Scoorsese En Scene In Goodfellas

Throughout Psycho, Hitchcock utilises all of these devises to intensify the horror of the plot. It is mainly through the shadows and camera angles that Hitchcock succeeds in inciting fear into the audience and solidifying the genre Psycho. The shadows contrast the characters, depicting them in a form of their true self through darkness and light, whereas camera angles tell the same story but in a different way. Utilising angles that don’t show the whole scene, hides key aspects from the audience and also greatly influences what is unfolding throughout the scene. One scene which solidifies all points discussed is the shower scene. It combines the music, shadows, camera angles and gender roles and characters all establishing the horror genre

As Goodfellas begins the audience is straight away faced with an intense scene with Billy Batts repeatedly stabbing a man with the camera angle in full view of the audience. Scorsese prolongs the audience’s utter horror by utilising a freeze frame, something prevalent throughout the film (Sims, 2015). Although Goodfellas is entirely a gangster film, Scorsese places his own flavour throughout to seemingly alter a typical narrative structure. If this previous level of violence was seen throughout the entire movie, the audience would not have empathised with the protagonist during his downfall. The movie begins with Henry Hill’s childhood, witnessing the innocence and naivety he once had as a small boy, ultimately engaging the audience through his character

The opening sequence of Goodfellas highlights Pauly’s mob and the sense of family among everyone involved. An example is when everyone is gathered in the pizzeria, Henry says: ‘You see people like my father could never understand, I was a part some something I belonged.’ The sense of companionship may be typical within gangster films, however the rise in the ranks has characteristically been an isolated effort in films such as Scarface, Bugsy and American gangster. This is not the case in Goodfellas as Henry is helped by his most trusted companions every step of the way. The views that Henry had on the ‘Goodfellas’ at a young age were extremely naïve in a sense, truly believe the gangsters are untouchable in his statements, however ironically the movie ends in his arrest. Through his own naïve actions in defying Paulys pleas in not talking over the phone and only speaking face to face ultimately leads to his downfall. The film narrative voice over also implies the typical rise and fall plot of the genre. Evidence from Henry states; ‘it was a glorious time and wise guys were