This document provides details about the 1990 film Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese. It discusses a scene where three gangster characters hear noises coming from the trunk of a car. The editing and camera work are done slowly to build tension for the audience. When they open the trunk, they find the source of the noise, which they kill brutally to show the ruthless nature of their criminal world. The costumes, lighting, and props are realistic for the gangster genre and time period of the 1950s.

1. Goodfellas
Introduction
Directed by Martin Scorsese Produced by Irwin Winkler Screenplay by
Nicholas Pileggi Martin Scorsese Based onwiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi
Starring; Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul
Sorvino.Cinematography Michael Ballhaus Edited by Thelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Release dates;September 19, 1990
Running time 145 minutes Budget $25 millionBox office $46.8 million.
Media language
The editing throughout this scene maintains a slow pace, to ensure
the build-up of tension. However, the level of tension that the audience may feel as
the scene develops is not matched by the characters involved, as they remain stony
faced and uncaring throughout. The type of shots used also effect the time between
cuts, as the panning shots, tracking shots and shots that slowly zoom in from
medium to a close up, prolong the time that the audience has to wait to find out what
is making noise in the boot. The editing during the kill follows the same slow pattern
to expose the audience to the brutal realism of the world that the characters inhabit.
The costume and general style used in this scene is typical of the Gangster genre.
All three characters swear crisp neat suits, and have hair that has been combed
back in a style dating from around the fifties. The lighting and setting, aside from the
smart suits and haircuts, supports the secretive nature of the events that are taking
place. The lighting is minimal, with only the car headlights to light the murder scene,
and presumably streetlamps that light up the inside of the car at points. The lighting
is deliberately dark because as I have said, the characters are trying to hide their
criminal activities and do not want to be seen. However, use of a torch by the men or
any other lighting device would have an inappropriate and unrealistic prop given the
circumstances. The weapon props however are realistic and are used to define the
brutality and the ruthlessness of criminals of that level. The carving knife, the shovel
and the gun all appear in this scene to show that whatever is in making noise in the
boot will die very painfully, thus the trepidation in the camera work
Narrative
The sound, that goes with the word transitions is presumably diegetic traffic noise,
and gives the viewer an idea of the setting. The final sentence that the audience see
on this background is “This film is based on a true story” this is used to get the
viewer instantly believing of the story and the characters portrayed within it. In this
opening sequence we hear both diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

2. Camera Angles/Movements/Shots
There is then the gradual close up to the boot of the car; the camera zooms in to the
source of the noise like a person reluctantly going to open it. This cuts to a medium
shot of all three of the men that gradually zooms in on the two holding weapons, who
obviously getting ready for a confrontation. The man holding the shovel nods to the
character who is out of shot, then the camera pans round to focus in on the un-
armed man to reveal the contents of the car. The camera moves slowly again here to
convey the trepidation that all of the men are feeling towards having to deal with
whatever is making the noise in the back of the car. Also from an audience’s point of
view this creates anticipation through the build of tension.