Conventions of the crime film genre

Conventions of the crime film genre

• As the name suggests, it is based around some sort of crime and/or criminals.
• They often glorify the rise and fall of a particular criminal(s), gang, bank robber, murderer or lawbreakers in personal power struggles or conflict with law and order figures, an underling or competitive colleague or a rival gang.
• We are often allowed to glimse into the lifes of criminals with locations such as nightclubs, bars, large cities and occasionally exotic locations to show wealth.
• Film gangsters are usually materialistic, street-smart, immoral and self-destructive.
• Music in these films is often tense and dramatic to help build the suspense of the film.
• Guns and other weapons are often used as props along with things such as money and fast cars.

The subgenres of crime are;

• Detective
• Action
• Police
• Film Noir
• Spy
• American Gangster

For our opening sequence we have decided to do a crossover between the police and detective subgenres.

What I have learnt form the preliminary task

What I have learnt from the preliminary task


In this task I learnt how to use the editing software on the computer to edit the work we had filmed.   I also learnt to check that any filming had been recorded properly before finishing filming as some of our work was lost. 


My three targets for the main task are 

• Check work has been recorded before finishing filming.
• Keep a constant eye on the continuity.
• Don't forget about lighting. 
• Try a wider range of shots and angles.
• Focus on lighting.

Preliminary Task - video

Here is our preliminary task
                                                                                                                                                                       

Preliminary task

Preliminary task

Our first task we had to do was the preliminary task. This was a continuity task which tested our ability to apply three basic rules of film making;

• Match on Action
• Shot/Reverse Shot
• 180-degree Rule

The details of the task were that we had to include; 

•          A character opening a door, crossing a room
•          Sitting down in a chair opposite another character
•          The two characters exchange a couple of lines of dialogue

The purpose of this task was; 

·         You need to demonstrate an understanding of continuity editing

·         In Post Production you will edit together everything you film into an order that makes sense

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog!


I will be using this blog to chart my progress of my AS media coursework, from the research and planning, the construction of my main task, through to the evaluation of my final product which will be the opening titles of a crime film. 

The brief for my work is as follows: 

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Main task: The titles and opening of a new Crime fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.

Also, here are the aims and objectives of my work: 

"The purpose of this unit is firstly to assess candidates’ ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3); secondly to assess candidates’ application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2); and finally to assess candidates’ ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4). The unit requires candidates to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving them the opportunity for development of skills in these technologies."