Crime

Crime films are films which focus on the lives and activities of criminals and/or those men and women who pursue them.

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 as successive generations of viewers become inured to the nastiness of the crimes focused on.

Crime Sub Genres:

Mod/Gangster

Mob/Ganster films are a sub-genre of crime films that center on organised crime. Often the plot revolves around the rise and fall of the organised crime leader and many gangster films explore the destructive nature of organised crime. 

There are many example of Mob/Gangster sub-genre films they are:

• Goodfellas
• Scarface
• The Godfather trilogy

Film-Noir

Film-Noir is a distinctive genre purely because it is a stylistic type of crime drama that was popular throughout the 1940's and 1950's. Film-Noir is categorised by a black and white visual style and its stark lighting effects. The Film-Noir genre relies heavily on a narrative voice and various flashbacks to explain the plot.

Examples of different Film-Noir's:

• Sunset Boulevard
• The Maltese Falcon
• Sweet Smell

Neo-Noir

Neo-Noir refers to modern film that takes on characteristics of Film-Noir. Modern updates are made within Neo-Noir in terms of media and visual elements. Neo-Noir films update themes and content to fit with current society. 

Examples of Neo-Noir sub-genre films are:

• Sin City
• L.A Confidential
• Chinatown

Crime Thriller

Crime thriller is a sub-genre that incorporates the suspenseful aspects of a thriller with a crime film plot. This sub-genre usually centers around a serial killer, murderer, robbery or manhunt. This is different to traditional crime films because the storyline focuses on the protagonist and the criminal. 

Example of Crime thriller sub-genre films are:

• The usual suspects
• Seven
• Reservoir Dogs

Period

A costume drama or period drama is a period piece in which elaborate costumes, sets and properties are featured in order to capture the ambiance of a particular era.

The term is usually used in the context of film and television. It is an informal, crossover term that can apply to several genres but is most often heard in the context of historical dramas and romances, adventure films.

There has been many TV dramas such as Peaky Blinders and Downton Abbey. These are a few TV dramas that were/are very popular and they are all set in a particular era. 

 











There has also been a range of period films that have been created for example, The Kings Speech is a period film as they have got a range of costume and is set in a historical context.

Genre

Genre is a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterised by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

Genre is a French word for "type" is important for both consumers and media producers. 

Codes

Codes are where the produced encodes the elements that are being shown to convey meaning and the audience has to decode what is happening. For example in a horror film a character may be walking down a dark hallway where he/she may not be able to see in front of them and the audience will decode what is going on and to think that something bad will happen to the character.

Conventions

The conventions of a film is what the audience expects and they will see the conventions pop up in films within the same genre. For example a horror film will have dark or dim lighting, blood, scares for the audience etc.

The different types of genres can include:

• Action/Adventure
• Science Fiction
• Drama
• Horror
• Comedy
• Crime
• Western
• Thriller
• Indie

Single Camera Production

The single camera setup, or single camera mode of production, is a method of filmmaking and video production.

A single camera – either motion picture camera or professional video camera – is employed on the set and each shot recorded to make up a scene is taken individually.

A production using the single camera setup generally employs just one camera.

Each of the various shots and camera angles is taken using the same camera, which is moved and reset to record each change of shot. The lighting setup is typically reconfigured for each camera setup.

History

Traditionally, the single camera mode was used in film productions where celluloid was running through the camera because very often the cost entailed by the celluloid process excluded the option of shooting with more than one camera.

Contrast

The single camera film set up can be contrasted with the 2 camera or multiple camera set ups which are regularly used in digital film productions in TV.

Multi-Camera:

Single Camera:

Format

In this assignment I will be looking at different formats to show an understanding of different elements of the single camera production. I will be looking at formats such as series, serial, single drama and more. 

Single Drama

Single dramas are used as a one off on television and are quite rare to come by now. Single dramas are based on a topical issue/subject that is more suitable for television than the cinema. 

An example of a single drama is Murdered by my Boyfriend. It is based on a true story of a young girl who falls in love with this guy but her boyfriend abuses her and controls her. This is a dark single drama of the devastating and traumatic experience anyone can have and captures what really happened. 

Serial

A serial is usually a fictional story, which is divided into different parts so they either get broadcasted everyday like the British Soaps such as Eastenders or they can be broadcasted every week, and a lot of Television shows do this more rather than a series. Shows such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and Sons of Anarchy.

Serials rely on keeping the full nature of the story hidden and revealing elements episode by episode to keep viewers tuning in to learn or uncover the story.

Series

A series is not always a work of fiction. Channels such as National Geographic or the Discovery Channel programmes dealing with the natural world can be a series. 

A series is a set of related programmes and does not carry onto the next episode. An example of a series can be Friends, Modern Family and How I Met Your Mother.