To add onto yesterday's ideas, I have decided that I would like to work by myself. Although this may be a hinderance to me, I think that I could ask some of my friends to help me film if I need to film myself or someone else.
Following my schedule that I also made yesterday, I think it would be best if I researched some genres that interested me or that I could possibly use to do the film opening on. I researched the different type of movie genres and there are a couple that caught my eye:
- Horror
- Drama
- Action
- Sports
I wanted to choose the genres that were actually in my capability of creating a film opening for. For example, I would've liked to do sci-fi, but my creativity would outdo my ability to edit, so that wouldn't be applicable for this project as I would probably wanted to do aliens and spaceships.
Although I didn't want to do anything regarding the animation movie genre, I wanted to use some animation in my film opening as I would like to learn about the animating process in Premiere Pro and After Effects.
Horror
Time to do some research! Starting with the horror genre, I have already done prior research for this genre (right here), but I wanted to dive further into the film openings that have been created in this genre. I think I'll do that tomorrow because today I want to look at the genre conventions. Since I'm already done with horror, I'll go onto do drama.
Drama
Content
Usually, films that reside within the drama genre revolve around the life or lives or the main character/s. The genre mainly focuses on struggles or complications that the protagonists goes against. Some examples of conflicts can include poverty, mental illness, or drug or alcohol addiction. Sometimes this struggle could just be everyday life. The setting for a drama movie could take place anywhere, including at a house, an office, or anywhere where characters can interact with each other. It can be set in any time period or region in the world as long as there is a conflict. Although the setting could technically be anything, it still has to be realistic as drama can be a more serious and realistic genre.
The genre of drama tends to be the cheapest type of film to produce since there is no extra equipment needed such as costumes, props, special sets, or any special locations. Everything can be shot as it is. Drama also tends to be the largest genre with over half (51.6%) of the 20 past years starting in 2017. This means that it is largely defined, since it is just a story about a character with conflict. There are many types of drama including crime films, courtroom dramas, epics, and melodramas.
Production Techniques
Dramas tend to want to bring out the emotion and focus on it to make it feel more real. So it will use some production techniques to accomplish this task. One of these techniques is to manipulate lighting and mise-en-scene to create a dark overtone in the shot. Concealing the backgrounds in the scene with dark lighting and making the character lit well will give a good contrast and really focus in on the emotion that the character is feeling.
Another way to create more emotion in the scene is to use more close-up shots. Obviously, the close up shots will be closer to the characters face, which will show the details of their facial expressions. This will focus in on the character's emotion.
One other production technique to draw out emotion is to edit the shots slowly and use slower transitions to draw out each scene. The prolonged time of each shot will give the audience more time to think about the emotions that are being felt by the characters.
Examples
Some of the best drama films include:
Action
Content
Everyone loves a good action movie. Especially one with Tom Cruise in it. But what makes an action movie an action movie? Well, the answer is lots of action. Hmm, this definition seems too broad. Lets expand. The action genre is one where a protagonist is thrown into a series of obstacles that usually revolve around physical or violent conflicts. There is usually a very dangerous villain or antagonist, lots of life-or-death events, and a chase for the protagonist to defeat the antagonist. Action films traditionally use lots of fast and expensive cars, weaponry like guns and explosives, police, and fighting.
There are usually certain types of characters in action films. This can include the protagonist as the strong and handsome man, a comedic sidekick or partner, a nice and pretty girl (who may date the protagonist), the police, and an evil villain with his henchmen or team who carry out crimes and violence.
Production Techniques
Action films usually use lots of CGI and editing techniques to be able to carry out the extreme events that occur in these types of movies.
Various types of lighting are used to show different moods in these movies. Dark lighting can indicate a more mysterious or dangerous tone, while a more lit lighting could create a more happy tone.
Camera angles can be used to indicate power within different characters. High angle shots can be used to show belittlement or powerlessness in a character, while a low angle shot could be used to show that a character has the upper hand or is stronger.
There tends to be lots of contrast in sound levels within different parts of the movie. Times that are pleasant and relaxing are usually more quiet and have an equilibrium, while louder and more sudden sounds can create tension for the audience.
Action films usually use lots of quick and short shots and show many different angles and shots in a short amount of time to make it feel more fast-paced for the viewer.
Examples
Some of the most notable action movies are:
"Terminator 2: Judgement Day" (1991)
Sports
Content
Sports films revolve around a certain sport that a main character will play, which makes sports the central topic of the film. Although this may be the central focus of the film, sport is usually never the central concern or problem in the film as it is usually playing an allegorical role. Sports fans aren't really the target audience for sports films, but they happen to be a large amount of the followers of these types of movies.
Obviously sports films always have an athlete in it. There is usually a narrative of sporting heard throughout the film. There is always a big failure or obstacle in the film. The film usually works towards the resolution of this failure and focuses on relationships between other characters such as teammates or family. These films include a character development in the main character, and it has a realization near the end of the movie that the main character makes, which creates a good ending, There is a conflict with emotional and physical struggles.
Production Techniques
Costume design usually consists of stereotypical sports outfits with jerseys and helmets. This can also include typical props like a soccer ball, basketball, or hockey/lacrosse sticks.
Like drama films, the sports film genre can use both high and low angle shots to indicate an imbalance of power between two or more characters. High angle shots can show weakness, while low angle shots can show strength.
Examples
Some examples of sports movies are:
"The Blind Side" (2009)
Final Thoughts For Today
With all of this research done, I'm thinking that an action film may not be for me as it would require lots of equipment that I don't have. I think drama or sports would be the best option for me as it won't be too expensive to create as they are relatively cheap to produce. Also, I like sports since I'm a varsity cross country runner. Well, next time you check up on me, I'll be looking at some samples of film opening in these genres. Until next time! Bye.
References:
- https://stephenfollows.com/genre-trends-global-film-production/#:~:text=Drama%20is%20the%20cheapest%20genre,anywhere%20ever%20is%20a%20drama.
- https://nofilmschool.com/drama-genre-film-and-television#:~:text=the%20audience%20involved.-,Tropes%20and%20expectations%20within%20the%20drama%20genre%3A,to%20interact%20day%20to%20day.
- https://www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html
- https://prezi.com/bv6yzdksczgu/conventions-of-the-action-films-genre/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_film
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_film
- https://slideplayer.com/slide/9432389/
- I linked each film under each image to give credit for the image. All images were from IMDb.com.
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