Setting the Scene. Exercise 1

Watch the long take from Goodfellas.

What does the scene tell you about the main character?

• the character is very confident and self assured
• he’s completely at home in his environment
• he’s rich and generous with his money
• he has a wide acquaintance based on obligation
• he’s a deceiver

How does he do this? List the clues.

• he wears a dinner suit comfortably, like a second skin
• he knows his way around his environment
• he knows and has a word for everyone he meets
• When his companion asks what he does he says he’s ‘in construction … a union rep’ and the band plays a ‘zing!’
• his car is expensive, even opulent
• he uses a private entrance