Generic conventions:

Lighting:
Low-key lighting is most commonly used in gangster films. Colours
such as grey and black are usually the most common colours as
they connote darkness.
Red is also used quiet regularly as it signifies many different things.
This includes love but also danger so it is a very deceiving colour.
DE saturated lighting is .used commonly as the films are usually
almost film noire
Setting:
The setting in action, gangster films is usually always in an
urban/city location. During the days of the mafia gang wars were
usually set in the city and gang would have collisions with rival
gangs from opposing city. Industrial estates and housing estates are
also commonly used in more recent gangster films.
Mis-En-Scene
Formal attire and costume is one of the most popular conventions of
a gangster film. Women are often wearing red dresses and the men
commonly have red ties. The red connotes themes of danger,
mystery and death as well as themes of love and betrayal.
Women also commonly are seen wearing red lipstick in these films
while make up consists of scars and blood.

Props
The most common props in gangster films is usually guns and other
weapons. Cigarettes and cigars are also commonly used in order to
connote masculinity. Large sums of money are also seen and used

very often in this genre of film. Drugs are also commonly shown in
films such as the godfather

Sound
Gangster films commonly use diegetic sound such as conversations
between characters this is a very important feature as it sometimes
reveals important forking paths to the main story. Other common
types of diegetic sound in gangster films are gunshots and
explosions. The sound commonly used in gangster films is parallel
and synchronous sound. This is because the tense sound needs to fit
in with the storyline as in increases the intensity of the film.
Editing
Gangster films are more often than not edited extremely fast. Jump
shots are frequently used to switch between different action parts of
a scene. A steady cam is commonly used during action scenes as it
allows the audience to see the fights from a different prospective.