The Seven Basic Film Plots include;
Overcoming the Monster
Hero learns of evil and sets out to destroy it;
Jaws
Rocky IV
Rags to Riches
Somebody with nothing earning something, Poor to Rich, Lonely to Happy;
Beauty and the Beast
Cinderella
Wreck it Ralph
Jane Eyre
The Quest
The hero sets out on a journey often with companions;
Indiana Jones
Monthy Python
The Quest
Voyage and Return
Hero goes on a voyage generally mad and magical and returns a braver, better more mature person;
Labryinth
Finding Nemo
Alice in Wonderland
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Gullivers Travels
The Devil Wears Prada
Inception
Comedy
Generally a large casted rooted in miscommunication, the villian is often redeemed rather than just defeated, has a funny theme running throughout the film;
Midsummer Nights Dream
I Give it a Year
Grown Ups/ Grown Ups 2
Tragedy
The ending is tragic, we feel for the villian/hero who dies;
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet
Lord of the Rings
Goodfella's
Scarface
Rebirth
Rebirth is the more optimistic form of Tragedy, in which the villain spirals down into evil and then at the last second raises his head and gets pulled out of the mire by some redeeming figure, either his other half or a young child. The redeemer awakens the hero's ability to love (or feel compassion) and helps him also to see things as they are, including, sometimes, a reordering of priorities;
A Christmas Carol
The Secret Garden
Sleeping Beauty
Beauty and the Beast
Monday, 24 June 2013
Film Genre
Film genre is an important concept for critics, film-makers and audiences, as well as media theorists. Film genre has both academic and practical applications as films are categorised by genre at every stage of their existence, from the initial approach the screenwriter takes, to where they end up on the shelves of your local store, to how their impact on cultural history is assessed. A lot of formal study has been conducted into the categorisation of film through various paradigms, and into how that categorisation informs our understanding of the film as text. There is also a lot of commercial interest in the way people classify and choose to watch movies — this is very important for the initial marketing of a movie, and for companies like Netflix or LoveFilm, who rely on genre categories to help their customers make their picks.
There are two basic approaches to the study of film genre:
Descriptive Approach to Film Genre: This involves viewing a film as belonging to a category. It is perceived as sharing aspects and attributes with other films in the same category. This approach relies heavily upon the use of genre paradigms or readily identifiable elements such as costume, location, shots or plot content. This approach involves putting a large number of films into a number of small groups. The descriptive approach sometimes means an over-emphasis on the formal and stylistic qualities of films, and doesn't take into account how a film's meaning and impact may change over time, and when viewed by different audiences.
Functional Approach to Film Genre: The genre film is perceived as "collective expressions of contemporary life that strike a particularly resonant chord with audiences". The repetitions of patterns in a genre film are the repetitions of social questions that we need answers to as part of our shared social experience e.g.
These questions are repeated from generation to generation therefore making genre films a product of socio-historic context.
Within the main genres (Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Epics, Horror, Musical, Science Fiction, War, Western and Thriller) there are Sub Genres; For example within Action Adventure films sub genres include
Film genres derive from literary genres however film genres must contstantly evolve and mutate otherwise the plots of each genre will become increasing repetitive. Subgenres can develop in response to a movie that pushes genre paradigms, and is successful, or in response to external socio-historic factors, and can cross traditional genre boundaries.
Genres need to be constantly evolving there paradigms to prevent the genre type from becoming predictable and boring. There are only seven basic plots so by combing genres you can have many different takes on these plots for example Twilight is a Horror Romance a film based around Vampires but leading to a love story.
There are two basic approaches to the study of film genre:
Descriptive Approach to Film Genre: This involves viewing a film as belonging to a category. It is perceived as sharing aspects and attributes with other films in the same category. This approach relies heavily upon the use of genre paradigms or readily identifiable elements such as costume, location, shots or plot content. This approach involves putting a large number of films into a number of small groups. The descriptive approach sometimes means an over-emphasis on the formal and stylistic qualities of films, and doesn't take into account how a film's meaning and impact may change over time, and when viewed by different audiences.
Functional Approach to Film Genre: The genre film is perceived as "collective expressions of contemporary life that strike a particularly resonant chord with audiences". The repetitions of patterns in a genre film are the repetitions of social questions that we need answers to as part of our shared social experience e.g.
- What is frightening, or what possibilities do we fear? (horror films)
- What is criminal, or what are the boundaries of social morality that we must not cross? (gangster films)
- What is morality? (melodramas)
- What is acceptance and belonging? (romantic comedies)
- What is alien? (science fiction)
- What is the future? (science fiction again)
Within the main genres (Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Epics, Horror, Musical, Science Fiction, War, Western and Thriller) there are Sub Genres; For example within Action Adventure films sub genres include
Film genres derive from literary genres however film genres must contstantly evolve and mutate otherwise the plots of each genre will become increasing repetitive. Subgenres can develop in response to a movie that pushes genre paradigms, and is successful, or in response to external socio-historic factors, and can cross traditional genre boundaries.
Genres need to be constantly evolving there paradigms to prevent the genre type from becoming predictable and boring. There are only seven basic plots so by combing genres you can have many different takes on these plots for example Twilight is a Horror Romance a film based around Vampires but leading to a love story.
Thursday, 20 June 2013
Teaser Trailer Genres
In film theory, genre refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed. Different film genres include: Different film genres include Action and Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family, Horror, Musical, Romance , Thriller, War films and Western. The three genres I am considering are Drama, Horror and Thriller.
Conventions of the Drama genre
A drama exhibits real life situations using realistic characters, setting and stories. No animation would be found in a genre or any form of spiritual or un natural occurances. The purpose of a drama is to move the audience emotionally by portraying a characters journey. A drama usually involves plenty of social interaction and events. The heart of Drama is the journey involving the beggining of the story the conflict in between and the ending. The audience should be able to relate to the genre. A drama includes climaxes and anti climaxes to keep the audience involved and attached. A drama can and is usually mixed with another genre e.g Comedy, Romance, Thriller e.t.c
Drama films include:
The Lovely Bones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xmqxw3yAkE
The Great Gatsby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqOAga28IT0
Scarface: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnlIROVbWfM
The Breakfast Club: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkX8J-FKndE
Drama films that break Convention:
Titanic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYbCJV-GNDw Titanic broke drama conventions as all did not end happily and had a rather tragic ending.
Studios that produce Drama films include Warner Bro's, Columbia Pictures and Summit Entertainment.
Conventions
Dramatic Scenes
Conflict Between Characters
Cliff Hangers
Emotional Theme
Climax and Anti Climax
Hero/Villain
Gladiator (2000) is said to be an epic drama film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQRzYGEV0jQ
Conventions of a Horror
Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. Horror films often feature scenes that startle the viewer; the macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Thus they may overlap with the fantasy, supernatural, and thriller genres.
The Blair Witch Project is the perfect example of a great teaser trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZu1cTg-xUM
The trailer from 1999 begins with text telling you how the story began then footage of the Blair Witch Project but reveals nothing. This makes a great horror teaser trailer because you can see it's a horror from the dark setting and shaky camera movement and the heavy tense music also allows you to realise it is a horror without any sense of the actual story or the characters coming across.
Horror films include:
The Exorcist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUS5EXVrObA
Texas Chainsaw Massacre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz1ROgnACJ8
Conventions
Small or Isolated places
Dark History
Victim
Villain
Good/Bad
Conventions of the Drama genre
A drama exhibits real life situations using realistic characters, setting and stories. No animation would be found in a genre or any form of spiritual or un natural occurances. The purpose of a drama is to move the audience emotionally by portraying a characters journey. A drama usually involves plenty of social interaction and events. The heart of Drama is the journey involving the beggining of the story the conflict in between and the ending. The audience should be able to relate to the genre. A drama includes climaxes and anti climaxes to keep the audience involved and attached. A drama can and is usually mixed with another genre e.g Comedy, Romance, Thriller e.t.c
Drama films include:
The Lovely Bones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xmqxw3yAkE
The Great Gatsby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqOAga28IT0
Scarface: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnlIROVbWfM
The Breakfast Club: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkX8J-FKndE
Drama films that break Convention:
Titanic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYbCJV-GNDw Titanic broke drama conventions as all did not end happily and had a rather tragic ending.
Studios that produce Drama films include Warner Bro's, Columbia Pictures and Summit Entertainment.
Conventions
Dramatic Scenes
Conflict Between Characters
Cliff Hangers
Emotional Theme
Climax and Anti Climax
Hero/Villain
Gladiator (2000) is said to be an epic drama film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQRzYGEV0jQ
Conventions of a Horror
Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. Horror films often feature scenes that startle the viewer; the macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Thus they may overlap with the fantasy, supernatural, and thriller genres.
The Blair Witch Project is the perfect example of a great teaser trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZu1cTg-xUM
The trailer from 1999 begins with text telling you how the story began then footage of the Blair Witch Project but reveals nothing. This makes a great horror teaser trailer because you can see it's a horror from the dark setting and shaky camera movement and the heavy tense music also allows you to realise it is a horror without any sense of the actual story or the characters coming across.
Horror films include:
The Exorcist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUS5EXVrObA
Texas Chainsaw Massacre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz1ROgnACJ8
Conventions
Small or Isolated places
Dark History
Victim
Villain
Good/Bad
Monday, 17 June 2013
Research and a Brief decision
I am going to research both Teaser trailers and Music video's for now as I have not decided between the two.
Teaser Trailer Research:
Different film genres include Action and Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family, Horror, Musical, Romance , Thriller, War films and Western.
Comedy was voted Britains most popular genre in 2009 with Action/Adventure then RomComs following closely behind.
A teaser trailer's purpose is not so much to tell the story of the film but to generate hype and tell people that the film is upcoming. Teaser trailers usually are released a long time before the film release and can include scenes that never make it to the final film cut.
A classic example of a teaser trailer is the one for the first Superman film released in 1978 by Richard Donner. The film was almost a year late and the teaser trailer was used to re-invigorate interest in the release.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhfPidk4DvA At only 1 minuet sixteen seconds the teaser trailer shows only the names of the cast, the classic Superman logo and the name of the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wArmHSPIvlQ The new superman film Man of Steel released in cinemas now released a teaser trailer back in July 2012 to create hype about the upcoming film.
The new teaser trailer compared to the old one is only slightly longer at 1 minuet 34 seconds however is completely different in terms of content. This trailer contains clips of the upcoming film without letting on to the story. It also features a new and improved Superman symbol.
For a teaser trailer I would have to focus more on the editing than a music video and wouldn't have to have as much footage as a Music Video.
Music Video Research:
A music video is a short film integrating music and imagery produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract films.
There are many different music video genres such as: Pop, Rock, Indie, Classical..etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgFeZr5ptV8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRvCvsRp5ho
A music video will involve more filming and less focus on editing compared to the teaser trailer.
After my research I have decided to create a Teaser trailer as I found this the most interesting and I have the most idea's for. Teaser Trailer brief involves a Teaser Trailer, A magazine cover, A poster or website. I chose this brief as I can use my skills from last year and can also try something new and different if I choose to make the website homepage.
Teaser Trailer Research:
Different film genres include Action and Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Family, Horror, Musical, Romance , Thriller, War films and Western.
Comedy was voted Britains most popular genre in 2009 with Action/Adventure then RomComs following closely behind.
A teaser trailer's purpose is not so much to tell the story of the film but to generate hype and tell people that the film is upcoming. Teaser trailers usually are released a long time before the film release and can include scenes that never make it to the final film cut.
A classic example of a teaser trailer is the one for the first Superman film released in 1978 by Richard Donner. The film was almost a year late and the teaser trailer was used to re-invigorate interest in the release.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhfPidk4DvA At only 1 minuet sixteen seconds the teaser trailer shows only the names of the cast, the classic Superman logo and the name of the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wArmHSPIvlQ The new superman film Man of Steel released in cinemas now released a teaser trailer back in July 2012 to create hype about the upcoming film.
The new teaser trailer compared to the old one is only slightly longer at 1 minuet 34 seconds however is completely different in terms of content. This trailer contains clips of the upcoming film without letting on to the story. It also features a new and improved Superman symbol.
For a teaser trailer I would have to focus more on the editing than a music video and wouldn't have to have as much footage as a Music Video.
Music Video Research:
A music video is a short film integrating music and imagery produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract films.
There are many different music video genres such as: Pop, Rock, Indie, Classical..etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgFeZr5ptV8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRvCvsRp5ho
A music video will involve more filming and less focus on editing compared to the teaser trailer.
After my research I have decided to create a Teaser trailer as I found this the most interesting and I have the most idea's for. Teaser Trailer brief involves a Teaser Trailer, A magazine cover, A poster or website. I chose this brief as I can use my skills from last year and can also try something new and different if I choose to make the website homepage.
Friday, 14 June 2013
Introduction to A2 Media
The briefs that initially appeal to me are the Music Video and the Teaser Trailer. These appeal to me because they seem the most enjoyable to make and I have a few different idea's as to how I could go about it. I have decided to work alone on this coursework so I have no limitations. I am now currently researching into both and working on deciding what I want to do.
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