GENRE, AUDIENCE AND INSTITUTION

Genre is a relevant concept for audiences, as we as the audience go by the genre of the film when choosing which film to watch. 

Genre is important to film production companies because they need to know what to include in their films in order to make it a particular genre. Film companies will need to consider the conventions that they want to include to show what genre it is and they will need to consider who the film Is targeted at and what they can include in the film to interest there target audience even more. 

Genre is also useful for film distribution companies, for example: advertising and marketing companies as they are able to use the conventions of the certain genre in order to make it immediately recognisable to the target audience, therefore drawing the target audience to the media text. For example, creating a poster that doesn’t give a lot away but intrigues the viewer and makes them want to watch it. 

SUB GENRES

Although the thriller genre is extremely varied compared to other genres, within the thriller genre there are several sub genres which means that within the films there is a high degree of similarity.

Below are three different film posters for sub-genre films, however they all use the same conventions in order to create these texts.  ( Nightcrawler, Sin City: A Dame to kill for & The November Man - all Crime Thrillers )



Through the use of Mise en scene we can clearly see what type of genre this film is most likely to be. The lighting in this picture is very dark which contrasts with the title font which is very bright. The man is standing on his own makes him look independent which connotes the idea that he may be the main character.

This poster is also very dark like the Nightcrawler. However from the poster the audience see a lot more characters than they do in the one above. Both of these posters use the colours black and red which connotes an evil and death theme again very similar to the NightCrawler.





This poster again uses the colours red and black connoting evil and death. Similar to the first poster we only see one character again telling the audience that this man is clearly independent and may be the main character. 

From looking at these three posters we as the audience can see that although they are different films they all use the same conventions in order to portray there sub - genre. All of these film posters use the colours black and red and they all have dark use of lighting which suggests an unpleasant tone to the audience.

THRILLER SUB GENRES

GENRE DIFFERENCE, REPETITION & SIMILARITY

The thriller genre of film is different from most other genres because on the surface many of them look entirely different from each other. For example the film, Seven, which is a psychological thriller, uses conventions such as synchronous sound bridge which matches the action in order to create suspense and effect as it's a psychological thriller where as 

the comedy thriller, The lady vanishes, uses conventions such as short jump cuts showing  different action - which again creates suspense but in a different way. Both of these films are within the same genre, however they are categorised under different sub - genres. 

However, although these two films have different sub genres they have things in common such as the way in which they are edited; they are aimed at completely different target audiences but they are edited in the same way which means they both create suspense. 

INTRODUCTION TO GENRE

Genre is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or entertainment, for example, music, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones are discontinued.

Genres can be identified by conventions, sound and editing. Conventions are what the audience associate with a genre. For example the convention of a film in the horror genre is most likely to be a dark isolated setting.

We also hear sound within films that help us define a genre. Different techniques used for different genres. For example: in family and comedy films we will normally hear a soundtrack which is non diegetic and linear to the narrative, however, in horror films and even a few thrillers, we hear contrapuntal sounds which don't fit with what is going on in the narrative.

Again to identify different genres in films editing techniques are used. In action and sometimes thriller films we see quick cuts and short duration shots to create suspense and give the feel of action. However, in romantic and family films we will see long duration of shots and less cuts, this is so we can take time to identify the characters emotions and empathise with them.

Some examples of genres are: Comedy, romance, animated cartoons, horror, thriller, action, crime, fantasy, sci-fi, family, teen, documentary, western, war, drama, indie, adult, musical and Bollywood. 

MINUTE MEETINGS

1ST MINUTE MEETING

WHAT WE DID

-We made decisions on what costume, location, props and set design we are going to for our title sequence and why. 
-We came up with three options for our location; Cornhill Manor, Adam's house or an actual hotel room, we looked at which was more cost effective and realistic for or title sequence. 
-We decided that which ever location we go for we are still going to have to manipulate it to suit our vision of the thriller. 
-We added more detail to our storyboards i.e. timing and sound.
 TARGETS
-Talk to Matt about new idea. 
-Film test shoot.
WORRIES
-Finding actors that would look old enough on screen and would be willing to play the part 
WHAT WENT WELL
-We made a few successful decisions, like with the costume and the props
-Completed the storyboard
-Agreeing with decisions in the group 

SECOND MINUTE MEETING

What we did:

-Worked on our new story board

Targets
-Test Shoot the new idea
- Talk to Matt about new idea

Worries
- Team work
- If the new idea will work

What went well
- Creating the story board
- Coming up with new ideas to improve it even more

THIRD MINUTE MEETING

WHAT WE DID

-Worked on new idea for opening title sequence
-Discussed new idea

TARGETS
-Test shoot the new idea
-Talk to Matt about new idea

WORRIES
-Developing new idea
-Team work; The group itself

WHAT WENT WELL
-The new idea really works
-Able to create tension with the new idea without making it generic
-Able to give characters a unique selling point

FOURTH MINUTE MEETING

What we did 
- Created a mood board 
- Discussed ideas to improve the opening sequence ( referring to what matt said ) 

Targets 
- Make the opening sequence more unique 
- Come up with a better plot twist to make it more interesting  

Worries
- The idea in general 
- How to develop it and not make it too generic 

What went well
- Creating the mood board gave us more ideas to improve the sequence 

SIXTH MINUTE MEETING

What we did
- presented our opening sequence to Matt

Targets
- Change the idea around
- Make it more unique
- Make it stand out

Worries
-Location for filming not found yet
-Coming up with new ideas to improve the sequence
-Giving in minute meetings
-Is our opening title sequence good enough?

What went well?
- Matt liked the idea and said it was very visual


SEVENTH MINUTE MEETING

What we did
- Worked on presenting the pitch to Matt
- worked on making it short and straight to the point
-Worked on the synopsis for the plot and title sequence
-Added more to the title sequence to make it longer

Targets
-Pitch the idea to Matt
-Create more tension for the title sequence 

What we did
-Came up with a synopsis quite easily
-Made the pitch quite simple

Worries
-Would Matt like our idea?


EIGHTH MINUTE MEETING

What we did 
- Looked back at the test shot 
- Discussed ways we could improve it.

Targets
- Make it more interesting at the end ( create more tension )

Worries 
- It may not be long enough 

What went well 
- We discussed ideas to make it longer and add more tension which we all agreed on.
- We liked the idea and it was good to look at what worked and what didnt. 

NINTH MINUTE MEETING

What we did
-Filmed test shoot
-Filmed according to the storyboard

Targets
Submit first 2 minute minutes

Worries
-Location for filming not found yet
-Continuity in filming
-Giving in minute meetings
-Is our opening title sequence good enough?

What went well
-Good timing during test shoot
-Generally successful test shoot

TENTH MINUTE MEETING

What we did
- Finished the opening sequence story board

Targets
- To do a test shoot of our opening sequence to see if it actually works.

Worries
- It may not work as well as we expect it to since the setting we planned is usually crowded ( subway tunnel )

What went well
- We decided on a new idea to improve the sequence
  
ELEVENTH MINUTE MEETING
 
What we did 
- We started sketching and discussing the opening sequence's camera angles, mise en scene, sound and the lighting we will be using. 
- Discussed where our location will be 
Targets
- Finish the opening sequence plan 
- Start making better decisions as a group that would be agreeable by everyone.
Worries
- That the group as a whole may not be happy with some of the decisions made
- Where the location will be 
What went well
- We were able to finish a good part of our storyboard which took some of the pressure out of the way
- We decided to use this idea and not the back up plan

TWELFTH MINUTE MEETING 

WHAT WE DID

-We made decisions on what costume, location, props and set design we are going to for our title sequence and why. 

-We came up with three options for our location; Cornhill Manor, Adam's house or an actual hotel room, we looked at which was more cost effective and realistic for or title sequence. 

-We decided that which ever location we go for we are still going to have to manipulate it to suit our vision of the thriller. 

-We added more detail to our storyboards i.e. timing and sound.

 TARGETS

-Talk to Matt about new idea. 

-Film test shoot.

WORRIES

-Finding actors that would look old enough on screen and would be willing to play the part 

-Hannah's absence

WHAT WENT WELL

-We made a few successful decisions, like with the costume and the props

-Completed the storyboard

-Agreeing with decisions in the group

THIRTEENTH MINUTE MEETING 

What we did

-We discussed and decided who are the people we are going to use as the actors.

-We discussed exactly all props we will need

-Basically finalized our idea thinking about every different aspect and everything we will need for the shoot. 

Targets

-Have everything ready to shoot by Friday.

-Figure out where we are going to get all our props. (We might need to buy some off ebay)

What went well

-We all came to decisions we are all happy about

Worries

-Worried that since our new idea was established recently we are afraid that it might be hard to be completely ready by Friday.

Pre Lim Editing Task

After my group and I had finished shooting our pre Lim task, we had the task of editing it on the Adobe Premier Pro equipment. Before editing the the Pre Lim we had two lessons to learn what to do. For example we learnt how to make 'bins' in order to organise the raw footage into sub-folders ready to edit. After we had done this we chose a series of clips, which if edited correctly, would create a well edited clip. 

To edit the clips we had chosen, we had to drag them onto a timeline in order to slot them together, creating a continuous scene. Above the timeline the software includes two separate screens; showing the whole clip on one window and the clip selected at the time on another window, making it easier to see what is going on. 

Throughout the task of editing I found I struggled when cutting the shots so they could all slot together, as we had to match the exact point in one clip to the same point in the following clip. However I learnt from this and having the opportunity to practise by doing a pre lim task most defiantly helped me.

Thriller Opening Sequence Development

Today in media I got put into the group I will be working with to create a thriller opening sequence. I will be working with poppy, stephanie and gugh. In today's lesson we each read our four ideas to each other, giving feedback on every sequence that was read out. We then decided on one idea out of the 16 that was read out to develop. We have chosen the opening sequence called "sisters" which was created by Stephanie, however we are now going to develop this idea and each add things to it from our original own ideas.