1. Gangsters: WhatI havelearntand howI haveappliedit to myproduction
I haveresearched a lot of informationaboutgangstersrecently andhave usedthe research
to:
a.) Grasp the realities of gang life and understandtheconceptsand perceptionsof
famous gangsters.
b.) Usedthe informationgathered as criteria and appliedit to my productiontocreate
realism within it.
“The Kray twins, Reginald and Ronald Kray, wereleading criminalsin London, England in the
1950sand 1960s”. Thesetwohave been a great inspirationto my piece as I have studied
them in great length. They are a pair that were synonymouswith1960sEngland. Theirstylish
attire is the inspirationof the use of suits within my productionpiece. Reggie Kray was known
for the cigarette punch:a move in which Reggie wouldplace a cigarette inside a recipient’s
mouth, falsifying a sense of comradery, before punchingthem in the face. We had tried to
recreate this effect in a muchmore subtle manneras we originally tried to superimposea
criminal confrontationwithin a card game. Unfortunately, mostofthe acting within the card
game element didn’twork.
“The media learned abouthisdeath threeweeksafterhisburial.”- AboutJohnny Torrio. This
quotewas in regardsto his death thatwas kept very secret at the time. The very sameeffect
was recreated with the dumpingof the body scene within our opening. We wanted the
dumpingof the body at the endof ourproductionto create intrigue butalso confusionand
suspense. Thiseffect was somethingwe wantedas the death of Johnny Torriowas a hugeone
in that it completely changedthe criminal world. That is a possibleinterpretationthat I hoped
would be immediately apparent.
“The "classic" form of gangster movie, rarelyproduced in recent years, tells of a gangster working
his way up through his enterprise and daring, until his organization collapses while he is at the
peak of his powers.” Regarding this quote, my production would be looking at the decline phase of
this convention. The elimination of gang members within one’s own organisation will surely create
controversy and friction within members to such an extent that every member becomes paranoid
and ultimately eliminates everybody or the lower ranked members will then rise up against the
boss and revolt, either way crippling the organisation.
