Genre Research
There are several different genres to choose from when it comes to our A2 Media Short Film. As we have to fit a full plot within a limited amount of time, there are several genres that might not work as well as alternatives especially if they have heavy background stories. Genre's such as thrillers and horrors may be hard to implement because their may not be enough time to fully explain murder scenes.
Romance
Romance genre films often refer to the semantic of love. This emotion is often about another person which often ends up with them living together happily. This genre usually has a theme that explores an issue within love, including: love at first sight, forbidden love. In a romance, the general audience are often females because it is easier for them to relate to relationships as well as expressing more emotional films. For the audience, they enjoy seeing two people falling in love. More often than not, there is a voice over that introduces the characters in a high amount of detail and gives the audience an insight to the characters background knowledge. The plot of a romance usually consists of two characters that are in love or looking for love which eventually leads to them falling out. They are then expected to overcome their problems and differences and as a result usually re-unite. Choice of props and sounds are important in romances. In terms of props, flowers and other kind of gifts are given between the two main characters to express their emotions between each other. Non-diegetic, soft music is often played in the background to portray a chilled out, loving atmosphere as well as foley sounds such as wedding bells in order to create a sense of realism within the film.
Horror
Horror films usually have an element designed to frighten and unsettle the audience in some way. This may involve a monster popping up where you least expect it or an unnerving scene carried out by a monstrous character - this could simply be a scream or mysterious laugh. Usually there is an element of death, murder or ghost presence within this genre of film. The main protagonist will find themselves facing this 'monster' and either trying to escape it or fight it. Blood tends to be a common occurrence in horror films as it has the connotations of death and a warning. Blood is normally found on a person, animal or wall around the time of an intense attack. The narrative can present a sub-genre that can relate to certain medical issues. The villain has psychotic characteristics and gains pleasure from killing strangers. Stereotypically these strangers are usually naive. The setting of the film comes across as quite isolated and are typically abandoned areas or buildings to create a 'fear of the unknown'. Dark streets, shadows and places with a dark history all add to the feeling of being alone, which is what should be achieved within the horror genre. With the characters, there is always a protagonist that has to try and kill or solve the problem - this character is more often than not a male. There is also a victim that is subject to the villain and regularly ends up dead. Children in horror films play a more sinister role because of how vulnerable they are, for example The Ring'. In this film a girl is playing the child rather than a boy which puts forward the idea that little girls are creepier than little boys. With the rise-en-scene within horror films, props such as knives, guns and other weapons are used to indicate that death is likely. Low key lighting increases the suspense and mysteriousness - as it is harder for the viewers and the characters to the whereabouts of the killer.
Thriller
A thriller usually consists of a conflict between the protagonist character and the antagonist, when there is a disruption in the equilibrium. Then the story shows a series of bad events that build the tension and suspense up for the climax. The aim of the protagonist is to restore justice, while the antagonist seeks to destroy it. It is common within thrillers to use low-key lighting as it creates a mysterious effect within the film whilst expressing the protagonist as more vulnerable at this time. This usually leads onto the use of deceiving shadows as well as suspense music to build tension. Other sounds that are usually heard within this genre is the diegetic sound of breathing which is used to alert the audience that the main character is not alone. During the chase scenes, fast-paced, jump cuts are used to show things happening that the audience are unaware of but is essential for the film to make sense and how the antagonist desperately wants to capture this character for reasons that the audience may not know (often revenge). Their identity is often hidden from the audience, but as the film progresses more is revealed about this character. On the contrary the protagonist is usually a brave male who seeks to restore the equilibrium. In terms of camera shots, the director will include a lot of close ups and extreme close ups of the protagonist character in order to show their emotions. It can also be used to focus on props to aid the narrative. The shots of the antagonistic character will be cut quickly and will aim to hide their identity, e.g. A shot of the back of them, a low key shot, or a shadow of the character. The purpose of a thriller is to create a storyline that can be relatable to the audience and force them into believing that this can happen to them, thus making them feel frightened.
Comedy
The main purpose of a comedy is to entertain the audience and to make them laugh. There are several different types of comedies. Dark Humour: which looks at disturbing subjects such as death, drugs, rape and terrorism, Slapstick: uses physical movement and gestures and is influenced through acting in a comical way and Wordplay: more intellectual forms of comedy based on clever yet subtle manipulation of language. Comedy sketches are often filmed within bright, realistic locations that are known for social events. The camera work supports this by film in a natural way and portrays the characters as being better than everyone else - low angle and high angle shots. Within a comedy the most important convention is sound as long is it is clear and can be heard by the audience in order to make them laugh.Both Diegetic and Non-diegetic sounds are used to emphasise certain scenes within the film as a result making them seem outrageous to the audience. Characters within comedies are important as they must be able to form a connection between themselves and the audience whilst being strongly relatable. Idiotic people are usually used in contrast with a group of “normal” people to show the contrast of the personalities and emphasise the stupidity of the character. Above average intelligent people are often used to emphasise their smartness but usually come across as very socially awkward and unaware of social boundaries with “normal” people. A common attribute within characters is sarcasm, for example the inbetweeners. The characters use this feature to make the rest of the group look stupid in comparison to them and to show them up.
Action
Straight away the main focus with these films is with the action sequences and rarely would you see one with a heavy amount of dialogue, especially with the shorter action films, and instead looks to keep the audience immersed by using high-paced action scenes. In terms of characters, there are a few main stereotypes. For example, the villains are often in dark clothing in contrast to the heroes being in bright. The stereotypical plot within an action tends to go along the lines of a hero that has something taken from him and he needs to get it back; this can be a fairly easy plot to follow as an audience as well as creating it as the producers because there are so many different ways you can make it work by using different props and character motivations. Mostly every shot is used in these action films but the editing has to be fairly quick and the shots can't last too long else it will tamper with the continuity of the action sequences. There are often close-ups as reaction shots when certain events take place but they are mostly comprised of mid, two and tracking shots. Additionally, most settings can be used and there's an abundance of local areas that fit the action genre for us. The lighting is usually ambient without too much external influence which is because action films tend to have more of a feeling of verisimilitude than most other genres because the whole point of an action film is to give the audience the belief that the events taking place really could occur.
Decision
Upon reviewing the research done for each genre, myself and my group feel it best to go forward with the Drama genre. We can always incorporate another genre within this too, in fact we are considering going with an Action sub-genre. Overall, this is because we feel it is the most realistically achievable film to create with our very small budget.