The opening sequence of Goodfellas uses 9 shots that alternate between the three men in the car and their actions of opening the boot and harming the injured man. The mise-en-scene is simple with just a car, knife, and gun, establishing the gangster genre. Dark lighting and suits worn by the characters continue setting the dark tone. Sound starts non-diegetically then becomes diegetic during the sequence. Clean and simple editing transitions between shots. The titling uses a bold white font against a white background, turning red at the end to symbolize the on-screen death.

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Media Language Analysis

2. Goodfellas - Camerawork
• Goodfellas uses 9 different shots. The first shot is of the car, the second is a
mid-shot of three men in the car. Then the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th all
alternate between the three men opening the boot of the car, the injured
man, and the stabbing and shooting of this man. There is then a close up of
Henry Hill as the final shot.

3. Mise-en-Scene
• For Goodfellas, the mise-en-scene is very simple, yet very effective. There is only a few
props in the whole sequence. There is the car, the knife and the gun. It is made clear that
Henry Hill is the most important character in the car with him being the first character the
audience sees. The three characters are all wearing suits. This suits the "gangster" theme very
well, as they are all portrayed as being wealthy. The films genre is set when Henry Hill's
character closes the boot and narrates the famous line: "As far back as I can remember I
always wanted to be a gangster." This firmly tells the audience that they are viewing a
"gangster" film. The lighting throughout the opening sequence is dark, this introduces the
viewer to the tone of the film, which is very mature and dark. The opening sequence
engages the audience as they would want to know what is in the boot, and the dark turn
both shocks and intrigues the audience.

4. Sound
• The opening sequence starts with some non-diegetic car sound effects as the
opening credits play. This is very effective as the next shot is a car on a road.
The sound then turns purely diegetic as the only sounds until near the end
are the car, the man thumping on the roof, the characters talking and the
sounds of the knife and gunshots. Then as the boot slams shut the non-
diegetic sound resurfaces, starting with Henry Hill's narration and the song
"Rags to riches" by Tony Bennett.

5. Editing
• In the first 30 seconds of the opening sequence, the words appear on the
screen as if they were a car, this transitions to the next shot superbly as the
next shot is the car driving. From then on, the cuts are clean and simple

6. Titling
• The font used in the titling is a bold, simple text. This is very appropriate to
the genre as it is not supernatural or futuristic, but plain and clear for the
viewer to read. The text is all in white against a white background, apart from
the end when the text is red to symbolise the recent death onscreen.

7. The Godfather - Camerawork
• The camera begins with a close up a man speaking almost directly into the
camera. It then zooms out to show more of the mans surroundings. It then
cuts and shows a close up of Don Corleone. The camera then cuts back and
forth between Don Corleone and the man, along with shots of the room
surrounding them.

8. Mise-en-Scene
• The Godfather opens slowly with just one man speaking in dark lighting, this
creates a tense atmosphere. The slow and deliberate zoom out tells the audience that
something or someone very important is about to be introduced to the audience.
This makes it clear that Don Corleone is the most important character in the room.
This point is supported further with the lighting. The light coming from the window
behind Don Corleone, alongside the dark lighting, highlights Don Corleone. There
are very few props in the opening sequence, such as a glass of alcohol and a cat.
This is effective as there are not many things that can draw the audiences' attention
away from the characters and their dialogue. The sharp and expensive suits
alongside the dark, foreboding and intimidating dialogue shows the audience that
the genre is "crime"/"gangster".

9. Sound
• The soundtrack in this opening sequence is almost entirely diegetic. The
soundtrack begins with a simple piece of non-diegetic music fluctuating in
volume, this foreboding soundtrack introduces the dark themes of the movie
straightaway. From this point onwards, the sound from the opening sequence
is diegetic. This draws all the attention of the audience onto the characters
and their intense dialogue.

10. Editing
• The editing is very clean and simple. The transitions are smooth between
shots and there is no use of special effects. This is very appropriate to the
genre and to the target audience who will be quite mature.

11. Titling
• The typography used in the titling includes a white, bold font on top of a
dull but direct background. This is very striking as the colours totally oppose
each other.