Analysis of opening sequences

The Goodfellas

How does this opening sequence establish the key generic codes and conventions?

In the opening sequence firstly the names of actors appear on screen then it states that the story is based on the real facts which already tell us that is real. Then we hear digetic sound cars going past which have a connotation of time running by and no one catching them. Also the key codes and conventions come when they stop and when they kill the person the red lights shine on their face which tells us that the movie is going to be about violence and killing people and also the voice-over of the characters saying ‘I always wanted to be a gangster’ which then we us audience clear about the narrative which is going to be about a character being a gangster.

Does this sequence meet your expectations of a typical opening sequence from this genre? Explain why or why not?

I think it does as the opening sequence is people in the car driving getting away from someone for what they done. And also the crime scene was shown characters killing a person which tells us the genre straight away. And in the opening sequence you expect to see someone getting killed or selling drugs doing something against law.

What clues are given about the narrative?

The clues given about the narrative were very clear as they shown the killing a person scene which tells us we can expect more deaths and also when we heard the voice-over of the character saying ‘I always wanted to be a gangster’ which then we know that the narrative going to be about him committing crime to be a gangster.

If there are characters at this point, do they follow the typical features of characters from this genre or not?

They do follow the typical features of a character in this genre after showing the killing scene we can expect anything from them characters which tells us they will do anything after seeing this and the way they talk and also the body language they have is like they have power control and no one can get in their way.

Write about how people and places are represented in this sequence? Do they follow or subvert genre conventions? Explain.

The characters represented in a typical crime drama genre way because they all represented as the bad guys which breaking the law all the time and don’t care about the consequences. The place I think follows the genre because crime will only take place mostly where are no people around and the setting the directors chose for this scene was a forest where no people are around.

How is music used? How does this reflect the genre?

The music wasn’t used in the start but however they used car going by sound before showing the setting the connotation to that is showing time going by or they getting away. The director didn’t have music because he might wanted to have like a funeral setting where everyone is quite or someone is going to die which happen and after the killing soundtrack started which created a happy mood which takes us away from the tense scene into a happy scene where we don’t expect anything to happen.

How are titles used? How does this reflect the genre?

The title ‘Goodfellas’ I don’t think it reflects the genre because reading the title you would expect them characters being opposite to bad and not into crime.