Goodfellas essays

Goodfella's essays What aspects of mise en scene, sound, editing and cinematography has Scorsese used to develop our understanding of character in the sequence from Goodfellas. (Scorsese 1990). What do they communicate to you? This scene which I have examined portrays the gangster Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta in the film Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese in 1990. The film follows the life of a group of gangsters from Brooklyn, New York. It was based on a true story. In the sequence it shows the character of Henry Hill in part of one day of his life. He wakes up at 6:55 am and snorts some cocaine, I think he is doing this to wake himself up for the busy day because he relies on the drugs that much. He then stashes some guns in his car that he has bought to match some silencers for the same guns that Jimmy had bought. Whilst doing this he notices a police helicopter above him. Scorsese has used a point-of-view shot to make it appear as if the spectator is looking through the characters eyes and he also uses a high angle shot looking down on Henry to show he is intimidated by the appearance of this helicopter. Also zooming in and out on the helicopter seems to construct he relationship between Henry's activities and the law. This introduction to the scene shows that the addiction to drugs are taking over Henrys lifestyle and the way he acts, he doesnt behave this way in any other part of the film until he becomes hooked on drugs and other illegal acts. He is obviously paranoid about the helicopter because he constantly stares out of the window of his car to see if its still there. He takes the guns to Jimmys house but unfortunately the silencers do not fit the guns, this angers Jimmy who then tells Henry to keep away from the drugs. What Henry is wearing is n instant indicator of the way he currently lives his lifestyle. You can tell that the cocaine has affected Henrys appearance...