In order to prepare beforehand for our film opening project, and understand genre concepts better so we can inform ourselves of what is needed in our own work, our team analysed different genres and their concepts (or, conventions) and also several film openings within those genres. Some of which were made by past students, and others are professionally made films.
Here is an overview of the different genres I have studied and researched as a group, including their connotations and examples of studios most likely to create such films within their organisation. Our preconceived idea being to produce a psychological thriller film opening.
Action/Adventure
These films have specific connotations to themselves which are likely to contain fast paced action sequences, with lots of pyrotechnics and generally have a linear storyline which the audience can understand easily. Binary opposition forces are in conflict, such as a hero and villain in the case of The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale), and have a linear storyline. These films are likely to have been part of a series or franchise for instance, Harry Potter which had 8 films as part of the series.
Adventure films are similar but vary in some ways. Adventure films usually have a protagonist seeking to complete a goal in a 'one man army' stint. Such examples include 'Taken' (Olivier Megaton, Liam Neeson), where Liam Neeson's character found himself chasing after Albanian sex traffickers who had kidnapped his daughter. The adventure genre draws many of its key concepts from the action genre, thereby making it a sub-genre of action. Adventure films could also be ones where the protagonist is on a quest to find an object, such as treasure. Examples of this include Raiders of the Lost Ark (George Lucas, Harrison Ford) where Indiana Jones is on a quest to find 'The Ark of the Covenant.' Adventure films have the tendency to be aimed at a more younger audience due to the more elaborative and imaginative storyline, therefore targeting younger audiences. However this isn't always the case, for example 'White House Down', which has is part of the adventure genre but has a 15 certificate due to the explicit nature of it's storyline.
The main commonalities in action/adventure films is the concept of binary oppositions. Such concepts allows the films main protagonist to have some sort of dilemma/hardships which they must face, which keeps things interesting for the audience and making sure they stay in touch and alert with any changes in the film. The target audience tends to be very broad for action/adventure films, as the target age range can be from a U/PG , however depending on the level of gore/violence/blood in any film, this can be narrowed down to 15 or 18+. Studios also don't tend to target specific genders, although the common perception within the film industry is that action films tends to be more popular with males rather than females. Never the less, the tendency is to aim at the general public audience, which is the reason action and adventure films are most likely to be the highest grossing films.
Key micro-elements also include fast-paced editing in high-action scenes, which involves a lot of cuts between shots, and a variety of different camera angles such as establishing shots (especially used in films set in large cities.) These are likely to exemplify to the audience the scale of the film and also the fastened pace an audience may not be used to. When I think of studios most likely to create such films, I usually think of big Hollywood studios such as Warner Brothers, Sony, and Paramount. This is especially important to think about when deciding which ident to place in front of our film opening. The reason being that we need to ensure we have the correct studio that would be likely to produce our film. For example, we wouldn't be able to have Size 9 productions making a film that was shown to be on a Hollywood scale.
When looking at Batman the Dark Knight in more detail, The film features a longer trailer, showing the two faced nature of the joker, who is the main villain, and how him and his crew are attempting to break into a bank. It makes us as the audience to continue watching on, as we are left curious, craving to know what happens to the Joker. Within the trailer, we actually don't see the main character, that is Batman. My favourite scene during the trailer is when we as the audience catch our fist glimpse of the joker, however we are unable to fully tell if it actually is the joker. The scene cuts to reveal a man standing with his back to the audience whilst the camera slowly tracks in to his back. He is holding a blue bag and a clown mask to tell the audience that this character is also one of the villains . Because we never see his face we automatically assume this person is a bad guy as we have nothing to identify him by. The fact that the villain during the early stages of the trailer is feared yet has no real identity to the audience could be something that I may use within my film opening, especially if we do a psychological thriller.
Science fiction
A lot of elements from action/adventure films can also be found in sci-fi films, making them hybrid films of more than one genre. For example, in Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, Matthew McConaughey) McConaughey's character is tasked with finding a suitable planet for humans to migrate to as food on Earth is very much limited and no longer a sustainable resource for humans to live on. The storyline of sci-fi films can be linked to those in action/adventure films, of their quest-like nature. Sci-fi films however, generally tend to have a much more complex storyline than action/adventure films which the audience may seem to find somewhat confusing and non-relatable. Many audience members found Shutter Island an extremely confusing film due to the nature of its complex storyline. This isn't the case for films such as Skyfall which are generalized in order to make sure the wide audience stay in tune with the basic and typical storyline of action and violence.
Conventions of sci-fi films include large references to space, and scenes in space, foreign species (aliens) and sometimes sci-fi films can be set in alternate or futuristic universes, which means technologies that don't exist are often normalities within the world of the film. This is likely to mean that the writers and producers on the film are free to be imaginative as they want, within reason. An example of this are the hover skateboards in Back To The Future II (Robert Zemeckis, Michael J Fox) and also Inception which used futuristic technology to progress in their storyline.
Micro-elements found in sci-fi films similar to those in action films and can almost be seen as a sub-genre, but not quite. Again, lots of examples of fast-paced editing and establishing shots, although the location, costume and make up can be more varied than action films, most likely due to the far-gone and imaginative storyline. Audiences for this genre are somewhat similar to those of action/adventure films, since they share some similarities and are likely to have the same similar interests between both genres. Although sci-fi films are generally more popular with comic book readers and subsequently the genre has created its own following within demographics of audiences. This would include specific audiences such as Comic-Con.
Studios most likely to create such films could be Warner Brothers, Paramount, or 20th Century Fox, although it's difficult to ignore Elstree Film Studios, the birthplace of the Star Wars franchise. The reason sci-fi films tend to be from large studios such as these is most likely due to these organisations having the correct funding and availability/ conglomerate power to outsource the needed equipment for CGI and Costume/Make up.
The film that i looked at in more depth with relations to sci-fi films would have been Avatar. The film is based on the future earth, and the world called Pandora. The first shot that we get to see is a huge sweeping establishing shot, which really showcases the beautiful environment. These type of establishing shots are fairly common with this type of genre, as with Sci-Fi movies there are often very unique environments that should be shown off. The next main stand out camera shot would be an extreme close up of the main characters eyes. This is a camera technique that I could maybe use within my own film trailer, as it such a dramatic and very personal close up. This shot allows for us as the audience to see the characters emotions and feelings. Another unique factor of this opening would be the use of a first person narrative, almost like an monologue. This allows for the audience to gain a much better understanding of the ideas and reasoning behind a characters thoughts, feelings and actions. The final idea that is shown within the trailer that I may attempt to incorporate into my opening would be a close up, followed by a contrasting long shot. This is used when we see the males face, and then straight after we see him from distance, sitting in his wheelchair waiting to cross a very futuristic road, surrounded by what looks like hundreds of thousands of people. This may imply the vulnerability of this character, as that's how he looks when compared to the surrounding people.
Film Noir
These films tend to focus more on the macro-elements of film, such as the narrative and character types. Noir films deviate from the typical conventions between action/adventure films and focus specifically within the character and the personality they posses. The most known type, a femme fatale which is most definitely likely to be an attractive female who uses the doomed character to herself in order to obtain her ambitions, usually money or power. There's also one or two props that acts as a 'macguffin,' an object which has a lot of importance placed on it throughout the film but ends up being irrelevant towards the end. This could be a weapon, or a briefcase full of money which was one of the main reasons my GCSE work's establishing shot was centred around a gun. Noir films are also usually set within major American cities such as Chicago or Los Angeles.
This makes the character types in noir films quite complex and multi-layered, especially in comparison to the often one-dimensional character profiles of protagonists in adventure films who the audience are likely to be familiar with pre-hand, most likely due to series such as Iron Man etc. Noir films sometimes start with the end of the narrative, often working backwards or in a cycle through the rest of the film. One example of this is Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, William Holden) which progress through, in order to find the reason behind the beginning.
Film studios most likely to have created noir films are the ones that have been around for the longest, since this is considered a 'classic' genre, so more modern studios such as Sony wouldn't have created noir films, however Warner Brothers and Paramount have created these films in the past. These studio's have also integrated to Neo-Noir, a modern take on the Noir genre.
Horror/Thriller
The horror genre could be considered one of the most complex and hard to make genres, due to its many sub-genres and types of film, each containing their own differences in the set of conventions, however these differences are minute and in most cases only relate to the narrative and not the micro-elements of the film. Some horrors are supernatural, teen horrors, slasher films, and cannibal films.
Most horror films have locations set in small communities, or isolated places, or big cities with dark and narrow alleyways, however it will always connote the feeling of isolation. Scenes are generally also set in historic locations which have a history such as hotels, insane asylums or abandoned houses which tend to have the audience on the edge of their seat. The feeling of isolation within the film is most definitely forced upon the audience and is one of the reasons why the targeted audience go to watch the film, to gain a scene of escapism.
Micro elements of the genre also include expressive camerawork, such as high and low angle shots to connote ideas of fear, and POV shots help the audience to be placed in the position of the 'enemy' or the protagonist as they're being mutilated by the enemy, as an example. Also, long paced shots without cuts gives the feeling of suspense, that something is about to jump out and frighten the audience.
In my experience, horror films seem to be most popular with the teenage demographic, specifically teenage girls, more so than boys. The older audience are less likely to be subjective to this range of genre, however much of this demographic still maintains interest in this genre.
Unlike the other genres I have discussed, horror films don't tend to be limited to just the biggest studios. Some of the most popular horror films have been made on low budgets, such as the Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick, Heather Donahue) which only had a budget of around $60,000, and the film went on to be a culture and box office success. Another example includes Paranormal Activity, which again had a minimal budget but was still a box office hit all around the world and continued on to a progressive series. So a horror film's production doesn't necessarily rely on a huge budget or financial backing by a major studio but is more dependant upon the storyline and the excitement and fear the audience could be able to gain.
The film trailer of antisocial was also unique as the whole trailer was made up of several jump cuts, all shot from the same angle from what seems to be a laptop or computer webcam. This trailer is similar to Women in black in the way that it also tries to shock and disturb the audience, to almost pull them in and make them want to watch on. The film trailer is made up of what seems like an internet loving teen, who randomly and suddenly is attacked during the night by what seems to be another female. The victor then stands in front of the same camera draped in blood. I Personally liked the lack of camera shots. The fact that there was only one camera shot used throughout the whole opening was rather unique, and also showed us that there was a huge focus on the computer for this character during this trailer. Another aspect that I found nice was the fact that fact that from the opening scene of the trailer you cant really fully tell what type of genre it is.( its actually a zombie horror). One of the uses of editing that I may implement with my film trailer would be the jump cuts, and how its a more efficient way to show time passing.
Psychological Thriller
This genre is a sub-genre of the typical thriller genre and is a fictional thriller story which emphasises the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states the audience is likely to see throughout the film. In terms of classification, they focus on the micro-elements of film and the category is a sub-genre of the broader ranging thriller category, with similarities to Gothic and detective fiction in the sense of sometimes having a dissolving sense of reality, moral ambiguity, and complex and tortured relationships between obsessive and pathological characters. Psychological thrillers often incorporate elements of mystery, drama, action, and horror, particularly psychological horror. They are usually based on books or films.
Most psychological thrillers are likely to be set amongst the backset of a prison, mental home or within the isolation of a signal person's house or even brain. Famous examples of films from this genre include Silence of The Lambs and Shutter Island. These both enforce progressive and disturbing elements that the character is likely to be experiencing and also contain complex story lines which are most likely to confuse the audience and is one of the main elements that attracts the audience and a reason why I find Shutter Island so interesting with its play on emotion and sanity of not just the character but also ourselves.
The targeted demographic for this genre is mixed but is relatively seen to be those ranging from above the 15 certificate and above to adults. This is not only due to the constant questioning on sanity, self belief and reality but is also due to the complex and somewhat disturbing story lines that much of the younger audience would either not understand, or take them out of their comfort zone.
Unlike many of the other genre's, psychological thrillers don't appear on the main screen often however notably, when they do, they are likely to be box office hits and gain great credit reviews from both the audience and critics. Examples of this features films such as Se7en (David Fincher, Andrew Kevin Walker) and Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, Laeta Kalogridis). The stand out trend here being that even though these films were made 10 years apart, they still gained reviews of 8.1 and 9.7 on IMDb. This up rise in interest for this genre has meant large conglomerates such as Warner Brothers have invested into this area of film which was up until recently only full of independent firms.
Romance
The romance genre can be defined as a genre where by the plot revolves around the love between two protagonists and is likely to focus on the macro-elements of film. This genre usually has a theme that explores an issue within love, including but not limited to: love at first sight, forbidden love, love triangles, and sacrificial love. The tone of Romance film can vary greatly. Whether the end is happy or tragic, Romance film aims to evoke strong emotions in the audience which is one of the main pleasure gained from amongst it.
This genre can be divided into two sub-genres. Romantic Drama film is a genre that explores the complex side of love. The plot usually centres around an obstacle that is preventing love between two people. The obstacles in Romantic Drama film can range from a family's disapproval, to forbidden love, to one's own psychological restraints. Many Romantic Dramas end with the lovers separating because of the enormity of the obstacle, the realization of incompatibility, or simply because of fate. Examples include the heavily appraised Titanic, Breakfast at Tiffany's and An Officer and a Gentleman. On the other hand, Romantic-Comedy is a genre that attempts to catch the viewer’s heart with the combination of love and humour. This sub-genre is light-hearted and usually places the two protagonists in humorous situation. Romantic-Comedy film revolves around a romantic ideal, such as true love. In the end the ideal triumphs over the situation or obstacle. Examples of this include Roman Holiday and Knocked Up.
Most Romantic films are targeted at females and are usually rated 12 or 15 meaning that the target audience age generally ranges from 12 -24, however young lovers and couples alike are prioritised as an audience who would be likely to watch a romantic film. However, this does not mean we are only limited to couples as many families may watch a film from one of these sub-genres to gain an audience pleasure. Therefore, the studios that are likely to work within this genre will be similar to those of action/adventure and for instance be a conglomerate such as Warner Brothers, Paramount and Sony to name a few.
The film trailer that I looked at in depth when it came to the romance genre would be The Fault In Our Stars.
This film briefly is based on two people, both with terminal cancer that end up falling in love and spending their last moments of their lives travelling. Within the actual trailer for The Fault In Our Stars, we are immediate introduced to our main character, with an extreme close up shot of her eyes. This is a camera technique that I could maybe use within my own film trailer, as it such a dramatic and very personal close up. This shot allows for us as the audience to see the characters emotions and feelings. An example of this from within the trailer would be when hazel is looking at the couples, and you can see that her facial expression almost suggests that she is staring in fantasy. Within the film trailer for TFIOS, there are also several longs shots used, when the main female character(Hazel) is shown looking at other couples in the distance. Another key feature of this film trailer would be that there is the use of a first person narrative. This allows for the audience to gain a much better understanding of the ideas and reasoning behind a characters thoughts, feelings and actions. There is a increased significance of this as the film is a romance and how it is about love between two people, and by having a voice over it allows for you to know they are thinking or feeling within the often confusing and conflicting relationships.
Here is an overview of the different genres I have studied and researched as a group, including their connotations and examples of studios most likely to create such films within their organisation. Our preconceived idea being to produce a psychological thriller film opening.
Action/Adventure
These films have specific connotations to themselves which are likely to contain fast paced action sequences, with lots of pyrotechnics and generally have a linear storyline which the audience can understand easily. Binary opposition forces are in conflict, such as a hero and villain in the case of The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale), and have a linear storyline. These films are likely to have been part of a series or franchise for instance, Harry Potter which had 8 films as part of the series.
Adventure films are similar but vary in some ways. Adventure films usually have a protagonist seeking to complete a goal in a 'one man army' stint. Such examples include 'Taken' (Olivier Megaton, Liam Neeson), where Liam Neeson's character found himself chasing after Albanian sex traffickers who had kidnapped his daughter. The adventure genre draws many of its key concepts from the action genre, thereby making it a sub-genre of action. Adventure films could also be ones where the protagonist is on a quest to find an object, such as treasure. Examples of this include Raiders of the Lost Ark (George Lucas, Harrison Ford) where Indiana Jones is on a quest to find 'The Ark of the Covenant.' Adventure films have the tendency to be aimed at a more younger audience due to the more elaborative and imaginative storyline, therefore targeting younger audiences. However this isn't always the case, for example 'White House Down', which has is part of the adventure genre but has a 15 certificate due to the explicit nature of it's storyline.
The main commonalities in action/adventure films is the concept of binary oppositions. Such concepts allows the films main protagonist to have some sort of dilemma/hardships which they must face, which keeps things interesting for the audience and making sure they stay in touch and alert with any changes in the film. The target audience tends to be very broad for action/adventure films, as the target age range can be from a U/PG , however depending on the level of gore/violence/blood in any film, this can be narrowed down to 15 or 18+. Studios also don't tend to target specific genders, although the common perception within the film industry is that action films tends to be more popular with males rather than females. Never the less, the tendency is to aim at the general public audience, which is the reason action and adventure films are most likely to be the highest grossing films.
Key micro-elements also include fast-paced editing in high-action scenes, which involves a lot of cuts between shots, and a variety of different camera angles such as establishing shots (especially used in films set in large cities.) These are likely to exemplify to the audience the scale of the film and also the fastened pace an audience may not be used to. When I think of studios most likely to create such films, I usually think of big Hollywood studios such as Warner Brothers, Sony, and Paramount. This is especially important to think about when deciding which ident to place in front of our film opening. The reason being that we need to ensure we have the correct studio that would be likely to produce our film. For example, we wouldn't be able to have Size 9 productions making a film that was shown to be on a Hollywood scale.
When looking at Batman the Dark Knight in more detail, The film features a longer trailer, showing the two faced nature of the joker, who is the main villain, and how him and his crew are attempting to break into a bank. It makes us as the audience to continue watching on, as we are left curious, craving to know what happens to the Joker. Within the trailer, we actually don't see the main character, that is Batman. My favourite scene during the trailer is when we as the audience catch our fist glimpse of the joker, however we are unable to fully tell if it actually is the joker. The scene cuts to reveal a man standing with his back to the audience whilst the camera slowly tracks in to his back. He is holding a blue bag and a clown mask to tell the audience that this character is also one of the villains . Because we never see his face we automatically assume this person is a bad guy as we have nothing to identify him by. The fact that the villain during the early stages of the trailer is feared yet has no real identity to the audience could be something that I may use within my film opening, especially if we do a psychological thriller.
Science fiction
A lot of elements from action/adventure films can also be found in sci-fi films, making them hybrid films of more than one genre. For example, in Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, Matthew McConaughey) McConaughey's character is tasked with finding a suitable planet for humans to migrate to as food on Earth is very much limited and no longer a sustainable resource for humans to live on. The storyline of sci-fi films can be linked to those in action/adventure films, of their quest-like nature. Sci-fi films however, generally tend to have a much more complex storyline than action/adventure films which the audience may seem to find somewhat confusing and non-relatable. Many audience members found Shutter Island an extremely confusing film due to the nature of its complex storyline. This isn't the case for films such as Skyfall which are generalized in order to make sure the wide audience stay in tune with the basic and typical storyline of action and violence.
Conventions of sci-fi films include large references to space, and scenes in space, foreign species (aliens) and sometimes sci-fi films can be set in alternate or futuristic universes, which means technologies that don't exist are often normalities within the world of the film. This is likely to mean that the writers and producers on the film are free to be imaginative as they want, within reason. An example of this are the hover skateboards in Back To The Future II (Robert Zemeckis, Michael J Fox) and also Inception which used futuristic technology to progress in their storyline.
Micro-elements found in sci-fi films similar to those in action films and can almost be seen as a sub-genre, but not quite. Again, lots of examples of fast-paced editing and establishing shots, although the location, costume and make up can be more varied than action films, most likely due to the far-gone and imaginative storyline. Audiences for this genre are somewhat similar to those of action/adventure films, since they share some similarities and are likely to have the same similar interests between both genres. Although sci-fi films are generally more popular with comic book readers and subsequently the genre has created its own following within demographics of audiences. This would include specific audiences such as Comic-Con.
Studios most likely to create such films could be Warner Brothers, Paramount, or 20th Century Fox, although it's difficult to ignore Elstree Film Studios, the birthplace of the Star Wars franchise. The reason sci-fi films tend to be from large studios such as these is most likely due to these organisations having the correct funding and availability/ conglomerate power to outsource the needed equipment for CGI and Costume/Make up.
The film that i looked at in more depth with relations to sci-fi films would have been Avatar. The film is based on the future earth, and the world called Pandora. The first shot that we get to see is a huge sweeping establishing shot, which really showcases the beautiful environment. These type of establishing shots are fairly common with this type of genre, as with Sci-Fi movies there are often very unique environments that should be shown off. The next main stand out camera shot would be an extreme close up of the main characters eyes. This is a camera technique that I could maybe use within my own film trailer, as it such a dramatic and very personal close up. This shot allows for us as the audience to see the characters emotions and feelings. Another unique factor of this opening would be the use of a first person narrative, almost like an monologue. This allows for the audience to gain a much better understanding of the ideas and reasoning behind a characters thoughts, feelings and actions. The final idea that is shown within the trailer that I may attempt to incorporate into my opening would be a close up, followed by a contrasting long shot. This is used when we see the males face, and then straight after we see him from distance, sitting in his wheelchair waiting to cross a very futuristic road, surrounded by what looks like hundreds of thousands of people. This may imply the vulnerability of this character, as that's how he looks when compared to the surrounding people.
Film Noir
These films tend to focus more on the macro-elements of film, such as the narrative and character types. Noir films deviate from the typical conventions between action/adventure films and focus specifically within the character and the personality they posses. The most known type, a femme fatale which is most definitely likely to be an attractive female who uses the doomed character to herself in order to obtain her ambitions, usually money or power. There's also one or two props that acts as a 'macguffin,' an object which has a lot of importance placed on it throughout the film but ends up being irrelevant towards the end. This could be a weapon, or a briefcase full of money which was one of the main reasons my GCSE work's establishing shot was centred around a gun. Noir films are also usually set within major American cities such as Chicago or Los Angeles.
This makes the character types in noir films quite complex and multi-layered, especially in comparison to the often one-dimensional character profiles of protagonists in adventure films who the audience are likely to be familiar with pre-hand, most likely due to series such as Iron Man etc. Noir films sometimes start with the end of the narrative, often working backwards or in a cycle through the rest of the film. One example of this is Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, William Holden) which progress through, in order to find the reason behind the beginning.
Film studios most likely to have created noir films are the ones that have been around for the longest, since this is considered a 'classic' genre, so more modern studios such as Sony wouldn't have created noir films, however Warner Brothers and Paramount have created these films in the past. These studio's have also integrated to Neo-Noir, a modern take on the Noir genre.
Horror/Thriller
The horror genre could be considered one of the most complex and hard to make genres, due to its many sub-genres and types of film, each containing their own differences in the set of conventions, however these differences are minute and in most cases only relate to the narrative and not the micro-elements of the film. Some horrors are supernatural, teen horrors, slasher films, and cannibal films.
Most horror films have locations set in small communities, or isolated places, or big cities with dark and narrow alleyways, however it will always connote the feeling of isolation. Scenes are generally also set in historic locations which have a history such as hotels, insane asylums or abandoned houses which tend to have the audience on the edge of their seat. The feeling of isolation within the film is most definitely forced upon the audience and is one of the reasons why the targeted audience go to watch the film, to gain a scene of escapism.
Micro elements of the genre also include expressive camerawork, such as high and low angle shots to connote ideas of fear, and POV shots help the audience to be placed in the position of the 'enemy' or the protagonist as they're being mutilated by the enemy, as an example. Also, long paced shots without cuts gives the feeling of suspense, that something is about to jump out and frighten the audience.
In my experience, horror films seem to be most popular with the teenage demographic, specifically teenage girls, more so than boys. The older audience are less likely to be subjective to this range of genre, however much of this demographic still maintains interest in this genre.
Unlike the other genres I have discussed, horror films don't tend to be limited to just the biggest studios. Some of the most popular horror films have been made on low budgets, such as the Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick, Heather Donahue) which only had a budget of around $60,000, and the film went on to be a culture and box office success. Another example includes Paranormal Activity, which again had a minimal budget but was still a box office hit all around the world and continued on to a progressive series. So a horror film's production doesn't necessarily rely on a huge budget or financial backing by a major studio but is more dependant upon the storyline and the excitement and fear the audience could be able to gain.
The film trailer of antisocial was also unique as the whole trailer was made up of several jump cuts, all shot from the same angle from what seems to be a laptop or computer webcam. This trailer is similar to Women in black in the way that it also tries to shock and disturb the audience, to almost pull them in and make them want to watch on. The film trailer is made up of what seems like an internet loving teen, who randomly and suddenly is attacked during the night by what seems to be another female. The victor then stands in front of the same camera draped in blood. I Personally liked the lack of camera shots. The fact that there was only one camera shot used throughout the whole opening was rather unique, and also showed us that there was a huge focus on the computer for this character during this trailer. Another aspect that I found nice was the fact that fact that from the opening scene of the trailer you cant really fully tell what type of genre it is.( its actually a zombie horror). One of the uses of editing that I may implement with my film trailer would be the jump cuts, and how its a more efficient way to show time passing.
Psychological Thriller
This genre is a sub-genre of the typical thriller genre and is a fictional thriller story which emphasises the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states the audience is likely to see throughout the film. In terms of classification, they focus on the micro-elements of film and the category is a sub-genre of the broader ranging thriller category, with similarities to Gothic and detective fiction in the sense of sometimes having a dissolving sense of reality, moral ambiguity, and complex and tortured relationships between obsessive and pathological characters. Psychological thrillers often incorporate elements of mystery, drama, action, and horror, particularly psychological horror. They are usually based on books or films.
Most psychological thrillers are likely to be set amongst the backset of a prison, mental home or within the isolation of a signal person's house or even brain. Famous examples of films from this genre include Silence of The Lambs and Shutter Island. These both enforce progressive and disturbing elements that the character is likely to be experiencing and also contain complex story lines which are most likely to confuse the audience and is one of the main elements that attracts the audience and a reason why I find Shutter Island so interesting with its play on emotion and sanity of not just the character but also ourselves.
The targeted demographic for this genre is mixed but is relatively seen to be those ranging from above the 15 certificate and above to adults. This is not only due to the constant questioning on sanity, self belief and reality but is also due to the complex and somewhat disturbing story lines that much of the younger audience would either not understand, or take them out of their comfort zone.
Unlike many of the other genre's, psychological thrillers don't appear on the main screen often however notably, when they do, they are likely to be box office hits and gain great credit reviews from both the audience and critics. Examples of this features films such as Se7en (David Fincher, Andrew Kevin Walker) and Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, Laeta Kalogridis). The stand out trend here being that even though these films were made 10 years apart, they still gained reviews of 8.1 and 9.7 on IMDb. This up rise in interest for this genre has meant large conglomerates such as Warner Brothers have invested into this area of film which was up until recently only full of independent firms.
Romance
The romance genre can be defined as a genre where by the plot revolves around the love between two protagonists and is likely to focus on the macro-elements of film. This genre usually has a theme that explores an issue within love, including but not limited to: love at first sight, forbidden love, love triangles, and sacrificial love. The tone of Romance film can vary greatly. Whether the end is happy or tragic, Romance film aims to evoke strong emotions in the audience which is one of the main pleasure gained from amongst it.
This genre can be divided into two sub-genres. Romantic Drama film is a genre that explores the complex side of love. The plot usually centres around an obstacle that is preventing love between two people. The obstacles in Romantic Drama film can range from a family's disapproval, to forbidden love, to one's own psychological restraints. Many Romantic Dramas end with the lovers separating because of the enormity of the obstacle, the realization of incompatibility, or simply because of fate. Examples include the heavily appraised Titanic, Breakfast at Tiffany's and An Officer and a Gentleman. On the other hand, Romantic-Comedy is a genre that attempts to catch the viewer’s heart with the combination of love and humour. This sub-genre is light-hearted and usually places the two protagonists in humorous situation. Romantic-Comedy film revolves around a romantic ideal, such as true love. In the end the ideal triumphs over the situation or obstacle. Examples of this include Roman Holiday and Knocked Up.
Most Romantic films are targeted at females and are usually rated 12 or 15 meaning that the target audience age generally ranges from 12 -24, however young lovers and couples alike are prioritised as an audience who would be likely to watch a romantic film. However, this does not mean we are only limited to couples as many families may watch a film from one of these sub-genres to gain an audience pleasure. Therefore, the studios that are likely to work within this genre will be similar to those of action/adventure and for instance be a conglomerate such as Warner Brothers, Paramount and Sony to name a few.
The film trailer that I looked at in depth when it came to the romance genre would be The Fault In Our Stars.
This film briefly is based on two people, both with terminal cancer that end up falling in love and spending their last moments of their lives travelling. Within the actual trailer for The Fault In Our Stars, we are immediate introduced to our main character, with an extreme close up shot of her eyes. This is a camera technique that I could maybe use within my own film trailer, as it such a dramatic and very personal close up. This shot allows for us as the audience to see the characters emotions and feelings. An example of this from within the trailer would be when hazel is looking at the couples, and you can see that her facial expression almost suggests that she is staring in fantasy. Within the film trailer for TFIOS, there are also several longs shots used, when the main female character(Hazel) is shown looking at other couples in the distance. Another key feature of this film trailer would be that there is the use of a first person narrative. This allows for the audience to gain a much better understanding of the ideas and reasoning behind a characters thoughts, feelings and actions. There is a increased significance of this as the film is a romance and how it is about love between two people, and by having a voice over it allows for you to know they are thinking or feeling within the often confusing and conflicting relationships.