Genre is the classification of any media text in to a category or text.
The genre horror is watched by a lot of people. However there are really predictable situations because when a person is running and there is tense music building up, you know that the serial killer is going to catch that person and slaughter them. There are also stereotypical people in horror, when you know which person is going to die first in the film.
Chandler suggests conventional definition of genres tend to constitute particular conventions of content.
Altman suggests that there is no such thing about genre anymore, for example when a horror film comes out there is not only horror, there is loads of other genres in that film like: romance, sometimes comedy. So he says that whats the point of calling it horror when theirs other genres as well.
The genre horror is watched by a lot of people. However there are really predictable situations because when a person is running and there is tense music building up, you know that the serial killer is going to catch that person and slaughter them. There are also stereotypical people in horror, when you know which person is going to die first in the film.
Chandler suggests conventional definition of genres tend to constitute particular conventions of content.
Altman suggests that there is no such thing about genre anymore, for example when a horror film comes out there is not only horror, there is loads of other genres in that film like: romance, sometimes comedy. So he says that whats the point of calling it horror when theirs other genres as well.
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Green Street
In the poster of the film 'Green Street' the characters are represented as dirty and pikey, because in the scene where we watched a small portion of the film, there was one side who wanted trouble and one side that wanted to enjoy their night out and go to the match and comeback quietly. However, a fight broke out and there were stereotypes of London, where the red telephone box was knocked over, it was very noisey and it was very violent.
This representation of London, was not exactly correct, however a small part of it was correct.
In the poster of the film 'Green Street' the characters are represented as dirty and pikey, because in the scene where we watched a small portion of the film, there was one side who wanted trouble and one side that wanted to enjoy their night out and go to the match and comeback quietly. However, a fight broke out and there were stereotypes of London, where the red telephone box was knocked over, it was very noisey and it was very violent.
This representation of London, was not exactly correct, however a small part of it was correct.
NARRATIVE
Narrative simply means the meaning of something, it is the telling of stories for example their structure and how they are understood. It is not just about what it is trying to tell us. Another meaning could Narrative= Plot + Story.
Todorov's meaning of narrative is repairing the damage and heroes overcoming tough obstacles in order to become the hero and save usually a girl and often rewarded or praised from the girl's father.
Propps idea of Narrative is that it can be determined by role and there are 31 functions to a character. The characters are: the villain, who usually fights with the hero and loses at the end, dies. The hero, who goes on a mission. The dispatcher, send the hero on a mission to save someone, praises the hero. The false hero, who claims to be the hero but everyone knows that they are not. The donor, offers the hero a gift usually a lotion or injection to make him have superpowers to fight of the villains. The helper, the person who usually wounds the hero to make him stronger than ever to fight of the people harming the city. The princess, often gets kidnapped and needs to be saved and this is the situation where the hero comes and saves her and then they get to love each other. The father, after his daughter is saved by the hero, he gets rewarded from things like: getting married, getting money or praising him.
Claude Levi-Strauss
He said that in order to understand narrative you have to look at it from two different perspectives .
Settlers vs Native Americans, Christians vs Pagans, Domestic vs Savage, Weak vs Strong and Good vs Evil. Another of way explaining it is that he suggested that the production of meaning depended on the concept of binary oppositions, this involves looking at the conflict between two qualities and understanding how the text produces these oppositions, the two oppositions i have included above.
Roland Bathes
He said that narrative is told through a series of codes, these codes are Enigma Codes and Action Codes. Enigma codes= A narrative device that tells the audience whats the film is about at the start and the audience has to think whats going to happen throughout the film, its like a puzzle and it foreshadows the film. This is not considered as a spoiler as the don't give to much away at the start, so the audience can enjoy film and could suggest it to other people.
Action Codes= This is when a resolution is produced through action and these things could be: a shoot-out, violence, often by the hero.
1st Opening Sequence Analysis: The Drive
Cinematography
The movie Drive starts with of with a close up shot of the character in the car, having a toothpick in his mouth. It shows that he is very cool and is a very patient person whilst he is waiting for the robbers to come in the car, so he can get them away from the police. As the masked men arrive they, getaway and the camera is shown as a perspective of the masked men in the back and you can see the driver in the front mirror to show that the masked men are actually looking at him and are really worried about his driving. Then there is a two of the masked men looking at each other as they are worried that they might die. He then arrives at the football stadium (American football) and the camera is focused on him and he disguises to hide from the police, he swaps his jacket and put on a hat. The opening sequence ends there. The whole point of the camera in the car was to make us feel that we are in the car with the driver and the masked men and makes us feel claustrophobic.
Mise-en-scene
The driver is wearing a silver jacket and black denim jeans, the robbers are wearing all black with black masks to camouflage from the police as the time of the day is night and there are next to a warehouse and the surroundings look abandoned and deserted. There is a lot of low key lighting in the opening scene to create a anonymous image because they robbed somewhere and the police know and they have to hide so they could not get caught. Props: A bag is used, to hold the money, there is also a jacket the driver wheres and after switches it to disguise himself.
Sound
There is a beat that plays throughout the whole opening scene, and it fits really well with the movie because it is a very tense movie, and the driver is very patient and so they created a beat in the background to make it match with the movie. We could also hear that the driver listens to the radio of the american football game and police radio, so he could get away from the police as he knows where they are and what they are talking about. There is mainly no dialogue, just a beat in the background and the radio.
Codes and Conventions
I would suggest that this film is action because it is easy to predict at the start of the film as the masked men rob a place and i expect to be car chasing and potentially guns involved in the chase to stop the getaway driver.
Narratives
The driver is a very patient character and is very cool as has a toothpick in his mouth as he waits for the robbers to come. One event that happens is when the people in the car get caught and there is sort of a little car chase with the police, but they eventually get away from the police and hide. The masked men are very worried and shocked about the driver because he drives very seriously and dangerously and they are worried they might get caught.
Typography
I think that the whole point of this movie and what it is trying to suggest is that it is a very serious movie and a action movie. It is also for people who loves cars and love car movies such as Fast and Furious. There is pink font in the titles which is very weird because you would expect it to be a action movie but there is pink writing. This suggests that there is a little bit of romance in the film as the we meet another character who is girl, when the driver enters the lift.
Other opening ingredients
The music is incidental because they have specifically picked this beat as it flows with the movie, because it is an very action packed and tense movie.
Cinematography
The movie Drive starts with of with a close up shot of the character in the car, having a toothpick in his mouth. It shows that he is very cool and is a very patient person whilst he is waiting for the robbers to come in the car, so he can get them away from the police. As the masked men arrive they, getaway and the camera is shown as a perspective of the masked men in the back and you can see the driver in the front mirror to show that the masked men are actually looking at him and are really worried about his driving. Then there is a two of the masked men looking at each other as they are worried that they might die. He then arrives at the football stadium (American football) and the camera is focused on him and he disguises to hide from the police, he swaps his jacket and put on a hat. The opening sequence ends there. The whole point of the camera in the car was to make us feel that we are in the car with the driver and the masked men and makes us feel claustrophobic.
Mise-en-scene
The driver is wearing a silver jacket and black denim jeans, the robbers are wearing all black with black masks to camouflage from the police as the time of the day is night and there are next to a warehouse and the surroundings look abandoned and deserted. There is a lot of low key lighting in the opening scene to create a anonymous image because they robbed somewhere and the police know and they have to hide so they could not get caught. Props: A bag is used, to hold the money, there is also a jacket the driver wheres and after switches it to disguise himself.
Sound
There is a beat that plays throughout the whole opening scene, and it fits really well with the movie because it is a very tense movie, and the driver is very patient and so they created a beat in the background to make it match with the movie. We could also hear that the driver listens to the radio of the american football game and police radio, so he could get away from the police as he knows where they are and what they are talking about. There is mainly no dialogue, just a beat in the background and the radio.
Codes and Conventions
I would suggest that this film is action because it is easy to predict at the start of the film as the masked men rob a place and i expect to be car chasing and potentially guns involved in the chase to stop the getaway driver.
Narratives
The driver is a very patient character and is very cool as has a toothpick in his mouth as he waits for the robbers to come. One event that happens is when the people in the car get caught and there is sort of a little car chase with the police, but they eventually get away from the police and hide. The masked men are very worried and shocked about the driver because he drives very seriously and dangerously and they are worried they might get caught.
Typography
I think that the whole point of this movie and what it is trying to suggest is that it is a very serious movie and a action movie. It is also for people who loves cars and love car movies such as Fast and Furious. There is pink font in the titles which is very weird because you would expect it to be a action movie but there is pink writing. This suggests that there is a little bit of romance in the film as the we meet another character who is girl, when the driver enters the lift.
Other opening ingredients
The music is incidental because they have specifically picked this beat as it flows with the movie, because it is an very action packed and tense movie.
2nd Opening Sequence Analysis: Friday The 13th The Final Chapter Cinematography Friday the 13th starts of with a group of adults sitting around a fire and talking about Jason (Serial Killer in the movie). It starts of with a medium long shot where the group of people are talking and there are loads of cutaways in the opening sequence showing Jason and him slaughtering his victims. After the talking, the opening sequence goes dark for a bit and then his mask appears with the title of the film in red. We can associate red to blood, which matches the film as there are lot of deaths in the film. After that the opening sequence ends with credits, showing the characters names. The man talking the camp fire, makes the people feel very afraid of their surroundings as the killer could be anywhere within their range. And it also makes us feel as if were sitting with them and listening. Mise-en-scene There are low key lighting used in the majority of the opening sequence, this gives us a small glimpse of the movie and what it is going to be about. However there are small bits of natural lighting. The characters are dressed as how people would dress usually, however the serial killer (Jason) is wearing dirty clothes and carry's a knife or some sort of weapon with him, so he could kill his victims. Sound When the film starts there is no sound, but there is one man speaking about Jason, the camera focuses on him. However, as we get further in to the opening sequence there are high pitch noises and themes that match the film. Also people screaming and begging for the serial killer not to kill them. As the credits pop up the title of the film comes up and there is a theme going on throughout the entire credits. Codes and Conventions This is obvious that it is a horror film, because we can predict easily from the start of the film as there are lot of deaths and blood. Narratives The main character who is Jason, doesn't really talk that much because he is a serial killer and doesn't communicate with people. He is very big and tall and looks like that people cant get away from him. He goes around killing people. Typography The typography is presented as bold and very simple, and they are in black and white. Other Ingredients The music is incidental because they have specifically picked this beat as it flows with the movie, because it is an very scary packed and tense movie |
3rd Opening Sequence Analysis: The Shining
Cinematography The movie Shining starts of in the lake where there is no people and the camera is travelling in the sky picking up shots of the surroundings. A car is driving by and there is a focus on the car. It is a birds eye view of the car and then a long shot as the camera passes the car. Mise-en-scene Natural lighting is used in the opening sequence. There are also no characters in the opening sequence, which unusual because you would expect characters in the opening sequence. Sound There is a really annoying and dull sound that carry's on going and it creates a chilling vibe. Codes and Conventions From the opening sequence you cant suggest what genre this film is because it is a unadventurous opening sequence. However, i know that this is a horror movie and relates to my movie. |