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Questionnaire

History of the Crime Genre

Film Openings

Pulp Fiction (1994)


The opening of Pulp Fiction shows a couple called 'Pumpkin' and 'Honey Bunny' at a restaurant discussing robbing different places. The conversation reveals the character's views and perspectives on life and gives us an idea of what they are like, in finding out this, you can't help but like them even though they may be 'dodgey' thieves. The scene is shot in a restaurant with very natural lighting which makes it feel like a normal day. The man (Pumpkin) is the dominant one in the conversation as he does most of the talking and the woman seems childish and quiet, this dominance is typical of a gangster crime film. However, the roles are reversed when they decide to rob the restaurant and draw their guns out, as the woman is the one at the front of the shot and shouting the most at people (see picture below). This is unusual as you expect the male to take control. In these scene there is a theme of power and femal dominance. The enigma codes are 'Who are they?' and 'Why do they feel that they need to rob places?' This scene makes you want to watch more as you know there must be more to their story and as you have already engaged with the characters you want to know what happens to them.

Sin City (2005)
The opening scene of Sin City is in black and white and shows a woman on a balcony, she is in the middle of the shot so this emphasises her importance in the scene. She is wearing a red dress which makes you wonder if she is a Femme Fatale, which are popular in crime films, as red symbolises love and danger. The dress she is wearing shows a lot of skin and she is clutching herself, this signifies vulnerability and reinforces the idea of danger. This scene shows that film nior has obviously influenced this film as the black and white lighting and shadowing creates a sense of mystery and isolation, it reflects the gloomy era of the 1940's. The woman also smokes which is a sign of being 'bad; and seductive and the non-diagetic music in the background adds more mystery. As the man approaches her from behind he is shadowed and you cannot see his identity, this makes you feel suspicious of him. When they kiss you lose the suspicion and start to trust him, the rain makes it seem gloomy but romantic. However when he kills her it is unexpected and this reflects the film noir genre as they tell you not to trust anyone as they could be corrupt. There are also features of suspense thriller crime film as after the crime has been commited you are left asking questions such as 'Who was that man?', 'Who was the woman?' and 'Why did he kill her?'. it makes you want to watch more to find out.




Natural Born Killers (1994)
The first part of the opening scene of Natural Born Killers shows shots of the desert along with different shots of animals including a wolf, rattle snake, eagle and a scorpion, all of these animals are predators that are built to kill. The desert if desolate and signifies isolation and along witht he animals this presents hostility and danger, which links to the two main characters, Mickey and Mallory Knox. The scene then cuts to an American diner where Mickey Knox is ordering pie and milk, this makes you think of him as an ordinary person, however, Mallory is disinterested and is also smoking, a sign of 'badness'. When she walks towards the jukebox you see a man reading a newspaper with the numbers '666' on it, this is the number of the devil and as she starts to dance by the jukebox you see a scorpion tattoo on her hip, apart from the fact that tattoos and women used to be seen as 'taboo', it links back to the predators that were seen at the start, which included a scorpion. This shows that she herself is venomous and a threat. As the cowboys come into the diner they think of Mallory in a derogatory manner as this would be typical of how men thought of women in that area. As one of them starts dancing with her, their roles change and she starts to hit him, eventually killing him. The lighting and filters switch throughout the scene using black and white to signify old fasion western films, red for danger and death, and colour, this is to show the shift of emotions. There are also hints of ironic violence and comedy when Mickey shoots a women in the head and non-diagetic cartoon-like music is played, this desensitises us to the bloody violence. Mallory uses a child's game to choose which one of the 'rednecks' should die, this is slightly disturbing although the audience doesn't see this as the comedy masks it.

Film Classifications

This means that the content within the film is suitable only for those aged 15 and over. Nobody younger than 15 can see a '15' film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 can rent or buy a '15' rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ay Disc, UMD or game.

'Passed only for persons of fifteen years and over. No person apparently under the age of 15 years shall be admitted to any exhibition at which there is to be shown any film which has recieved a '15' certificate from the British Board of Film Classification'

15 rated films are specifically aimed at older teenagers. The following are permitted within the bounds of the BBFC 15 certificate:

• Frequent use of strong language, the strongest terms are only rarely acceptable and repeated use of aggressive and sexual abuse is unacceptable.


• Sexual activity and nudity is allowed but up to an extent, no strong detail. References to sexual behaviour are allowed.


• Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain and of injuries.


• Dangerous combat techniques that could be imitated such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable. There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons (in particular, knives).

Crime films that fit into the '15' classification inclues 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', 'Phone Booth', 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'Public Enemies'.

This means that the content within the film is suitable only for those ages 18 and over. Nobody younger than 18 can see an '18' film at the cinema, no-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an '18' rated video and other work.

'Passed only for person of eighteen years and over. No person apparently under the age of 18 years shall be admitted to any exhibition at which there is to be shown which has recieved an '18' certificate from the British Board of Film Classification.'

18 rated films are specifically for adults so the BBFC respect the rights of adults to choose their own entertainment, obviously within laws. However, in the case of DVD's and content being viewed at home, it may be accessible to younger people so the BBFC must intervene and say what is acceptable. There are no constraints at this rating on theme, language, nudity and horror but the Board may reject any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts that is likely to promote the activity. This includes instructive detail of illegal drug use or explicit images of sexual activity.

Crime films that fit into the '18' classification include 'Scarface', 'Pulp Fiction', 'Fight Club', and 'The Godfather'.

Crime Film Target Audience

The target audience for the crime genre is generally 15+ years; this is because most films have scenes of violence, sex, drugs and language which may be innapropriate for younger children. However, different categories of film within the genre are aimed at different types of audiences. Film Noir movies were hugely popular in the 1940's and 1950's so their target audience would be older people that were around in that era as they would relate to the gloomy, down-beat mood of the filoms. Detective crime movies would be aimed at more intellectual people who enjoy mysteries and trying to solve them for theirselves. Gangster crime films are aimed at 15-30 year olds and mainly towards males, this is because it lets them indulge in how they would want to be if they could get away with crimes without suffering the consequences, this includes the overall physical presence of the protagonist, violence and guns, the gangster's aim for 'success' and male heroics. Crime films can be aimed at any audience as they can tie in with other genres such as Crime-Romance and Crime-Thriller.

Crime