Genre Conventions

Analysis

What genre is your A2 production?

Following the film trailer analysis that my partner and I have carried out ,

my partner and I have decided to create a hood crime trailer. we have

explored different types of trailers and concluded that the one we thought

was the best ones were of a hood crime genre. The ones that stood out

most to us were: Ill Manors, Harry Brown and Adulthood. We decided that

we liked many conventions from the hood crime genre, after looking

through different film trailers. We thought it would be the best genre to

base our film on because it has many conventions we thought would be

exciting to exercise in our trailers. Overall hood crime is something that

many people can relate to because gang activity is always in the news and

it makes people aware of what is happening in society today that we all

live in.

Genre

The first section of research me and my partner carried out was looking up the definitions of the hood crime film genre. This

Hood film is a film genre originating in the United States which features aspects of

urban African-American culture such as hip hop music, street gangs, racial

discrimination, poverty, and the problems of young black men coming of age or

struggling in a predominantly white society. Such films predominantly feature African-

American actors.

Crime films are films that focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a

crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched

evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these

movies

Sub-Genres

• Humorous

•Realistic

•Stereotypical

Hood Crime Genre

Hood crime rely on the circumstances they are put through and the struggles and

hurdles of life that they have to overcome in order to survive in life. The hood crime

genre typically is filmed on estates and places where there is gang activity and

generally lots of crime taking place. The points of some of these films is to aware

people of what is happening in society nowadays and to in a way warn them of things

their children may be doing or what the person is getting themselves into.

Themes:

Many hood crime films have emerged in recent years, all in various media, not only

film. despite these very different forms of representation, general trends have

appeared throughout the narratives. Some of the themes consist of:

• Reality

• Perception

• Death

• Gang violence

• Drug taking

• Law breaking

• Identity

• Survival

• Existence and purpose.

Generic Conventions of Hood Crime

• Hood and crime films are based around and focus on the illegal actions

of criminals, gangsters, thieves and other figures of the underworld

society.

• They are mainly realistic and factual portrays of real life criminals and

incidents that have happened in previous years.

• Key characters types within this genre of film are the main criminal, their

accomplices, an opposing law enforcement agency which is normally the

police and rival criminals and gangs.

• Stereotypically negative characterisations, the protagonist is often and

anti here, corrupt law enforcement, morally ambiguous qualities for the

main characters.

• Settings are often within large crowded cities, and in the less glamorous,

poorer areas of the city when the underworld society can be portrayed,

for example, nightclubs, pubs, dark alleyways etc.

• Non diagetic often accompanies scenes without dialogue

• Characters are often from a minority background

• Success is seen through materialism, such as expense clothes and cars,

and the increase of a characters power.

Generic Settings/ Camera Angles/ Iconography

Setting• estates

• urban inner city environments

• run down areas

• dark ally ways

• pubs

• nightclubs

• bars

• flats

• blocks of houses

• abandoned buildings

• hospitals

• police stations

• court rooms

Iconography• dim lighting

• dark colours

• gangs

• violence

• knifes

• guns

• hip hop music

• rap

• fighting

• strong language

• slang

• drug abuse

• alcohol abuse

• smoking

• bloodCamera Angles

• low angle, shows who's weak

• high angles, shows who has power

• extream close up on violence, drugs and abuse

• establishing shot of estates and run down areas.