form and genre

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Page 1: Form and Genre
Page 2: Form and Genre

Conventions of an Opening

Sequence

The purpose of an opening sequence is to establish the mood and visual character of a film and introduce the viewer to all or some of these elements: Characters, Locations, Narrative/Plot, Themes, Visual, Genre.

In an opening sequence we have found our that it is conventional to include the name of production company, the director, the producer, the executive producer, the top billing actors and not forgetting the movie title.

The opening credits are usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static image but sometimes it is shown on top of action in the show. It may or may not be accompanied with music.

Page 3: Form and Genre

Conventions of Genre -

Thriller

The aim of the thriller is to create suspense and excitement for the audience, it should keep the audience engaged and on the edge of their seats. The plot normally builds towards some sort of climax.

Thrillers include numerous, often overlapping sub-genres.

Fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes characterize thrillers. The heroes must put a stop to the plans of more powerful and better-equipped villains.

Literary devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively.

Page 4: Form and Genre

Technical Elements to the Thriller

Genre – Editing & Sound

In Thrillers we would usually see editing that would make the picture dark, this would help hide the villain. In addition we normally see a lot of changes in the camera angle.

Quick cuts

Flash backs, in some thrillers you are made to feel sorry for the protagonist with the use of flashbacks.

The merging of two shots, which causes confusion. This would be montage editing.

When there is a lot of tension building up we usually hear orchestral non-diegetic sound, on the other hand when the pace is sped up we would hear eerie music.

When it comes to diegetic sound, we can associate the sound of heavy breathing, footsteps, creaky floor boards and slamming doors with this genre.

Page 5: Form and Genre

Conventions of a

Psychological Thriller

Due to our opening sequence having the sub genre psychological, we had to consider the conventions that would portray the genre that we wanted with our film.

Reality – The quality of being real. Characters often try to determine what is true and what is not within the narrative.

Perception – A person's own interpretation of the world around him through his senses. Often characters misperceive the world around them, or their perceptions are altered by outside factors within the narrative (see Unreliable narrator).

Mind – The human consciousness; the location for personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence and emotion. The mind is often used as a location for narrative conflict, where characters battle their own minds to reach a new level of understanding or perception.

Existence/Purpose – The object for which something exists; an aim or a goal humans strive towards to understand their reason for existence. Characters often try to discover what their purpose is in their lives and the narrative's conflict often is a way for the characters to discover this purpose.

Identity – The definition of one's self. Characters often are confused about or doubt who they are and try to discover their true identity.

Death – The cessation of life. Characters either fear or have a fascination with death.

Page 6: Form and Genre

Conventions of Narrative

Structure

These are conventional narratives…Linear, omniscient, non-linear and restricted.

When we were structuring our film, we had to consider our institution. Due to our film being distributed by an independent distribution company, Focus Features, which is owned by Universal will have a lot of financial support when publishing the film. However the independence must still be obvious in how the film is structured, and therefore the conventions must be considered. Thrillers are usually made up of a complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues and resolutions. This will have an effect of leaving a strong enigma by keeping the audience questioning the film and keeping their full attention by having them trying to solve the questions.

A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas are present, which the viewer expects to be resolved. This keeps the audiences concentration as they will not want to stop watching the film without finding out what happens. The audience will sometimes enter their own world within the film whilst watching the film and will tends to put themselves in the characters shoes.

Page 7: Form and Genre

Institutional Conventions

Independent Films typically have a low budget. This

is based on the fact that most independent

distribution company's have sufficient backing in

terms of funding. They will use below the line

marketing and will heavily rely on the use of web 2.0

and social media.