Goodfellas Research

1] About the text

The text is a clip from the film Goodfellas, produced in 1990. It was directed by Martin Scorsese.

The target audience would be 18-30 year old males of a working/middle class background. This can be identified as many males of that age range watch Gangster films. Additionally, actors ‘Robert Di Nero’ and ‘Joe Pesci’ are traditionally featured in many gangster films, which would mean they are easily identifiable, by their target audience. Also, both actors feature in many ‘Martin Scorsese’ films, which would appeal to their audience.

Goodfella’s would be shown on many TV channels, although perhaps Channel 4 would be most likely. It would have to be shown after the 9pm watershed as many channels have viewing policies and obligations to abide by.


2] Different features it has

The most distinctive camerawork within ‘Goodfellas’ would be the 3 minute continuous tracking shot where the camera follows Ray Liotta and Karen Hill (?) into the back of a restaurant to their table whilst Ray Liotta tips many staff members. The reason behind this shot being so successful is where there are no edits, the shot is continuous and clean. Diegetic sound is used where music and other sounds come from within the kitchen and restaurant itself.

Many of the male characters have sleek combed hair, which is a typical convention of the Gangster film genre, which can also be seen in other Gangster/Crime films such as Casino and Reservoir Dogs. Additionally, almost every male character wears a suit if not always a shirt, which is another convention, used. Ray Liotta hands ‘tips’ to the staff members, which is also known to be used.

We intend to use a tracking shot, which is a mix of two tracking shots used in Goodfellas. The first is the most famous, where we would follow ‘The Rose Mob’ into the restaurant and move around characters whilst they sit down and begin to socialize. Continuing from this same shot, we would then go to the 5 key members and begin to speak about them, this shot is similar to the shot used in Goodfellas where the camera moves around a nightclub, accompanied by Ray Liotta’s voiceover that identifies the members of the gang.

- Deep