Element 1 - Setting

Martin Scorsese has made it a trademark in his films to have New York as the main setting. Even though The Departed is set in Boston, some of the filming was shot in New York. Scorsese was born in Brooklyn's, this could be a reason why he shoots his films in New York. Most of his movies are set back in different decades, varying from the present day, and back to the 1800's. In all 3 movies that i watched the main characters were all mobsters or gangsters. Scorsese shoots a lot of the films in pubs and bars. The pubs and bars varied in style because of the different era's the movies were set in. In Gangs of New York, the bars were considerably different compared to GoodFellas and The Departed. In Gangs of New York, the bar was a big, wooden building with live music and lots of people, in GoodFellas the pubs were much smaller, few people, very dark and had no music, in The Departed the bar/pub was very similar to GoodFellas, small, dark and few people in it, just the gangsters and mobsters.

A lot if the films were set in back alleys, roof tops and old abandoned buildings. Filming in these places helped to set the tone and atmosphere of the movies. A high percentage of the action happens in back alleys and old buildings, especially shootings and fights.

Scorsese uses long tracking shots at the start of many of his films to show the setting. These tracking shots give us an overlook of the city and how it is represented. He does this in Gangs Of New York, it shows us the olden day version of New York, the old buildings, the cobblestone roads and the different styles in that era.

Scorsese uses setting in a very interesting way, the places where he decides to shoot the films are perfect for the situation. This makes the films more interesting to watch.

This video shows setting in Gangs of New York. It shows how New York developed after the dark days in this movie.