Target Audience - Slideshow

Target audience

More PowerPoint presentations from Chloe King

Preliminary Video

Analysis of the institutional logo:

Created by: Me, Tayla Powell and Nicola Ho 

How we came up with the company name - 'On Air Productions'

• We didn't want a simplistic company name e.g.initials of our names
• We was inspired by the company 'Universal' as the name connotes it is appealing to the whole world
• We wanted the company name to appeal to everyone but still stick to our genre - thriller-fantasy
• As a group, we looked up on the Internet searching for key words such as 'camera angles' and 'on air' came up

After we have decided the company name, we decided to create a few logos to test our skills on pixlr.com. The images we have chosen, relate to thriller as they represent power, strength, energy - which are all aspects of our film. Below this, are three logos we have all created and designed together. 

Draft 1


How did we edit this?

• Searched smoke on google - http://www.gimpusers.com/system/tutorial_steps/767/23-original.png
• Selected image and saved onto a file
• Opened image onto pixlr.com
• Using the text tool, we typed in our company name - 'ON AIR PRODUCTIONS'
• We then layered the text. which then we had options on altering the text. E.g. adding shadows, or adding glows etc.
• We then moved around the text to where we wanted to place it.
• Ta-da! We are done!

Denotation: Grayish bluey smoke
Connotation: This connotes to the audience that the films our company produces are mystical and alluring. The dark blue connotes to the audience depression, and the gray symbolises security, sadness and maturity.

Denotation: Red, bold and capitalised text
Connotation: The red can symbolise blood to the audience which fits into our genre as it is thriller-fantasy. Additionally, red can symbolise extreme emotion and fire, which can represent life and fertility. This will connote to the audience that the films our company we produce has complex characters. Furthermore, the red illustrates energy.


Evaluation: On one hand, we thought this logo was successful as it represented our film genre well to the audience and signifies strength, power and energy. On the other hand, we thought this logo didn't look 'professional' enough and decided we wanted to create another one which was more vibrant, in addition, the logo above 'draft 1' is very simple and lacks creativity.

Draft 2

How did we edit this?

• Searched smoke on google - http://cdnimg.visualizeus.com/thumbs/8a/79/abstract,color,graphic,design,smoke,artistic,awesome-8a795fc9ee6ff186a0186ef867df9d76_h.jpg
• Selected image and saved onto a file
• Opened image onto pixlr.com
• Using the text tool, we typed in our company name - 'ON AIR PRODUCTIONS' but because we wanted the text to be presented horizontally, we had to type one letter at a time.
• We then changed the colour to gray and didn't layer it as we wanted to keep it simple because the rainbow colour was eye catching enough.
• We then moved around the text to where we wanted to place it.
• Ta-da! We are done!

Denotation: The electrifying smoke
Connotation: The colourful colours will connote to the audience the institution is going to be welcoming as the colours are vibrant, and friendly in comparison to draft 1. The smoke is shaped as a head, which could refer to the audience that the films we make are accessible and are aimed for everyone, and that anyone can relate to the films. The colour is generally orange and contrasts against the dark background and the orange communicates to the audience that the film is full of energy, has a steady balance and our company is warm and full of enthusiasm.


Denotation: Gray, capitalised and bold text
Connotation: The text is gray because we wanted the full attention to be on the image as we wanted it to be a trademark and let the audience know straight away that the logo is from our company. In addition, the colour gray portrays security and this connotes to the audience our film company is confident and proud.


Evaluation: In conclusion, we as a group thought the image was very artistic, and unique. However, the logo itself looks too sci-fi which differs from our genre - thriller-fantasy. Moreover, the logo overall looks to crowded and messy, as some text are presented landscape, and some horizontally.




Draft 3

How did we edit this?

• Searched smoke on google - http://matchboxsmokeshop.com/images/Smoke.jpg
• Selected image and saved onto a file
• Opened image onto pixlr.com
• Using the text tool, we typed in our company name - 'ON AIR PRODUCTIONS'
• We then layered the text. which then we had options on altering the text. E.g. adding shadows, or adding glows etc.
• We then moved around the text to where we wanted to place it.
• Ta-da! We are done!

Denotation: Bright orangey red smoke
Connotation: The colour of the smoke - a mix between red and orange - looks like solar flares, and fire, which both represent danger, energy and power. This could suggest to the audience our films are capable of creating successful films in fitting into our genre.

Denotation: The gray, shadowed, capitalised and bold text
Connotation: The shadow create enigma to the audience, as you wonder what is trying to be hidden. The style of the writing is plain as we wanted a logo that is simple and prove that film companies doesn't necessarily need fancy logos to be appealing.

Evaluation: In conclusion, we feel this design is very successful as it fits into our Prezi brainstorm. Moreover, it looks professional because of the writing, as it fades into the background. Because of the black background, the orange smoke stands out from it, and keeps your eyeline within the orange smoke. However, if we had the technology, we would of liked the flares to be animated - to move around on the screen.

Conclusion: Overall, we as a group have chosen to use draft 3 as our instituitional logo as it looks professional, the logo is simple yet effective, and is the most successful in communicating to the audience about the type of films the company creates.

Our logo ideas

Brainstorm for the institution logo: on Prezi

Action plan - Week 3

As a group we will:

- Brainstorm and design and institutional logo which will be appropriate for our genre
- Determine target audience

- Textual analysis's - famous film of the genre (Psycho) and a British film (Sweeney Todd). We will use voicethread to enhance our analysis

We will indiviually:

- Take pictures of two locations

I will go to: Gadebridge Park and school field

Nicola will take pictures of: The Nicky Line in Hemel Hempstead and our school field.

Tayla will take pictures of: Ashridge Park and our school field.

Finalised film opening storyline

Plot Summary

More PowerPoint presentations from Chloe King

Textual analysis of a film character - Snow White:



Snow White's appearance

This is a photo of 'Snow White' which we are going to analyse the characters appearance as we will be using it within our 2 minute opening sequence.

Clothing:

• Long yellow skirt can represent sunshine and all things good, we can change this by making the skirt a complete opposite colour and ripping it up.
• The collar represents an air of royalty and protection. We won't use a collar in our characters appearance as she isn't royal she is a dark character, and will be scruffy and ragged.
• Corset represents that she is confident about herself and that she tries to emphasize her looks. We want to make our character have a baggy top that will be ripped up so it looks like she's been attacked.
• Frilly lining represents that she is innocent and girlish and naive to the dangers in life. We will change that to mud staining her top to show she's been in a struggle.
• Cream bowed court heels represents that she is formal and she takes care of her appearance but we're going to change this so the character is wearing no shoes and her feet will be muddy.
• Her bow hairband represents her innocence. We are going to keep this so that she has some part of her normality.

Make up and hair:

• Natural make up shows that although she is well groomed and cares about her looks, she doesn't try to over emphasize her looks. We will be keeping the natural make up as well.
• Pale face represents that she is innocent and/or worried easily as pale face is associated with nervousness. We will keep this as the character will be going through worrying times.
• Red lips are contrasted against her pale face which makes the character more complex and also shows her femine side. We will keep this also because red will stand out and is also related to the colour of the apple.
• Curly hair represents that she is well groomed which suggests that she is well off, however we are going to make her hair messy by backcombing it.
• Jet black hair is another contrast with the pale face and is dark which could symbolise there is darkness within her.

In conclusion:

We analysed the appearance of the original character "Snow White" so we could decide what features of her appearance we would need or want to change for our film. We have decided to change her appearance with the changes we have stated above because our film genre is thriller and fantasy and these changes will suit that genre more.

Completed by: all of the group (Group work)

Analysis of institution logo - 'Summit Entertainment'

Completed by: Myself (Indiviual work)

Examples of their films:

• Twilight
• American Pie
• Knowing
• Next Day Air
• The Hurt Locker
• Astro Boy
• Sorority Row
• Push
• Bandslam
• Letters To Juliet
• Red

Basic and history information: Summit Entertainment was founded in 1991 by Bernd Eichinger, Arnon Milchan, and Andrew G. Vajna. In 2006, it became a fully independent film studio, Summit Entertainment. In 2008, Summit ranked 8th place among the studios, with a gross of $226.5 million, almost entirely because of the release of Twilight. In 2009, Summit ranked 7th among studios with a gross of $482.5 million.

Analysis of logo:

Denotation: Black background
Connotation: This could suggest that they are trying to say that their films are good by themselves and don't need fancy decoration to make them good films. It could also suggest that they do darker films like thrillers, horrors and supernatural genre.

Denotation: Mountains
Connotation: This could suggest that their films are accessible any where and also that they go furthur to make sure their films are successful pieces of work.

Denotation: Strip of mountains is blue
Connotation: The blue could be used to suggest that you have nothing to worry about when you watch those films as blue is supposed to be a calm colour.

Denotation: Institution name in capitals
Connotation: This could suggest that the institution is confident about their films and also that they are proud. It could also suggest that their films stand out.

Denotation: Institution name in white
Connotation: This could suggest that the company is innocent and pure and what you see is what you get, no hidden agendas. The white against the black is a direct contrast which could suggest that the institution creates a variety of films.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summit_Entertainment#Film_distributor_history

Preliminary exercise - filming process:

Completed by: Myself

Yesterday, we filmed our continuity exercises. We had to produce a 30 second sequence of a character who walking through a doorway, sitting down and exchanging some dialogue and then leave. This task was to help us with being able to use our shots and time effeciently when we come to film our opening and to help us being able to be more aware of how hard continuity filming is. I worked in a group with Emma Gower, Tayla Powell and Laura Jeffreson.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Chloe King - Actress
• Laura Jefferson - Actress
• Emma Gower - Camera women/prop set up  
• Tayla Powell- Camera women/prop set up

Equipment needed:

• Camera
• Tripod
• A table with 2 chairs
• Books
• Chairs

First we had to chose where we would actually film the short video, and who's storyboard we would use for the filming. We chose Emma's storyboard as a group because it had the most range of shots, and we also chose and I.T. room because it had the right layout that we wanted for the video.

Emma's storyboard: 

• The camera is first in positions on the tripod in a long shot of the door. Then we slowly zoom in and this makes it a POV shot as it seems the camera is viewing what a character would be if they were walking towards the door. This shot lasts for 3 seconds.
   
• The camera is positioned inside the room and is on the lowered tripod focusing on the door handle. The character will behind the door and out of shot, turning the handle down slowly to show the door is about to open

• The camera will record an OTS and POV from the person sitting down already in the room as the other character walks through the door. This will last for 5 seconds.
• The camera will create a MS which is focused on the character already in the room, having a POV shot from the character who walked into the room. The character already in the room will exchange some dialogue: "Hi, are you alright?" This lasts for 5 seconds. This shot will be achieved by the camerawomen standing where the other person sits so that it looks like  the character being recorded is actually speaking to the other camera.

• The next shot is the same apart from that it will be a mid shot of the character who walked through the door speaking to the other character, and the POV will be from the character being spoke too. dialogue: "Good thanks, are you ready to go?". This lasts for 5 seconds.

• The shot will be a two shot that shows the two characters from the side onwards facing each other. The dialogue spoke is: "Yeah, let's go".

• The camera will be high angle shot of the 2 characters standing up and walking out of the room and then closing the door. It will be in silence after the dialogue. The door closes and there is a few seconds wait before the scene ends

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think that I contributed evenly within my group and was willing and helpful. I feel that our final product turned out pretty well, as the continuity shots worked and it flows quite nice. Throughout this process, we gave each other suggestions and help on how a scene should look visually, how to act, how we could overcome problems etc. However, we did have to contend with limited time and lack of experience and knowledge with dealing with tape video cameras. It was this lack of experience that led to a few mistakes being made. We had an accident with the tripod, and then the camera was malfunctioning so we had quite a few problems to deal with.

However, as the camera was no longer working, Laura brought her video camera into school for us to work with at the end of the school day which was very helpful and beneficial for us. I think that despite the isssues and problems we had, that the preliminary exercise went quite well because we worked together well, we overcame problems, we tried our best to maintain a high standard of visual appeal and the final product was quite effective.

These are some photos of us during the filming process:

Laura filming my dialogue scene



Me filming Laura



Me and Laura checking how well the shot looked

Tayla shooting high angle shot of us

Emma filming us

Emma and Tayla filming first shot



Emma and Tayla adjusting the camera



Preliminary Storyboard

This is the storyboard I made indiviually for the preliminary exercise that we will be shooting tomorrow. This may not be the storyboard I use as the preliminary exercise will be done in groups of three so we may have different storyboards and we'll have to pick one to follow.

The order of the storyboard is the top left box is the first, the box on the right of that is the second shot, the third shot is the box under the first box and it goes on like that. The box second from top right of the photo is the fifth shot in the sequence and the order of the boxes are the same on that page too.

Completed by: Myself (Indiviual Work)

Preliminary Exercise

The brief:
We have to film a person walking through a door and cut out no stages. The video has to have continuity editing i.e. has to track all the process of the person walking through the door. We have to do in camera editing which means we have to shoot all the scenes in sequence whereas normally you would put the shots in the right sequence on an editing software. We will pick a room we have access to, bring our tripod and camera and shot our video in there.

 Source: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/4231654/Media_AS_Preliminary

Completed by: Myself (Indiviual Work)

Week 2 - Action Plan

As a group: plan the storyline and characters
- Analyse the characters appearance in fantasy films
- Examine characters in thriller fantasy film e.g. Charlie the Chocolate Factory (2009)

Individually
- We each research a institutional logo 

 Tayla (Universal)

- Nicola (Disney)

- Chloe (Summit Entertainment)

Image sources: http://images.wikia.com/marvelmovies/images/c/cc/Universal_Pictures.jpg
http://www.southdreamz.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/walt-disney-logo.jpg
http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/summit_entertainment_logo.jpg

Prezi write up

Created by: Myself

Tayla Powell, Nicola Ho and I created a slide show on prezi.com to show our research and ideas, our thought proccess to our final decision on picking the movie genre and story line.

The first screen shot shows the area where we put our important details; this section concludes what we have thought about after completing the brain storm and shows that we came to decision based from the spider diagram and are our own personal preferences.

This screen shot shows the start of us making our brain storm which included many different film genres and we also added examples of films within that genre or a subgenre of it.

Here this screen shot concludes on our five reasons why we have concluded with this final idea. The ideas are linked to show the thought process we went through in deciding on the Thriller/Fantasy genre.

We chose Alice in Wonderland and Red Riding Hood as our film inspirations because Alice in Wonderland is fantasy and has some aspects of a thriller. It is also quite a unique film and we could draw inspiration from it as to how we could make our film opening unique. We chose Red Riding Hood because they have done successfully what we were thinking of doing: "remaking a fairytale into a thriller film" and we could again get inspiration from this film so both films are inspiration sources.

Since we had decided on a genre Tayla, Nicola and I decided to think of possible location settings that could be creative or fit the our genre and storyline. Tayla came up the idea of Ashridge Park, I came up with the idea of Gadebridge Park and Nicola came up with the idea of a graveyard.

Then we thought about possible fairytale characters we could use and thought up a non thorough plot that we would use with them and also we came up with how the characters would be altered from their original characteristics.

In this screen shot, we showed that we had come to the decision that we would be using the fairytale character "Snow White". We put the reasonS we chose her i.e. there is more potential in the original storyline that can be adapted into darker themes and that she is a relatable, well known character.

We were all fairly intrigued about the idea of using a close up shot of Snow White eating the poisioned apple so we found an example of a close up shot we could use which is different from the original and in that respect would be more creative.

Here is the overall view of Nicola’s, Tayla's and my slideshow we made to discuss our ideas and which we finalised our genre on.

Research and Ideas

Film Genres Research on Prezi

Textual analysis of the opening of "Red Riding Hood"

Completed by: Myself (Indiviual Work)

Tayla's analysis of "Alice In Wonderland" can be found here: http://taylaastleyasmedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/textual-analysis-alice-in-wonderland.html
Nicola's analysis of "Twilight" can be found here: http://nicolaastleyasmedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/textual-analysis-twilight.html

I chose to analyse Red Riding Hood because it has a similar plot line to our own film opening and is the same genre we want to do i.e. fantasy thriller. Our idea is to remake a fairytale into a thriller film and make the characters and plot line darker. 

I couldn't find the opening scene I analysed on YouTube but I found the trailer:

Mise en scene

- There are lots of trees which immediately sets the atmosphere i.e. secluded and mysterious.
- Lighting is dim and white as if the snow is effecting the lighting
- Large, grand and mysterious building that we aren't shown a close up of it so it becomes an enigma.
- Shows a wideshot, distance shot of a small town, this helps set the scene as it shows the audience that the film will be set in a small town and that means that the society is different so because of that it becomes more mysterious
- Old style boat on a river that is surrounded by forrest shows the audience that the characters don't live in our modern society. Also shows that the area is secluded as boat seems to be the way to get there.
- "Red Riding Hood" written in red writing which is one of the most emotionally intense colour and stimulates faster heartbeat and breathing. Also it links to the word "red" in the title and also to the colour of the clock that the character is famous for.
-Birds eye shot of water mill shows that the characters live a simple life and that their morals and work ethics would be different from ours.
-Waterfall again sets the scene and gives us a hint as the audience to how the characters may live
- Birds eye of the forrest sets the scene and creates an enigma for the audience as they wonder what and who may be in the forest.
- Wide shot of small village sets a clearer scene for the audience and the lighting on the town is bright which suggests that it is a happy place. This hints that the film will follow Todorov's theory because it starts with an equilibrium.

- Huts with straw roofs show that they live simply and could suggest that they don't have a lot of money

- Close up of windmill could be symbolising that the town is normal at the moment but could change later on to a darker direction.
- Fire in the foreground could symbolise the danger that the town may soon be facing
- The sad face mask that is put on the tree could foreshadow the characters future unhappiness
- Ray of sunshine that the little girl walks through could suggest that there is happiness but the shadows made by the girl could also tell us that the bad times are there, and are waiting to unfold.
-Bucket and chickens show that the village keep live stock which suggests that they live a farmer's life
- Girl's old fashioned clothes show that the film isn't set in modern time.
- Bright lighting shows that this is still the equilibrium
- Boy jumping out shocks the audience
- Dead grass could symbolise that their natural way of life will be coming to an end
- Knife symbolises danger and murder and this makes the scene feel more dangerous and builds more tension.
-White rabbit can symbolise innocence and pureness.
- The girl wearing light clothes whilst the boy wears dark clothes shows a direct contrast in their personalities and makes the audience question if the boy is good or bad.

Sound

- The only noise in the first minute is high pitched music that sounds like a harsher and echoed ticking of a clock which suggests that the characters may be running out of time and also that it's only a matter of time before bad things start to happen.
- The music makes the audience feel worried and tense as the sound is eery and sets a scary tone for the film.

- As the camera moves over the waterfall we hear the sound of the water flowing and crashing onto the rocks which suggests that the setting will be quiet and secluded.
-For the first two minutes there isn't any character interaction so the sound is non-diagetic and then gets mixed with the sound effects of the water crashing and the turning of the windmill.
- Once there is shots of the character there is diagetic sound of the dialogue for awhile before a voice over takes over.
- There is some dialogue in the last thirty seconds but is mainly the score and sound effects of the trap falling onto the rabbit and the sound of the blade as the boy moves it. Also whilst the children are talking about who will kill the rabbit, the only other noise is birds chirping which makes the audience tense as the silence makes the tension grow.

Editing

- Continuity editing is used, the camera is shooting in a wide shot and is closing in onto the next mountain and then there it cuts to a close up shot of it then carries on with an over the shoulder shot so you can see a wide shot of the location behind it.
- Titles appear in time with the music, the names also always appear in capitals which shows their importance.
- Had a close up of a cloud then the next shot is the camera "going through it" and there is another wide shot of the location behind it. The camera tracks the journey across the land.
- You see a boat in the middle third of the screen just of centre and then in the next screen it cuts to a closer wide shot of it and places the boat in the left bottom side of the frame.
- The film title "Red Riding Hood" is placed directly in the middle of the screen and all the words are on seperate lines which could suggest that the character doesn't quite fit in with the other villagers as the lines do not end in the same place. The writing is in capital letters which is bold and makes the title stand out. The font is harsh, with strict lines and is an oldstyle of font so that also helps set the scene and tone of the film.

- Camera tracks the whole length of the water fall from birds eye view which makes it seem like the audience are on a journey so that in turn makes the audience feel more involved in the film.
 - Goes from a high angle shot of the girl to a mid shot that tracks the girl skipping. The cut is fast and seemless so it flows.
- The credits are always either on the left hand side on the bottom third of the page or on the right hand side on the bottom third of the page. This shows the audience that they are serious about their film and they don't want to distract from the film too much. Also the credits are always white in every scene so that is also continuity editing.
- There are a lot of mid shots than close ups when the characters are performing an action i.e. the midshot is used to show the beginning of the action and the close up is used to show what the action is.
- Cuts are used often to show the change of camera angles
- One of the shots was slowed down in editing.
- Used large branches that the children were laying under to frame them in the mid shot of them
- Uses a fade transition to end the opening scene.
Camera

- Starts with an estabilishing shot which sets the scene that the location will be a secluded mountain or forest area
- Over the shoulder shot and wide shot of the area, this makes it seem that the camera is on a journey which makes the audience feel more included.

- Wide shot is the master shot of the first two minutes and this shot is used as the master to set the location, scene and tone of the film.

- The camera moves in 180 degrees curve.
- The opening scene follows the 30 degree rule of slightly moving the shot every time.
- Camera tilts up from a birds eye view of the river and goes up to a low angle shot of the forrest to make the forrest seem powerful. This could symbolise that the forrest its self is powerful, so the creatures and characters that live within it could be too.
- The camera tracks the flow of the waterfall and river from a high angle, birdseye view and the camera seems to circle to track the river which makes the audience feel as if they are following the river too.
- Uses a wide shot, birdseye view of the forrest which sets the size and scale of the forest and makes the audience feel small in comparision.
- Camera shoots along a semi circle line in a wide shot.
- Camera comes closer into a bridge and windmill until it is a close up shot of it and that draws attention to the old structure of these objects which helps the audience determine the society and time frame of the film.
- Mid shot of the girl skipping shows the audience her costume which again helps set the time frame. Also shows that she is dressed in light colours which suggests she's a good character.
-  Two shot used to show the other characters and the positioning of the characters show that they don't have a close relationship as they stand far apart from each other.
- Close up of the pig that they are going to offer as a sacrifice for the wolf emphasizes the innocence of the pig which make the audience feel more guilty for the fate it has.
- Mid shot of girl shows her emotion and body language
- Two shot then close up of girl shows her reaction to the other characters
- Wide shot to show scene and where the girl is in relation to her surroundings.
- Mid shot of girl bending down to collect water
- Close up shot of the bucket collecting water shows the audience what she is doing and also cuts us off to her surroundings so we're not aware of what's going on around her and this makes the audience wary.
- Long shot of boy jumping in front of her shows the audience who the new character is and shows what they are wearing which can tell the audience about his personality. For example his clothes are black which could suggest to the audience that he is powerful.
- Over the shoulder shot where we can see the girl from his point of view.
- Camera swoops in towards the shot of them at eye level which makes the audience feel like more involved in the film
- Close up used of the children to show their facial expressions.
- Point of view shot of the rabbit to make it clear that we are seeing what the character is seeing.
- Close up of the white rabbit to show exactly what they have captured and to show that the rabbit looks scared.
- Close up two shot used to show that the girl, Valerie, is nervous about actually killing the rabbit.
- Ends with a wide shot with the characters placed directly in the middle of the shot.

Genre research:

• Genres in this colour was done by Tayla Powell
• Genres in this colour was done by Nicola Ho
• Genres in this colour was done by Chloe King

Horror: The term ‘horror’ was first invented within the film industry when the film ‘Dracula (1931)’ and ‘Frankenstein (1931)’ was created. Films based on the film genre, ‘horror’ are uncomfortable, disconcerting movies that are attempting to draw the emotions of the audience, creating fear, hatred and horror. In addition, the creators of a horror movie also creates a scenes that alarm the viewers, although, this is created from deathlike and the supernatural. However, horror movies can easily over lap with fantasy, thriller, classic Horror, creature Features, demonic possession and science fiction genres.

The codes and conventions of horror films are always deep, low music, dark lighting and slow paced action. The camera angles is often jump cut to keep the audience aware using unknown sounds that are used in a typical ‘scared’ moments. Some horror movies use the typical conventions: slashing, cutting, blood, running and screaming. Horror films are generally supposed to make the audience feel frightened, making you feel uncomfortable, superstitious and intense. Most Horror films end in a dramatic ending or the situation is re-solved, this is the use of the gratification theory. Examples of Horror films: Drag Me to Hell, Se7en and Friday the 13^th.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film  http://faithcommunitynetwork.com/How_do_you_feel_about_horror_movies%3F/m_5354046/mpage_1/tm.htm

Action: The term ‘action’ was first invented within the film industry when the first action film was created ‘The Great Train Robbery (1960’s).’ Films based on the film genre, ‘action’ is occasionally using an imaginative character struggling against awful situations with the ‘hero’ involving physical feats, careless fights and distraught chases, likely to use several ways of transportation, e.g. car, bus, truck.

This will most probably include life-threatening situations using ‘the propp theory.’ This will include a villain, hero, dispatcher, princess, princess’s dad, the false hero, the donor and the helper. These will all take a responsible role within the genre. Nevertheless, most action films will include the ‘Todorov’ theory, which is a film with a happy beginning, fearful middle, and back to a joyful ending, having a victory achievement at the end after difficult efforts and violence; this is also the use of the gratification theory which is very common. An action movie often makes the audience observant and on the edge of their seats, often using having an enigma code which is set within the first 2 minutes of the film.

The codes and conventions of action films are made to be quick paced, often using jump cut to keep the audience alert and using dramatic sound effects, using non-diegetic sound.

Here are some examples of action sub genres: 

Action or Adventure Comedy, Alien Invasion, Biker, Blaxploitation, Buddy Cops, Chase Films or Thrillers, Comic-Book Action, Romantic Adventures, Sci-Fi, Action, Swashbuckling (sward fighting), Sea Adventures and many more. Examples of action films: Avatar, Transformers, and Salt.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_film http://www.filmsite.org/subgenres2.html

Romance: Romance genre based films are generally light hearted and has an aura that surrounds falling and being in love. Typical romance films will follow the Todorov’s narrative theory, which consists of equilibrium, a disruption, recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the damage and a new equilibrium. Examples of this would be ‘Letter’s to Juliet’, ‘Crazy, stupid Love’ and ‘the lost valentine’. On the other hand, not all romance films are light hearted, with a happy ending. Some romance films will end tragically, examples are such as: ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Titanic’. Most or all romance genre based films are able to capture the audience’s heart, be attached to the film and be able to apply either the hypodermic syringe model theory or the uses of gratification theory.

Fantasy: Fantasy films are generally stories that are not able to be realistic. They are one of the genres alongside with Swashbuckler, which are fictional. Typical fantasy films are considered to be fairytale-like which can include, dragons, fairies and vampires etc. Examples of fantasy films are: Alice in the wonderland, Twilight and Harry Potter. The main target audience for fantasy genre based films are young children as it is appealing to them with the special effects and unique characters – dragons and fairies. The genre fantasy can be split into sub genres, for example: romance fantasy, modern fantasy and dark fantasy.

  

Sources: http://www.findmeanauthor.com/romantic_fiction_genre.htm

http://www.findmeanauthor.com/fantasy_fiction_genre.htm

Thriller: Alfred Hitchcock is one of the film directors that helped shape modern day thriller films with his works such as: The Lodger (1929), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943). The purpose of thriller films is keeping their audience alert and on the edge of their seats. The protagonist will always be in danger and this will be emphasized and the tension will continue to build into it becomes a stressful and tense climax.

Modern day thrillers of the last ten years or so are mainly psychological thrillers which are a subgenre of the thriller genre and often deal with violence, domestic violence, and revenge and often have mentally ill characters.

Other subgenres are: action thrillers, crime thrillers, supernatural thrillers, science fiction thrillers, conspiracy thrillers and political thrillers.

Codes and conventions of thriller films are that there is always high pitched music, dark lighting, and quick transitions, fast paced; often change of camera angles, dark colours, exaggerated sounds like a heartbeat etc.  Thrillers are supposed to make you feel scared, full of tension and often make the audience try to guess what’s going to happen next.

Sources: http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/thriller

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)

Drama: Drama Films are stories with settings or life situations which have realistic characters in conflict with either themselves, others, or forces of nature. A dramatic film shows us human beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between. Each of the types of subject-matter themes has various kinds of dramatic plots.

Dramatic themes often include current issues, problems, concerns or injustices, such as racism, drug addiction, poverty, political issues, and the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness and violence toward women. The characters are often complex yet relatable to the audience which makes the audience have more investment in the film.

Codes and conventions of drama genre are hard to determine because it is such a broad genre however the most common codes and conventions you will find are: a variety of lighting depending on what type of scene it is, generally follow Todorov’s theory however some endings are not happy but there is always a disruption of sort, characters that are relatable and dramatic issues are used.

Examples of drama films: The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Fight Club, Forrest Gump and American History X.

Sources: http://www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html