Goodfellas is a Crime/Drama film set in Brooklyn in the midst of the 20th century, a time where New York was a hot-spot for Italian Gangsters. Goodfellas follows the rise and fall of Henry and his two unstable friends Jimmy and Tommy as they climb the hierarchy from petty crimes to violent murders, all whilst exploring the infamous New York Mafia.
Characters
One way the characters are represented in this scene is through their similarities. Each character in the sequence is wearing a darkly coloured mix of black and grey suits, this is used to build the personalities of the characters along with their identities, for example the man driving the car has a well tailored suit and has his shirt tucked in, this shows he is a clean and formal character and represents himself well, this contrasts with the man beside him who's shirt and suit are obviously a lot messier he is fast asleep, this represents his messy and unorganised personality, and in a crime/drama film a messy character can be very fatal.
Setting
One way setting is used for representation in this opening scene is through its enigmatic presentation. In the first 30 seconds of the sequence we are unaware of the location, all we get is the title screen, however we can hear a car driving across a quiet road shown by the lack of other sounds presented in the scene. As the credits fade we are presented with the car we heard in the beginning but the surrounding area of the shot is completely black, this makes the question of where are we and where are we going impossible to predict in the sequence. The use of this enigmatic setting creates the effect that is needed for a crime/drama which is usually full of suspense and unexpected twists.
The Sequence as a Whole
The sequence begins with the title credits, the font is clean and clear, the font is white on a black background making it easily readable for the audience and also representing the clean crimes of the character as a whole. The title credits end with "this is based on a true story." the use of this creates the enigma and suspense present in most crime/ drama films. The first shot of the film is a medium-wide shot showing the back of a car with its rear lights on and the surrounding atmosphere completely black, the use of this is to continue the enigmatic feel from the title credits on to the movie in a simplistic way. We are then met with a tracking shot that follows the car from back to from until it is ahead of the car and the atmosphere turns to black and we are met with more credits saying "New York, 1970" this is a significant moment as for the first time in the sequence we are aware of the setting and a fraction of the enigma is relieved from the film.
The next shot in the sequence is after the credits fade and we are in the car and are met with the faces of our main characters. The shot is a medium-close up and interestingly the character in the passenger seat and the man in the back seat are out of focus, this could be used to represent a sort of hierarchy in the crime scene the characters are in as even when the characters wake up the driver is still the main focus of the shot.
In the next shot we are presented with a wide long shot of the three characters standing behind the car in what appears to be a forest, the hierarchy seems to have disappeared as they all appear to be around the same stature and height. The next shot shows a zooming in of the car trunk along with banging sounds coming from the trunk, this is to show their is an object of interest in the trunk. We are then presented with the three characters again who nod to each other before the driver at the beginning of the sequence opens the trunk. We are met with a very bloodied man in what appears to be a chef's uniform, one of the men proceeds to stab him as the chef is not completely dead yet and this is followed up by a few gunshots, there is a moment of silence before the driver closes the trunk and we hear narration "as far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster" we are then met with Jazzy music, a genre typical of that time period and the rest of the opening credits play.
