American Gangsta

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-UHhpF86S8

Above is the link to the opening scene of American gangsta. In this blog I will be reviewing the relationships of the characters, the location and the characters themselves. I will be summarizing what I have learnt from the opening couple of minutes of the clip.


In the clip there are 2 African American males who look to be in charge of the torturing the man, there is also another unknown man who is watching over the men torturing and pouring petrol over the whiter foreign man.




Costumes


The man standing in the back, watching on is in a hat and very dark, mysterious clothes. this is to represent his power and the fact that he does not need to carry out any of dirty work. The wearing of the hat also symbolises his importance early on in the film.
The man being tortured is wearing very basic clothes, nothing that stands out. this portrays the irrelevance of this man and how the men killing him don't care who he is.
The two men who carry out the torturing and murder of the man are not in very smart clothes that stand out but at the same time are not in scruffy clothes, this represents that they are the middle men who carry out the dirty work for the man in the mysterious clothes.


Location


At the start of the video there are many suggestions that the film is set in America, for example, the sounds of the American police sirens and the steam coming up from the vents which is a very American thing to happen, particularly in New York. The streets are very deserted but there are plenty of well developed buildings in the surrounding areas, this helps us understand that the film is set in a well developed location.


Relationships


This opening scene clearly shows us the relationships from early in the film. we see the 'boss' stood at the back doing nothing and just watching over the two people who are lower down the ranking than him. there is a clear 2nd in command as well. this is the person who lights a cigar and then throws the flames over the man on the chair and eventually shoots him dead.