Crime Drama

Crime Drama

Television shows and films can be of a crime genre, which focus on the lives and criminal activities of those who had pursued them.

 Some crime dramas may be based on real life criminals and events, whether it is based on their personal lives of their victims. 

 Crime genres can also be subcategorised, such as 'gangster'/mob sub-genres, which revolve around a story line about the mafia and/or organised crime. 'Gangster' films are extremely popular for basing the movie on real-life criminals and events, such as Goodfellas, Casino and Scarface, or they could be entirely fictional (The Sopranos).




Another sub-genre could be Crime-Thrillers, which can generally be based on serial killers, murderers and robbery. Tension and suspense in Crime-Thrillers are often developed through the use of action. Examples of Crime-Thrillers can be Reservoir Dogs, The Departed and Silence of The Lambs.
Although main characters are shown to be doing criminal acts, their overall portrayal is often glorified to the audience which make the main characters and their actions appear not so harmful, therefore the audience does not see the events in its true brutal form. 




Crime dramas can be based on real-life prison convicts, mob bosses/'gangsters', murderers, drug cartels and gangs; providing viewers with an insight on how they lived their lives and how/why they performed those particular activities. Sub-genres in Crime allow diversity within a genre.  

 Another sub-genre can include Film-Noir. This sub-genre was fairly popular during the 1940's and 1950's, which include black and white visual themes which is to emphasise the dark mood and tone of the film. Film Noir was developed during and after World War II, therefore portraying dark, cold, violent and evil themes within its films which frequently had pessimistic endings. Examples of Film-Noir are The Maltese Falcon, Touch of Evil and The Big Heat.












The typical codes and conventions included in crime dramas can be:


- heavy drug use
- weapon use
- involvement with the law enforcement/police officers attempting to arrest main characters
- blood
- murder

These are included in order to be able to accurately portray the environment and lifestyle that surround criminals, although they are harmful and illegal it is often glorified in films. 


















Bibliography:

http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/crime
http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html
https://prezi.com/s72bsiabcfqy/codes-and-conventions-of-crime-films/
http://www.slideshare.net/danielfotheringham21/generic-conventions-of-crime-dramasthrillers

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