Research opening - Goodfellas

Institution information

This film is called Goodfellas and was realised in the year 1990, with certificate rating R. The film was produced by Irwin Wrinkler, directed by Martin Scorsese and distributed by Warner Bros. Goodfellas performed well at the box office, grossing $46.8 million domestically, well above its $25 million budget. The film won five awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, including Best Film, and Best Director.

Target audience

The target audience for this film for this film, typically would be either mature adults (18-40 years) or fans of thriller/action adventure films. This is shown within the film title sequence, as the text comes "zooming" onto the screen with non-diegetic background sounds of a car. This would appeal to the target audience as fans of thrillers, or males, may get thrills out of high speed car chases, so with the typography coming onto the screen in that sense would attract the audience.

Title and credit analysis

The "speeding car" effect  introducing the title screen of the distribution company as well as the production company draws the target audience in as the idea of speeding cars would appeal to them, particularly if they are fans of action adventure/thriller films. Using a speeding car relates to the idea of high speed car chases and fast moving action which is why it would appeal to the target audience. 

By introducing the actor before the film title gives the audience an idea about their relevance in terms of importance in the film, but also their position in the film (e.g. protagonist/antagonist, etc).  The typography used is very basic and formal, yet with the effect of speeding car (along with the sound effect of the car) relates in terms of conventions of an action adventure/thriller film. The title screen itself is different in terms of colour and size of the introduction of the characters and production company. This stands out more and shows that it has more importance. The use of red for typography colour relates back to this idea about appealing to the audience and linking in with action adventure. Conventionally in action adventure films, there is a lot of blood and gore, and by using red typography relates to this idea about blood, which then links back to the genre.

Preferred readings

In the beginning of the film, there is an establishing shot, tracking past a fast moving car. This effect makes the audience feel as if they are overtaking a car in traffic, and also sets up the location and gives hints as to the type of film it is going to be. The effect of the car being driven at night (low key lighting) adds to the mysteriousness of the film as well as the diegetic sound of the car in the scene sounds as if it were travelling fast, which adds to the tension and implies the travellers are in a hurry. The camera then cuts to a title screen with factual information about the historical setting of the film, to make the film feel more formal and sticking to the statement of it being "based on a true story". 

Conventionally, a film opening would introduce the main character first before any other characters. In the next cut, three characters sitting in the car used in the establishing shot, with the main character sitting closest to the camera. we can tell this is the main character as the camera has been set at a medium close up, so the first thing we see is the main character, but the other two characters are visible in the same shot. Also, the focus shift has been assigned to this specific character to show to the audience that he has significant more importance than the other characters. 

One last thing that shows that he is the main character is that he is the driver, and therefore has control of the car which may foreshadow his roll in the film. There is a lot of low key lighting within the car to show that it is night time, however there is a soft glow focus on the driver in the scene to define his features, whereas the other two characters features aren't as viable and almost merge in with the background, in which this also could help define the importance of the characters.

Conventionally, the setting to a thriller film would consist of low key lighting, or night time setting to create mood and atmosphere. The setting that the camera cuts to when the car pulls over consists of low key lighting, which sets a dark and moody setting. It is also set on the outskirts of a forest which, stereotypically, is the set up for a scary film. The use of the diegetic sound effects of the banging from the hood of the car adds to the tension, and the red lighting used for the headlights almost foreshadow that something bad is going to happen, as it is a common archetype that red means danger, or "evil".

The costumes used in the opening gives the audience clues as to the type of people they are and the type of work they do. In the first cut in the car, the men are wearing suits without ties which tells us that their outfit isn't formal enough for an office environment, but the work they do is still important. They are also well groomed and smart which tells us that what they do earns a lot of money and that they are very successful. The use of props puts everything into perspective and gives the audience a clearer image on the characters. When one of the characters pulls out a knife from inside his suit, it almost as if he was hiding his true identity under his smart clothes and sets him up to be an edgy sort of character.

The body in the trunk of the car could be considered an important prop to unravel the characters identities. The fact it is covered in blood and wrapped in cloth in their boot tells us that they didn't want the public to know that they have a body in the boot, which further tells us they are not to be messed with. Also, it would explain why they might be driving at night time, so to keep their identities hidden and create atmosphere and mood for the target audience.

Conventionally, a thriller film about gangsters would have a narrative involving violence, murders and betrayal. The narrative sets the audience up for this film by making a brief introduction to the main character. It doesn't reveal his name, but it shows his importance in the roll in the film, and also tells us that he is serious about what he does as in the final part of the introduction, there is a bridge voice over that says "As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster". We also know that he is the most important character as the other two characters in the scene finish off killing the body in the boot for him, so he could be an important in the sense that he "doesn't want to get his hands dirty".

The atmosphere create could be considered to be anti-climatic. Its starts off with the setting of a horror film when there are strange noises coming from the boot of the car. The sound effect of the banging on the car, along with the low key lighting and forest setting creates a tedious atmosphere that the target audience don't know what to expect next. The climax built is then ruined when the characters open the boot to a half dead body, to which they start stabbing which creates a twist in the story, in that the bad characters to be feared where the ones driving the car rather than creating the banging in the boot.