Mise-en-scene

 

 

 

VFX/TYPOGRAPHY

In the title sequence of Snatch very little VFX is used, the only times it is really used is when introducing the names of the characters, the way they did it is very different to what titles normally are in thrillers, the style is like a cartoon freeze frame strip containing the names of the characters in typography like old westerns normally use. The use of the cartoon strip shows that the characters may contain a little immaturity, that at times they don't take things as serious as they might actually be, they may feel at times stealing things is just a big game which they are liking a lot and not seeing the serious side of. But then the western style typography brings back some of the seriousness the way it looks; all old yet very bold gives the sense of age and with age comes experience, this giving the audience the idea that yes although they are a little childish at times and maybe a tad unorthodox but they have been doing it a long time and are very skilled and experience in what they do. All in all this creates contrast between typical and not so typical 'gangsters' how things are not so serious, this giving gangster films a new way to portray a narrative contrasting to conventional narratives, this giving Snatch a bigger appeal to over used typical gangster narratives.

SETTING

The film Snatch is set in what's called 'The London criminal underworld', this is the part of London that is known for where the most crimes happen and where the groups that commit these crimes are often situated. Also well known for where gangsters to be situated earlier in history, this carries on the idea that the director wants the group/gang in snatch to have taken inspiration from the early gangsters and follow in their footsteps and career but have put their own styles into what they do. Also London is a very wealthy and built up area, so is a perfect area for a film to be set about a group/gang with a gangster like background who have interests of committing crime in the result of them getting money for their own benefits.   

 

PROPS

Throughout the opening title scene the props used tell us a lot about the characters and the narrative. The main prop used is the large diamond that is used in transitions between the characters, this showing that the group work as a team to get this kind of loot as the transitions show a connection/relationship between them. Also he addition of smaller props such as watches and small packs of money in with the bigger props such as the big diamond shows that this group has a huge range of skills and take pride in whatever big or small they manage to get their hand on. Moreover guns are also introduced, this shows that the characters are not up for negotiation and if brute force needs to be used it will, this showing the group as a very equipped and not afraid to show themselves as a dominant presence.

MAKE-UP

In the title starting scene the uses of make up is very minimal, this maybe because throughout the whole of the scene there is lack of the female gender, so there may not of been any uses of make up in the first starting scene. This lack of make up has maybe been used to add more character and ruggish style to all the characters involved in the scene. Keeping the actors without any make up with maybe a beard seen on most of them and their unique costumes style just adds to the idea that they are unorthodox and that they don't like or want to be perfect but to portray themselves as a contrast to the perfect suited Capone style gangs of past; but are typical men doing what they do best. The only real use of make up we see in the starting scene is right at the start where they are taking off the fake disguises, this showing that the only uses of make up they have is for a job that needs it, showing it is unnecessary unless it is to do with getting money in return somehow. This also furthering the range of skill that this gang have.

ACTORS

In the opening scene of Snatch there are a lot of actors that are very recognisable in the thriller genre. The main star persona's are the actors such as; Jason Statham, Brad Pitt and Vinnie Jones. All of which have stared in many thriller films and have a specialist way of acting; heavily skilled in combat scenarios and very intelligent. These characteristics coming through already just by seeing the starting scene as it seems evidently they are doing well with whatever they are doing and in this case it is stealing things. Vinnie Jones especially helps deliver a sense of gangster genre as he himself has been in many before Snatch.

LIGHTING

The lighting in the opening titles of Snatch also tells us a lot about the characters and the narrative that is to come throughout the film. All the way through the title scene the lighting is quite dull and in some parts very dark. In some points it almost feels like it has a slight sepia filter over the top of the actual film, this complimenting the idea earlier that the film genre is like a typical 'gangster/alcapone' type of film, the way the scene is in sepia gives it an effect of age and some of history. This maybe showing that this 'group' or 'gang' have took insperation from gangsters in the past such a alcapone style ones, but have also but their on stamp on the gangster genre with their onorthodox style (the way the complete their objectives and also the way they are dressed like I mentioned earlier). Then at some points the lighting is very dark, usually at points where it shows the things the group have stolen or money gained from stealing things. This has been used to emphasise that although from their bright saturated style that they are extreamly confident and dont feel like they are doing much wrong, that the actions they are doing is in fact quite bad, this showing a contrast from the characters made up reality to the real reality.

COSTUME

In the opening titles of Snatch the costumes that are worn by the actors
tell us a lot about the characters themselves and also the kind of narrative that the film has. We can see that all of the characters are smartly dressed in suits, waist coats and other smart but casual clothing; the way they are dressed smartly in suits gives us the vibe of a gangster type genre, like an Alcapone film, a group or organisation working close together to create a narrative revolving around some sort of crime, in this case of snatch it is robbery as the key prop of the huge diamond being passed through transitions to all the characters or maybe 'gang' signifies. But it is slightly different to a typical 1920's alcapone type film; we can see that they are wearing suits but these suits/smart-casual clothing is different to the stereotypical black and white suits, they are quite brightly coloured, this could signify that this 'group' or 'gang' of people are a bit unorthodox  and they have their own style of completing their crimes. The bright colours instead of dull ones tells us they have a lot of confidence in what they do, as they are very reconisable in these kind of colours but they still do the crimes, this showing that these people must be highly skilled and have a lot of confidence in what they do.