Research in to the crime genre

Stereotypical conventions
Costumes

Throughout the crime genre, costumes are used in feature films to highlight the importance, or contrarily, insignificance of characters towards the plot of the film, as well as the influences they have upon other characters within the text. I have found that the more important the character is (in terms of wealth, power and intelligence) the higher class they dress. For example, the characters from Ocean's Thirteen (2007)  are seen throughout the film wearing smart clothing; which are for the most part suits of some sort. Suits connote power, class and sophistication, something of which all of these characters have plenty of. This is backed up by the 2013 blockbuster Wolf of Wall Street, in which several characters are seen wearing suits continuously throughout the film. We will include this into our film by maintain the idea that our main character will wear an expensive suit, for the most part of the film. This will highlight his power and sophistication, as well as class and wealth, similar to that in several other crime feature films.  

Props
The props used in the crime genre all connote wealth and power. The showcase of expensive cars in the majority of crime films is vastly played upon. For example, in the film 2 Fast 2 Furious, the criminal hosts a race to his car, which is an expensive Ferrari. This shows that he is sophisticated, and has spare money to spend on luxury and expensive cars such as this. Another popular prop used in crime films are cigars. This is because cigars are seen as classy, therefore being smoked by criminals and other characters alike. 

Narrative
The narrative of most crime films follow the life of a criminal themselves, or an individual who is trying to put an end to a criminals ways. However, which ever side of crime we follow, the main character seems to always be the protagonist of the film. This is apparent in several films, most popularly The Shawshank Redemption, in which we follow the life (in prison) of Andy Dufresne. Despite him being a criminal, and being in prison, we feel that the prison guards and warden are the antagonists in the film. This juxtaposes reality, as these people are seen as protagonists. We will replicate this in our film, whereby the main character's previous life of crime is highlighted, however we will portray him to be the protagonist throughout the film.