research on gangster film trailers

I have looked at different gangster film trailers to see what they all have in common and their differences. I have done this because this will allow the audience watching our trailer to know that they are watching a gangster film from the generic conventions. By picking out the differences in the trailers I will be able to make out trailer unique from the others. I will also look for ideas of things that work well in the other trailers.
The godfather trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf16Vc3iZjE

the godfather trailer has non digetic music going all the way through the trailer. The music is slow that gives a feeling of sad music as if they are trapped in the gangster way of life. In the trailer you can tell who is the main person 'godfather' because he is the first person shown on the trailer and most of the trailer is about him as if he is the most powerful and everyone else works for him. When he is wearing the suit and tie he wears a red rose on his suit and everyone else wears white to show that he is the most important. There isn't much violence in the trailer it is more talking about the 'family' and how they should respect each other. The generic conventions you get to see of the gangster genre are; suit and ties, killing, fighting and parties. I have noticed the clips fade into the next if they are not directly joined. If they clips are joined e.g. they are talking and do the shot reverse shot then it wouldn't have a fade between the shots but it goes straight into the next shot. This makes the trailer slower paced which works well with the song because the slower and more relaxed feeling for the audience. This also makes the audience feel that the 'godfather' has everything under control. This is an American film so it is more about the story of one person or gang and not much action compared to the British gangster films with lots of gangs with lots of action.
The Goodfellas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynCjlwFP-vk

The Goodfellas trailer has non digetic music running all the way through the trailer but it has three different songs on it. At the start of the trailer there is a song which is quite fast paced old song to show that they were having fun blowing cars up and robbing money. Then the song changes to a slower sad song when you start to see the killings and dead bodies to show that there is a bad side to living as a gangster. Then it changes to a slow happy song as if to say it is worth it. The music changes when the main person is holding his money and having parties to show how good the lifestyle is to be a gangster. You also get the feeling that the music is slow and relaxed so you don't have to worry about anything. The gangsters that the main person works with joke about killing a person to show that it didn't matter to them because it was normal. The generic conventions you get to see in the Goodfellas trailer are; cars, suits and ties, guns, fighting’s, parties, killings, money and women. They would wear suits almost all the way through the film like the godfather. Goodfellas has a lot more violence than the godfather. In this trailer there is no fade between shots which make it feel like it is faster paced. This works well with the songs because they are quite fast paced but not as fast paced as snatch so it makes the audience feel slightly uncomfortable because it feels like this group has the control so they could do anything. This is an American film so it is more about the story of one person or gang and not much action compared to the British gangster films with lots of gangs with lots of action.
Snatch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8jbt0wBkMI

the snatch trailer has non digetic music running all the way through the trailer again but there are two different songs. The first song is very fast paced to show how fast pace the film is and how much action there is in it. Then the music changes to a wild west type song and it starts to introduce the main characters. This gives a feeling that all the main characters will be fighting against each other. In snatch there are a lot of different characters which are mainly dressed in suits. The ones that are dressed in suits are trying to get the 86 carat diamond so it is almost a race to the diamond. Snatch has a lot of guns and fighting in the trailer and less of the gangster 'family' feel to it. It has lots of different people after the diamond including Avi and his gang, brick top and his gang, two boxing promoters and a Russian. The generic conventions you get to see in snatch are; guns, diamonds, betting on cards, fighting and suits and ties. This trailer has a clip to interlink two clips such as an effect to make it look like the camera has zoomed in very fast. This makes the clips feel faster pace than the Goodfellas clip because it isn't smooth so it keeps the audience interested and it doesn't let the audience feel comfortable. This works well with the music because they are both very fast paced. This makes the audience feel like no one has the power so anything could happen and because you see every character almost an equal amount of time then you don't know who is good or bad and who you are supposed to like and not like. This is a British gangster film so it has lots of action with lots of different gangs where as the American films are more about the story on one gang and how they made it to power.
lock stock and two smoking barrels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6hZkvrFIj0

the lock stock and two smoking barrels trailer has non digetic music running the whole way through the trailer like the others but this time it has four different songs. At the start the music is slow while the main group of four friends are being introduced. The music is slow and relaxed as if to say they are normal and nothing to worry about. Then the music changes at a card game to faster pace to build tension and show that the card game is important. Then there is exadurated sound of the card being put down to show how important that card was. The music then changes to more high pitched sound to show that something bad has happened. Then the music changes to more happy faster song to suggest they might have a way of getting the money that they lost. the music then changes to faster paced music to suggest that the play is violent with a lot of action. Then one of the four friends says 'were on' and the music changed again to slower party music as if they have been successful with their play so they can celebrate. You then get to see generic conventions to do with the gangster genre which include; drugs, money, alcohol, suits and ties, women, guns and cars. There is no fade between clips like with Goodfellas but at the start the clips are quite long when it is introducing the four friends so it makes it feel like they have control until they lose at the cards game so and then the clips are shortened to make it faster clip changes. There are also a lot of different people that you see so it seems like they are all after the money. This is a bit like snatch apart from you know what group you following. This is a British gangster film so it has lots of action with lots of different gangs where as the American films are more about the story on one gang and how they made it to power.
Scarface: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciF2CYn36gA The Scarface trailer has non digetic music running most of the way through the trailer. It has three different songs on it. The songs start with a slower song which sound like horror film music it build tension. The music then changes to happy dance music when Scarface says 'when you have the power then you get the women'. There are then a few clips with Scarface and a girl and then you see them dancing together. This shows that it is a good lifestyle with the power and money. The music then changes back to the slow horror like music to show that it can all turn bad. There is a clip if two people trying to assassinate Scarface in a club which shows how bad it had got. There are lots of generic conventions for the gangster genre that you get to see in the trailer of Scarface such as; suits and ties, guns, money, women, parting and cars. This trailer has no fade to make the trailer fast paced. This trailer is a bit like the godfather because it is just following one person. This is an American gangster film that which has less action and more about the story of one gang.
Layer cake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaFegZ3pHOE&feature=related

the layer cake trailer has no music when the chef is telling you how to make a cake but it has non digetic music running all the way through the trailer when the scenes from the film are shown. The film makers have done this because the chef is explaining the story of the film by saying how to make a cake. The ingredients for the cake are the characters for the film e.g. 'a good egg' is the main actor of the film, 'a hand full of villains' all the bad people in the film 'one large portion' is the main women of the film and the last ingredient is 'sprinkling of mindless freedom of expirations' you then see a lot of fighting, drugs, guns, women, cars' with fast paced clip changes. The chef then says 'stir aggressively' then the clips are very fast paced and a lot of action. Then the chef says 'bring to the boil nicely' and then clips slow down and you see a kettle and someone poring tea on the flour and then the chef carries on to say 'placing in the local multiplex for a good 90 minutes'. You then get distinguishing pictures of London to show that this is the place that it is going to be taking place. The chef finishes by saying 'a Valla' and the first actor to speak says ' welcome to the layer cake son'. The music fits in well with the action because it is gets faster and louder as the trailer clips get shorter and faster paced. Most of the people are wearing suits or dressed up well but not many have ties on to show that the two who do are important and the rest are trying to get power. The layer cake is a British gangster film so it is different to the American films like godfather, Goodfellas and Scarface. The British gangster films have a few different gangs at the same time where as the American gangster films only concentrate on one or two main gangs. The British films have more action than the American films because the American films are more about the story line on one gang or person.