Genre's and sub-genre's

A genre is the way a film is categorized according to their setting, theme topic and also mood. A certain genre is when a movie falls into a clearly defined content. For example "The Godfather" are all gangster films.

 However Film genres often branch out into subgenres, they are combined to form hybrid-genre's or sub-genre's.

An example of a sub-genre film is 'Shaun of the dead' as this film focuses on comedy but also aspects of horror.

Film Genres and Sub-genres

Genres categorise films that are produced in order to meet the needs of the actual target audience. Examples of some genres are: comedy, action, adventure, thriller, romance etc.


Sub-Genres are genres within another genre, for example thriller is  genre on its own but their are different types of other genres within that thriller, such as; psycological thrillers, action thriller, political thriller, romance thriller etc.








Examples of some films which I like and include sub-genres are:

Black Swan: This is a psychological thriller, about a ballerina who wins the leading role in swan lake but slowly looses her mind.





Trailer of black swan below:

Another type of thriller is 'Deja Vu' which is an action thriller film about a agent who travels back in time to save a woman from being murdered, he ends up falling in love with her in the process.

Romantic thriller is another type of  thriller sub-genre; an example of a film which includes this genre is 'Dead Again'

Out of all the three examples I've given above, my favourite thriller sub-genre would have to be the psychological thriller, Black swan. The camera techniques in black swan were very inspiring there is a lot of close ups, establishing shots, long shots etc.
I like this shot, the way the women in the mirror is looking over the same person but the one with her back to the mirror is not aware creates that adrenaline to start.

Film genre and sub genre

Genre: A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter. For example: Horror i.e The Rite Sub-Genre: A subcategory within a particular genre. For example: Action/comedy/romance i.e Mr&Mrs Smith

The gap between the amount of suspense genre films made to action/adventure films made is exceptionally big. In 2010; there were only 38 suspense films made whereas action/adventure had 71 films made that year. The statistics goes to show that the majority of people are more interested in films that tend to bring excitment rather than films that require you to think. Therefore suspense films have more of a smaller audience compared to action/ adventures has a wide spread audience.

Personally; the genres that interests me are action/thriller/adventure/suspense films. I like these films because they are films that require you to think and you never know what is going to happen. Whereas with romance or drama films, you are more than likely to know what is going to happen next and at the end. Animated and comedy films are great as well, because it makes me laugh and brings happiness and joy to me. Films like these I could watch over and over again.

In terms of thrillers; the film that inspired me the most has to be:
                                                                                    

The stepfather.
This film inspired me because the music was the main thing that created tension and suspense for the audience. This made me realise that in my own film opening I could use music  instead of words to create tension for my audience and really bring the genre of thriller out to the audience.

In Stepfather, during the scenes that had the highest tension, there were hardly any dialogue; but facial expressions and dialogue were the key features of making the climax successful. To show these facial expressions, there were many medium close ups and mid shots to ensure that the facial expressions and body language is clear to the audience. Watching this influences me to ensure i put enough close ups in my film opening to ensure that body language and facial expressions does the dialogue instead and definitely creates tension for the audience.

Thriller Target Audience

if you just need a target audience for a generic thriller film... I'd have to say the young adults from 18-25.  However like every genre, you have sub-genre's.                                                           

 Silence of the Lambs are considered the two best thrillers in recent memory... and they're rated R. Their target audience was for the young male adults. 

There are legal thrillers and crime thrillers like Se7en that target a more mature audience... and classic thrillers that are rated PG, but are intended for adults.

There are those thrillers that are borderline horror films such as Sixth Sense. Since they're close to horror (and horror films target teenage girls), the demographic would be slightly different... probably younger and more female based.

Idea for film opening...

Many people are reported missing in a large urban setting. The population is panicked because of its magnitude of people that seemed to have vanished. The local police force try to get to the bottom of it despite the difficult circumstances. I believe that our opening thriller should consist of a fast editing and sound which increases the tension of the situation.

The Theatre Bizzare Poster

I just saw this new thriller film that is coming out soon, I really liked the way the poster has been made. It looks unique in a way. Having an open mouth with an eyeball in it then blood dripping out of the mouth, all looks very creative.
The film we be released this month (January) on the 27th!

Enemy Of The State- A Thriller that I watched in the Holidays

Enemy of the state; is one of Will Smith's best films.

I have seen this film several times and have not grown tired of it.
What I love about this film is the fact that it requires you to think and every time I watch it, I understand more and more of what is going on and the plot.

The beginning of the movie portrays the real life evidence of the film and what it is based on. The government is already watching us and we are unaware.The Film Enemy of the State, posses information that people do not know. Although this may be information we do not wish to know, much of it could easily change the way we view the world around us. Enemy of the State brings to life the reality of the powers inside the government. It displays the power these agencies have and their desire to use those powers. The technology they show is the power that gives these groups the capability of entering into anyone's life, destroying them at their own will. Due to this people instantly become  victims in situations we know nothing about. 

The film brings to reality similarities of a high powered government agencies corrupting and destroying innocent people's lives for something they did not know was happening. A brief contact with someone you never even knew could set off a chain of reactions, engaging you in a situation you are unaware of at the time, while having the government following your every move. The film is basically implying the fact that before you can understand how quickly our lives can be taken out of our control, you must first understand the technology that is being used by the government. Imagine a group who knows everything about your life, a group that can find personal information about yourself, being under their surveillance every second of the day, enabling them to track your position in mere seconds. The system is so advanced, your bank accounts and credit cards can be depleted without your notice. They have recreated the society that we live in today, a society where the government can hear and record your every word. This film made me realise this is a world where others can destroy my life;  than rather being my own individual I am a property of the government. 

The government has gained enough power to shape and run the world as they see fit. We do not control the truth around us; we are merely fish in the sea. Though the level of equipment found in the film Enemy of the State is hard to find, it's very real. The director was trying to portray the advance century we live in and due to the rapid development of technology one day it will become our own worst enemy. Yet, to a high profiled government agency such as the National Security Agency, it's the technology of today. 

Title sequences

There is a variety of information in a title sequence the standard form that it seems to be is:

The Production & Distribution logo always in the beginning, and the producers, executive producers, director always in the end of the title sequence. The order of names come as a hierarchy, the most important names come before and the least important names come after.

In the title sequence of 'Taking of Pelham 123' first we are introduced to the Production & Distribution company logos which is 'Columbia' and 'Metro-goldwyn-Mayer Pictures'. The purpose of the logo is to make the audience aware of their brand.



The film title is placed about the middle of the title sequence, after the production company logos and after the stars.

We can conclude that the film title usually appears in the beginning of the title sequence soon after the production and distribution company logos. The fonts and the colour used in a title sequence are usually related to the mood of the film. As for example in 'Taking of Pelham 123' the font is bold and capital in a vivid blue which looks electrified it shows that the movie includes a lot of action and it makes it look more exciting. As well as the transitions of the title sequence that the words come across the screen like a train, linking to what is happening in the film and making it look more active and exciting.

The institutional information such as production company and distributions appear a lot of times throughout the title sequence, to emphasise the institution behind the film. They want to emphasise their brand to the audience, so it becomes memorable.

Film Elements: 'Don't Be Afraid of The Dark'

Over the Christmas Holiday i watched a thriller/horror film called "Don't be afraid of the dark"(2011).

When watching this film I observed the different elements of the film which caught my attention. Such as the camera,editing,sound,characters and the actual narrative/plot of the film.
First thing I noticed in the beginning of the film was that it included some of the features of an opening film convention.
 The introduction of the production/distribution company logo.

 It also included a quick opening credit to the producers of the movie.

Then unlike most films I've watched, after the quick credit to the producers, the opening of the film begins with a dark night, the digetic sound of a horse and carriage only and trees whistling in the wind. The camera shot is a extreme long shot which gradually gets closer towards the camera where it is then visible for the viewers to see the two horses and a rather old man with a long white beard with two circular light sources on each side of him as he passes a dark house with tall gate which connotates a haunted house.











As the old man passes this house there is a  medium close up on the house and gates

then the close up on the two initials becomes more visible than the background.

 It then develops to an extreme close-up emphasising the importance of the two letters.

The camera uses a medium wide shot view of the house as an establishing shot.






The film has been carrying its audience along the film through the use of in-depth mise en scene in the short seconds of what has started. It brings about the questions to the audience like "what's going to happen next?".

Inside of the house uses mainly natural lightning through the use of candles and the light source from outside the window. The home itself gives of an old antique or creepy home.

When introducing the first character, there was a shot that I really liked; it was a medium close up but I think it is the way the person made it look as if someone was spying on her.

Pathology

Over the holidays I watched the thriller 'Pathology'. I actually enjoyed the film, it has an engaging story and I thought it used camera, miss en scene, sound and editing quite effectively. 
Dr. Ted Grey arrives at one of the nations most prestigious Pathology programs and is quickly noticed by the program's privileged and elite band of pathology interns who invite him into their crowd. He is introduced to Dr. Jake Gallo, who brings him to a secluded wing, where he and four other indulge in their after-hours, extra-curricular activities finding ways to commit the perfect murder. They call this a game where each member has to commit a murder and the others have to guess how it was done.

The beginning of the film is actually a bit scary. It immediately introduces the sick atmosphere of the film and the sickness of the characters. The scene starts with an effect of 'old recording tape' visually, as well as acoustically, which helps to create a suspicious atmosphere together with the extreme close ups of mouths being moved by hands - the mouths' appearance is unpleasant and apparently dead. The use of close-ups of dead bodies in the film is very effective to help to create this unpleasant feeling and the tension of the story.
The fact that the characters start by playing with dead bodies is a bit sick and anticipates what happens throughout the film - they do not take death seriously as 'normal' people would. The sickness of the film is what I thought made it exciting.

The 'equilibrium' of the film is shown in a very bright white room, where everyone is dressed up with neat clean clothes. This atmosphere of 'equilibrium' changes when the suspense starts. The scenes with most tension and thriller are the ones set in very low lighting and quiet places. The main location where they bring the dead people from the game is a hidden place, which is very dark and feels completely suspicious.

Long shots of empty places and only one or two characters is also frequently used to create suspense, as empty places are the ones more likely to happen something drastic. Most of the film has this kind of 'bluish' lighting that as well as it links with hospital and medical stuff that is related to the film, it helps to create a depressive atmosphere that can be representative of the sickness of the game and create suspense. 

Title sequence of Saving Private Ryan

I watched the film Saving Private Ryan as it inspires me to also try and put realism in my film opening.

The film begins with introducing the Production and distribution company logos. This is done to make the audience aware of the company supporting the film and to also draw the audience's attention more to the film as they are aware of films the production and distribution  company has previously supported. 

The Title sequence was plain and very formal as this reflected the seriousness of this movie. Whilst the title sequence was on, there was a bugle and snare army drums playing as it suggests that this film is about a War. The music seems to set the mood of the audience as it makes them alert and focused on what the film is going to be about. The title sequence has a plain transitioning as the names appear on and off at a fairly average speed to portray the fact that  the who is in it is not as important as the film itself. The significant thing about the title sequence is the fact that it does not show any credits after the Title to portray the fact that this film is like no other.

The first real image shown in the beginning of the clip is a establishing medium close shot of an American flag which is flying in the wind. This was done to establish the setting of the the film and to give more information to the audience that the war had something to do with America. The colour is de-saturated to show that the film will be mainly set in the past and to give the film a more documentary- like experience for the audience. A sound bridge connects the title sequence and the flag by using a soundbridge, however in showing the flag, the music is much more intense and has a louder volume.

Yet again; the next scene is connected with the same soundbridge as all the other scenes from the beginning. This is to show that all that all are connected to this character. The camera is tracking the character's feet whilst he is walking and then shortly after pans his body posture. These are all done to make the audience notice the way he is walking and the particular posture he has. It shows that this character has had some previous army experience as he is marching instead of walking normally. The clothes he is wearing is modern therefore suggesting that we will have to go back in-time to find out his story of why he is in modern day times now, as the flag before had  de-saturated colours to show that the film is set in the past. 

This was a wide shot cut in of the scene of the old man in modern clothes. The American flag with the normal colours symbolises the modern time the film is currently set in at that time.

Still within the same scene, a mid wide shot of white crosses are shown, with visible  names and dates to give fact and to make the audience understand that the film is about World War II.

Still within the same scene, a zoom in of a extreme close up of his eyes is shown to symbolise the intimate relationship the audience is going to have with the characters throughout the film, which is having the view point of the soldiers who were at  World War II.

In the New scene which is set back in-time, there is a tilted wide shot of the new setting. The lighting has been darkened to symbolise the dark atmosphere of the war. There is editing of text done to show the audience when it is set exactly, to also bring a documentary effect on the film. The black crosses are in great contrast to the white ones as the black crosses symbolise death, blood and anarchy; whereas the white crosses symbolised peace, dignity and a better place for both worlds.

This was the highlight of the film opening as the camera was handheld throughout the whole scene. By using a handheld cameras they were able to capture the realism of the film, as the camera made the audience feel as though they were right there. The camera was the eyes of a soldier who was on the battlefield which was very effective as it made the audience more sympathetic and empathic towards the soldiers of Word War II. There was only diegetic sound making the scene more realistic, clear shots of people dying and real blood. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated the film for eleven Academy Awards; Spielberg's direction won a second Academy Award for Best Director. This film was given 5 stars and was right to do so because this film was superb. 

Conventions of the film Saving Private Ryan

• The film Saving Private Ryan begins with introducing the production company logo then the distribution company logo.
• The title sequence has a black background with white Times Romans font. The plain background was to convey the serious mood of the film.
•  The music helped to create a documentary effect to bring realism to the screen for the audience.
• The first real image shown in the beginning of the clip is a establishing medium close up of the American flag. The colour is de-saturated to  show that the film will be mainly set in the past
• The camera is tracking whilst the character is walking. It focuses on his feet first to show the audience the way he is walking is still like a solider.
• The contrast between the white crosses and the black crosses signify the different types of people in the war, the good and the enemy.
• The extreme close up of the first character's eyes was to show that the audience will have a serious intermate relationship throughout the movie having a point of view of the character.