscope is a 1966 British crime comedy film, this film is about a cheeky young playboy with a taste for gambling. British crime films from this time started involving hybrids of crime comedy in the film genre.

1970/80’s British crime Emerged from the harsh down turn from the 60’s and early 70’s Reflecting the notoriety of gangland through gritty characters and story lines. Get carter -Harsh charters -Harsh environment -Cockney Frenzy is a 1972 British crime thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film reflects the fears of serial killers in London for example ‘Jack the Ripper’ in the 1950s A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 British film written, produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, This film is based around the disturbing crimes of a sociopathic delinquent and has very post modern morals running through out the film and got banned in some countries because of the brutal violence. The kray twins are a good example of well known gangsters from this time. They were English gangsters who were the start of organised crime in the East End of London during the 1970s

1970/80’s Gritty Gangsters of the 1970s were being portrayed though the American cinema and these films were harsh, reflecting the economic depression of 1970s with hard hitting Dons and drug pushing king pins. For example, The Godfather (1972), Mean Streets (1973) and Scarface (1983). Hammer is a 1972 blaxploitation film directed by Bruce Clark. The film was released following the successes of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and Shaft, notable 1971 films that popularized black cinema. Blaxploitation Films: Reflecting Civil Rights issues with mainly all black casts and Directors dealing with issues of racism, drugs and prostitution. Often using stereotypes. E.g. Shaft (1971), Foxy Brown (1973) Hammer was still reflecting what was going on in America at the time and was based around hard hitting gangsters

1990 onwards Postmodern Crime 1990’s Postmodern Crime Reflects the Postmodern age where society today is overloaded with ideas so borrows references the past with new and challenging narratives An example of this would be ‘Django unchained’ Quentin Tarantion took the original django film and used ideas to create a re make about slavery, these where very post modern ideas because he's made racism a large part of his film. Post modern American crime films are normally Hybrid genres, heavily stylised and have blurred representations). E.g. Pulp Fiction (1994), The Usual Suspects (1995)

British crime 1990 onwards Postmodern Crime British Postmodern Gangsters often take aspects from the old original gangsters but are played off To be not as serious with mixed themes and hybrid genre. Postmodern hybrids offer mixed representations and heavily stylised production. E.g. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Sexy Beast (2000), Snatch (2000), Layer Cake (2004), London to Brighton (2006). The 1990s brought new-laddism, a backlash against feminism involving a pub-and-porn narcissism, which centres on football, lager and hedonism. For example Lock stock from Guy Ritchie is all about the modern british gangster Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 British crime comedy thriller This era was known for borrowing ideas from past British Crime iconography, often reflecting the ‘New Laddism’ of the 1990s