Unit 22- Genre

A genre in a film context is a categorized style of the film depending on its narrative elements, or the emotional responses you get from this style.

In this blog I will discuss three different genres, describing their recognizable conventions which tell the audience that this is the genre of the film.It is important for a film to include iconography or conventions of a particular genre because an audience can easily interpret a thriller for instance for a horror although The first film genre I will talk about is the genre of action, this

Explosions

Protagonist vs Antagonist

Guns

After watching the trailers for the action films; Inception, Batman- The Dark Knight and i Robot. I have noticed many conventions which are repeatedly used/ implemented and through those I was able to identify that the genre was action.

Firstly there is the common use of explosions and the person who caused the explosion to walk away, in line with the editing (where the duration of the scene was slowed down) we see and feel the damages this person caused. We therefore as an audience get feelings depending on the means of the explosion, was it done for a good reason or a bad one. I think a director might choose to include an explosion because they want the audience not only see that there is an action taking place but also that the action is corresponding to the narrative. This means that because most action genres have a similar narrative the audience would expect therefore for the bad guy to cause a disruption. e.g an explosion.
Another convention of an action film would be the 'good guy versus the bad guy' this is always the case in most action films because in order to achieve an 'action' or an active narrative in that sense you need there to be an expressive communication between two characters. I think by having the bad guy try to fight/ murder the good guy it is an effective way of showing this genre to be of action. Also, when we think of a quarrel between two people we instantly think of something bad that will happen to either one.
Lastly, the last convention I will discuss is the generic prop seen in an action film- a hand gun, often held by one character but can also be held by several characters in a group, for instance a police squad. Guns are iconic of action movies because they always are used for killing someone, which is often the bag guy.

Abandoned Houses 

The next genre I will discuss is the genre of Horror. Horror are very interesting when interpreted in a film, the most successful films are horrors, because the director, make up artist(s) or even the set designer can manipulate the scenery to make it look as frightening as possible for the audience. I have looked at some trailers for horror films and looked at what things occur frequently for each.
Firstly, the setting in most horror films is or can be the most important thing, by locating the film set in an abandoned area or place you're suggesting loneliness and this is often something that scares an audience. Even dark streets and alleyways are sufficient enough to get a scream out of someone, the directors intentions are to make the audience feel the silence -where there are no cars, people walking by but rather just silence. This is effective in this genre because it makes the audience suspect something will happen. If a horror film was set in the city where there are shops and cars going by it will take away that element of scare, because should anything happen there are people to call on and certainly places to escape.

Weapons/Props used for murder

Another convention of a horror film would be the lighting and emphasis on dark colors such as red and black. Dark colors often connote or relate to evil , death or danger. This is very much the case with most horror narratives, where someone dies as a result of a stabbing or someone is in constant danger of a haunted soul etc. For instance in the horror film 'Insidious' the family who are being followed/dictated by an evil soul or monster who never leaves them, also this 'thing'  throughout the film appears at night.
Iconography of horror films include ; Weapons, blood, masks (in the film sequel 'Saw' the use of a mask acts as a mystery to the audience throughout) and religious icons etc.

Childhood issues

The last convention of a horror would be the themes that run throughout the film. This goes along with the narrative of the film. These themes include; nightmares, childhood issues for instance in the film 'Orphan', religion or religious icons are often a common aspect and supernatural , there are many more.

The final genre I will discuss is the genre of science fiction. This genre is the most creative other than animation because, directors can express things in the most unusual way possible as it will fit the context of the genre.
A convention of a sci-fi film would be be the fact that most are set in the future or in the past but contradicts past history. This is often seen in sci-fi films in order to enhance the realism of our lives as an audience it allows for us to see what life is like in the perspective of the specific setting of the film. If  a sci-fi film is set in the future we often know this because of the advance of technology, even new technology which we have never seen before. We see this in effect with props and costumes used by the characters. A director may choose to give his/her film a futuristic setting in order to achieve a new reaction from the audience, this means that because everyone is for instance used to seeing guns in an action film , with a sci-fi film you can push the boundaries. Showing your audience something they haven't ever seen before.

Another convention of this genre would be the technical elements added such as special effects and non-diegetic sounds.  Star Wars for instance uses many non-diegetic sounds such as lasers and space guns, things which we in our world would never hear. This is done to make the film-world as realistic as possible, in other words as we're used to hearing gun sounds from a gun, what if there were laser or saber sounds. It helps the audience develop and imagine new ideas for future technology, because a sci-fi film makes technology look fun and exciting we're made to feel enthusiastic about it.