Gangsters Research.

Names

Although not many of us dislike our regular names, it can be difficult to fit in with a 'hard-core' gang if your name lacks a certain something. Creating a gangster name can express your individuality and personality, and become a regular pet name. However, I realised that creating a gangster name isn't as easy as it sounds, and can often leave you feeling frustrated and stumped.

I did some research outside of school in my free time and I found out that there are a few steps in order to help you think of one. These are as such:

1)      Think about your characteristics. Many people create a name based on a characteristic or habit that people commonly know them by. For example, if you're known to be cheeky and daring, adding "Dirty" or "Crazy" to the front of your name is a good idea to express the character as a being. Using this method means that your name gives people an idea of what kind of person you are, and also makes it easier to come up with ideas. However, my group and I must be careful that we make the name clear, and don't choose something that may give the audience the wrong idea before they even watch them.

2)      Consider adding an inside joke or story. A lot of gangsters get their names from background stories and histories, or a private joke. In the movie 8 Mile, the main character gets the name "Rabbit", because when he was a baby he looked like a rabbit. Another character was called "Future" because people considered him the future of music. Although these names may not seem very gangster or "cool", they easily grow popular and often convey your personality easily.

3)      Think about length. Some gangsters have three or four individual names that merge together, and others simply use one word. It depends on you, your actors and their style. If you're looking for a more expressive and traditional name, you will find it more convenient to come up with a longer name. If you just want something different for people to call you by, you can look at just one or two names.

4)      Choose your style. There are various styles to gangster names. One popular style is Italian gangster names, which are often quite long. Other gangsters simply go for short, blunt names that are self-explanatory. Once you select a style, you'll get a bigger understanding of what exactly you want. You don't have to abide by the rules, though creating your own style and rebelling on the traditions will probably make you considered as more gangsters anyway.

5)      Consult your gang (actors). If your gang all have names that seem to follow a theme, you may draw inspiration from there. My group and I could also picture what the actor(s) should be called and whether it suits them, aside from their real name. Asking them generally what they think would be a good gangster name for you may not come up with a specific name, but probably will give you some good ideas.

I am confident that these steps will help a lot when we come to name thinking. However I do think that it is going to be fairly bemusing at times because we are not thinking of just one gangster name, but 5-6.

Hair

Not only is thinking of a name important but the style of a gangster is also just as significant as we want to portray the typical gangster so the audience can immediately identify them. After some research, I noticed that most of the gangsters have either that perfect, silky smooth curly/straight hair look or that bald skinhead look to give that rough ferocious impression. Some also wear big sunglasses too to make them look mysterious and arresting.

This shouldn't be a problem for my group and I because not only are we all girls so styling is our expertise, we can also simply look at magazines, films or even hair tutorials on youtube for guidance if needed.



Bankrolls and the 'cool' look

Gangsters are stereotypically known as 'filthy rich' and arrogant. So in order for us to follow the typical gangster look, we need to make sure we need to make our actors conform to the typical gangsters and act like them. This way they need to maintain an air of casual disregard for money.

A way of making them look rich excluding the dinner suit and smart hairstyle, is a big handful of money.

It is obvious that my group and I do not have the money to form a big pile of money for 5-6 'gangsters', so for us to be able to pretend our actors have the money, I have formed a list, these are as such:

• Stuff the centre of the roll with fake money or suchlike (Monopoly money). You can also put cards to give the appearance of lots of money.
• The real money on the outer side of the roll would be best if it was straight from the bank as you want your folding crimp crisp.
• If going to the bank is a problem, then you or someone you know who has the required talent, a warm, dry iron can help make your wrinkly, old money look like new.
• If you put single notes in the microwave for a few seconds (around five) this will achieve the crisp look and is considerably easier and less risky than ironing the bills. But we need to be careful not to overdo it.

We need to achieve the crisp look as we don't want our 'rich gangsters' to carry something that doesn't conform to the rich look as the audience would not believe it or like it. Not only do they need to bring or carry something to make them look rich, but they also need to act well enough too. To get this look, they need to act like they couldn't care less about money. If they are going to 'flash the roll', it is essential to make sure they look the part. This means they can't wear that non-ironed shirt with small trousers - no one's going to buy it.

After a lot of research focusing on gangsters, I have a far more in-depth knowledge on what my group and I need to do to create this look. I think this task would be just as enjoyable as it seems and I am looking forward to the day we start filming.