Martin Scorsese - Director Trademarks

Director Trademarks

• Begins his films with segments taken from the middle or end of the story. Examples include Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), and The Last Waltz.
• Frequent use of slow motion, e.g. Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967) Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and Goodfellas (1990) . Also known for using freeze frame, such as the opening credits of The King of Comedy (1983), and throughout Goodfellas (1990). Such a shot is also used in the film "The Departed", (2006).
• His lead characters are often morally ambiguous, prone to violence, and/or want to be accepted in society or a society (The Departed, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas) and are not infrequently sociopaths (Cape Fear, Raging Bull, Casino).
• In most of his films the main character often falls in love and their relationship will end in disaster. e.g. Who's That Knocking at My Door, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and Casino.
• His blonde leading ladies are usually seen through the eyes of the protagonist as angelic and ethereal; they wear white in their first scene and are photographed in slow-motion (Cybill Shepherd in Taxi Driver; Cathy Moriarty's white bikini in Raging Bull; Sharon Stone's white minidress in Casino). This may possibly be a nod to director Alfred Hitchcock.
• Often uses long tracking shots. Example: Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs Of New York, Hugo
• Use of MOS sequences set to popular music or voice over, often involving aggressive camera movement and/or rapid editing.
• The supporting actor will often betray the protagonist (Micheal in Mean Streets, Judas Iscariot in The Last Temptation of Christ, Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas, Nicky Santoro in Casino)
• Often has a quick cameo in his films (Who's That Knocking at My Door, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, After Hours, The Last Temptation of Christ (albeit hidden under a hood), Casino, The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York, Hugo). Also, often contributes his voice to a film without showing his face on screen. He provides the opening voice-over narration in Mean Streets and The Color of Money; plays the off-screen dressing room attendant in the final scene of Raging Bull; provides the voice of the unseen ambulance dispatcher in Bringing out the Dead.
• Frequently uses New York City as the main setting in his films, e.g. Who's That Knocking at My Door, Gangs of New York, Taxi Driver, Bringing Out The Dead, The Age of Innocence, The King of Comedy, After Hours, New York, New York, and Mean Streets.
• Sometimes highlights characters in a scene with an iris, an homage to 1920s silent film cinema (as scenes at the time sometimes used this transition). This effect can be seen in Casino (it is used on Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci), Life Lessons, The Departed (on Matt Damon), and Hugo.
• Some of his films include references/allusions to Westerns, particularly Rio Bravo, The Great Train Robbery, Shane, The Searchers and The Oklahoma Kid.
• More recently, his films have featured corrupt authority figures, such as policemen in The Departed and politicians in Gangs of New York and The Aviator.
• Guilt is a prominent theme in many of his films, as is the role of Catholicism in creating and dealing with guilt (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Bringing Out the Dead, Mean Streets, Who's That Knocking at My Door, The Departed, Shutter Island).
• Slow motion flashbulbs and accented camera/flash/shutter sounds.
• The song Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones is heard in several of Scorsese's films, including Goodfellas, Casino and The Departed.
• Some of his films are inspired by a true story. Examples: Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and Casino.