Research: Movie Genres

Media Studies – Movie Genre’s

Action Clues:

-          Sounds on the Company name title screen seem loud and dramatic – Iconic sounds associated in the police force. Diegetic sound effect. Synchronised with images.

-          Opening sequence is of door being open – something’s going to happen as the tension rises. Mise-en-Scene, dramatic walking purposely towards the audience.

-          Diegetic sounds associated with serious looking films.

-          Montage of him working in the police force (backstory).

Action Associations

-          Speed

-          Danger

-          Violence

-          Tension

-          Fire arms

-          Crime

Comedy Clues

-          Pulling faces at the camera; humorous though looks too serious.

-          Parody opening sequence.

-          First joke seen by his facial expressing (Mise-en-Scene) – exaggerated, too serious.

-          The music heard is not serious – ironic sounds, takes the micky out of the character.

-          Voiceovers: behind his backstory.

-          He gets stabbed by Santa Clause. Gives off gory detail.

Comedy Associations

-          Exaggeration

-          Parody

-          Accidents

-          Unusual events

-          Juxtaposition

Summary

-          Music.

-          Sound.

-          Mise-en-Scene (objects to lighting).

-          Story telling: the movie uses a montage to show a backstory of the lead character – uses a first person voice over shown from his perspective.

The Shining

-          At the start of the movie, we see a hallway for a hotel with weary music in the backdrop getting louder and louder in the process.

-          Blood then comes out of the door filling the hallway with red blood stains all over whilst the opening credits come up and proceed into the next scene. This also introduces the movie title ‘The Shining’ with the company name at the start; making the audience aware they’re watching one of their films.

-          The next seen then continues with a birds-eye view of a car driving by around a mountain/ cliff. This brings tension to the scene since we are unaware of what will happen as the movie progresses with diegetic and iconic sounds in the backdrop whilst more movie opening credits appear.

-          Whilst the car drives along, we see that car driving on a cliff; which could connote danger to the car driver as he could possibly drive off (getting us ‘active’ audience to think what will happen next).

Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol

-          At the start of the movie, we see one of the characters start in a fight scene which is then killed off within a matter of minutes by one of the girls (in disguise).

-          After this scene, we skip to a scene with the real main characters and heroes where they try and escape a prison. They go down a roped wire – connoting more action to the movie too. He then tells the new woman (another agent we’re introduced to) to ‘light the fuse’ which then the opening titles roll into the movie.

-          In the opening titles being displayed first showing the companies names – in co-operation with each other; Paramount Pictures and Sky Dance Productions. Then rolls onto the main people’s names – i.e. Tom Cruise production, Bad Robot production, Brad Bird film, displaying all the main people/ company names. This then cuts to the film name, being delayed to create tension at the start (hence the action/ adventure movie). It then goes on to starring the characters and finally displaying the director’s name last, since it’s easier to recognise and remember.

-          Though whilst the opening titles unroll to the audience, we see the fuse being lit and is travelling us around the opening titles to link both the movie and the credits together in some way.

-          Once the opening titles end, we see the fuse is lit to some dynamite/T.N.T or some-sort which blows up the first scene within the tunnel which is then linked into the movie’s first act/scene where we see the main agent running away from an explosion.