A genre analysis of the Crime and Police fiction/ Comedy genre. Including various areas broken down.

1. AS Media Ben Walker RingwoodSchool
Genre Analysis- Police Fiction and Comedy
General details:
GenerallyspeakinginPolicefilms,youfollow the life of the Police officersasopposedtothe
criminals,howeverincasesitisthe otherway around.In mostPolice filmsthe storylinecentres
arounda mainstory,plotor case withotherside storiessurroundingit.For example,in ‘22Jump
Street’the mainplotisfor the twoOfficerstocatch a drug supplier,butthroughoutthe filmthey
meetnewpeople,dootherthingsandothereventsare addedin.That isthe aim forwhat myfilm
wouldleadinto - havingthe three officersasfriendsandtheirjobasthe mainstory,but withother
eventshappeningaroundthem. Quite oftenandif notalways,Police/Crime filmsare linkedand
intertwinedwiththe actiongenre because inreal life,beinginthe Policecomeswithaction. The
footage presentedof police chases,shootoutsandfistfightsare acommonsightto be seenin
modernPolice films.
Popular Examples:
Police Academy(1984): Police Academy isa1984 Police Comedyfilmdirectedby HughWilson
and starringSteve Guttenberg,KimCattrall,andG.W.Bailey.Itgrossedapproximately$146 million
worldwide and wentontohave six more filmsinthe Police Academy seriesof 7films.Due toa
shortage of police officers,the police department are toaccept all willingrecruits, without
considerationfortheirfitness,educational levels,andmedicalstandards. Ithasto be saidthat for its
time,Police Academywasone of the bestcomedy Policefilmsaround.Itsuccessisshownbythe 6
more filmsmade afterthe first. Police Academy openedatthe top spotin1,587 U.S. cinemason
March 23, 1984 to an openingweekend grossof $8.6 million.Itfacedstrongcompetitionatthe time
of itsrelease frompopularcomedieslike ‘Ghostbusters’,‘Gremlins’and‘Romancingthe
Stone’(whichalsofeaturedascreenplayby the Police Academy co-writersNeal Israel andPat
Proft),.Despite this,the filmwentontotake ina final total of $81.2 million whichmade itthe 6th
highestgrossingfilmof 1984.
Heat (1995): Withand IMDB ratingof 8.3/10, ‘Heat’isone of the mostpopularcrime fictionfilms.
RobertDe NiroandAl Pacinoare in a battle oneitherside of the law. The group of professionalbank
robbersaccidentallyleave aclue atthe scene of one theirheistsandattract some heatfromthe
Police – hence the name. RobertDe NiroplaysNeil McCauley aprofessionalthief,while Al Pacino
playsLt. VincentHanna,a veteran L.A.P.D. robbery-homicide detective tryingtotrack down
McCauleyand hisgang/crew.The film’s conflictisbasedonthe experiencesof a
formerChicagopolice officerandhispursuitinthe 1960s of a criminal namedMcCauley,afterwhom
De Niro'scharacter isnamed.Heatwas a commercial success andgrossed $67 millioninthe United
Statesand $187 millionworldwideagainsta$60 millionbudget.The film-criticaggregatorRotten
Tomatoesreports86% positive reviews.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984):Duringa murderinvestigation,aDetroitPolice Officerfindshimself
dealingwith the unusual culture of BeverlyHills. Itgrossed$234,760,500 and ParamountPictures
wentonto make a secondandthirdfilm. Thisfirstfilminthe BeverlyHillsCopserieswaswhatreally
shotEddie Murphy to hishighlevel of internationalstardom. The filmwasnominatedfor7major
filmawardsandwon 3 of itsnominations.Itwonthe People'sChoice Award for"Favourite Motion
Picture",wasnominatedforthe GoldenGlobe Award for“BestMotionPicture - Comedy/Musical”

2. AS Media Ben Walker RingwoodSchool
and receivedan AcademyAward nominationfor“BestWriting(Original Screenplay)”in1985. The
$234 millionatthe NorthAmericandomesticbox office made itthe highest-grossingfilmof 1984 in
the U.S. The ratings andpopularity of the films however, decreasedthroughthe secondandthird.
From 7.3 to 6.4 and from 6.4 downto 5.5 for BeverlyHillsCop3on IMDB (International Movie Data
Base).
Audience:
The audience forPolice fictionandcomedyfilmsare,inmostcases,youngpeople fromaround15
yearsold to about 50 yearsolddependingornot onthe ratingof the film(12,15, 18 etc.). Generally
anyone olderthan50 watchedlessaction/Police filmsand calmer,romanticanddrama films. The
race of audience isnotreallyaffectedbyPolice films,butif itisthenpotentiallypeople of ablack
ethnicitymaybe more likelytowatcha Police filmif the criminalisblackandthe officersare white.
Thisis to see if the presentationof the criminal differsbecausehe/sheisblack.The same appliesto
white ethnicityaudience if the criminal iswhiteandthe officers,black.Forthe majorityof cases,the
audience ethnicityisnotaffectedbyPolicefilms,especiallynotwhentheyare lessserious,comedic
filmslike minewouldbe. Youngpeople enjoysthe comedicelementsaswell asthe actionscenesso
whentalkingaboutPolice filmswithbothof those elements,itisalmostalwaysyoungadolescences
whowatch these films.
Content:
People expectPolice filmstocontainplentyof action,car/footchasesandpotentiallygunfights.
However,the mainlyappliestopredominantlyactionbasedpolice films,asopposedtocomedy
basedpolice films.Ina filmlike ‘22JumpStreet’or‘Let’sbe Cops’althoughthere are gun fightsand
actionsequences,the mainappeal behindthemisthe comedyinvolved.Alternately,there are films
like ‘Endof Watch’ by where isrealistic,hardenedaffectisintendedonthe audienceandthe film
containsa small amountof comedy,butthe main ideabehinditisthe relationshipbetweenthe two
officersandhowdifficulttheirjobcansometimesbe. Althoughsome of the differencesbetween
these filmsmaybe obvious,inmost,if notall of them, there isa back storyabout the officers
involved.
Actors/Directors:
In mostsuccessful Police films,aswithanyothergenre of film, the actorsare, inmost cases,
recognisable orsuccessfulandtherefore the audiencewillrecognise them.People are more likelyto
watch the filmif ithas Hollywoodactorsandactressesinit.Thisis downto the fact that either
people have specificactors/actressesthattheylike orthatfilmsare more likelytobe goodwhen
there isa Hollywoodactor/actressinitplayingabigrole. ContentandActors playan equal role in
whetherornot people gotowatch a film.Peoplegottowatch a filmbecause of whatitis aboutjust
as much as theywatchit because of whothe actors/actressesare.Certainactorsare usually
associatedwith acertainfilmor filmseries. Intermsof Directors,people like FrancisFordCoppola
are associatedwithCrime genre.Coppolawasthe Producerof notone,butall three Godfatherfilms
and the successof these filmsspeaksforitselfinhow popularafilmitstill istoday.The Godfather
franchise grossedover$249 millionwhichwasanenormousamountof moneyconsideringthe final
filmwasreleasedin1974.

3. AS Media Ben Walker RingwoodSchool
Key Props and Costumes:
UsuallyinPolice filmsthere are afewitemsthatare usedby boththe law enforcementandthe
criminals.Forexample,the Policequite oftenhave the latesttechnologyalongside weaponsandcars
that the criminalsdon’thave.However,the criminalssometimesoutnumberthe Police soman
powerproblemsare a commonsightinPolice films.Whetheritbe forthe Police of forthe criminals.
The Police,dependantonwhatjobstheyare doingare usuallydressedineithersmartattire if they
are detectivesorcasual attire if theyare officersundercover.Forfilmswherethe Policeare not
undercoverthenuniformsare almostalwaysworn.The criminalsinthese filmsare usuallyportrayed
as a far lowerlevel intelligence,butnotnecessarilyinability.Forexample,acriminal maybe not
particularlyclever,butmaybe able tofightfar betterthanthe police officers.Thisisshownwell in
‘22 JumpStreet’where byJonahHill’scharacter,althoughhe maybe smarterand have more kit,he
cannot fightverywell atall andneedChanningTatumto save himon manyan occasion.