Genre Research Activity

Genre

The genre I have chosen to research was War.

Genre Conventions-Content

Many movies that fit the genre of war are usually created with a very similar plot line, characters, and locations. Often if the movie is set in the World War 2 era, for example, then the main character may be a young kid from a rural area in America. As soon as he is old enough he would enlist and go fight with other kids on snowy harsh conditions in the trenches in countries such as France, Germany, Poland, or any of the pacific islands.

Genre Conventions-Production Techniques

In war movies the producers are tasked with conveying a scene that correctly emulates a war scene so that it feels real to the viewer. There are several ways that they could do this. Some things that the do to help convey the battle to the viewer is by having many explosives that kick up dirt or other things. Whether these explosions are special effects or are real, these loud noises and grand visuals can accurately emulate a war scene. The producers can also use the sound of gunfire to convince the viewers that they are almost in the war itself. This genre of film can be expressed with close up shots to show the characters raw emotions on the battlefield, and with extreme long shots to show the destruction war brings to landscapes and cities.

Institutional Conventions

Films in the war genre usually are marketed to the community in similar ways. In the trailers and teasers they show a fast-paced, action-packed minute or two, but also have some slower more calm, somber clips within it as well. Most war movies originally come out in the theaters first to allow for the viewers to experience the movie in a more serene way where they aren't going to be distracted by anything else.

Film Sample 1

All Quiet On The Western Front: This film is an extremely captivating war movie which depicts what a young kid went through during World War 1. This movies uses several of the visual effects previously stated and has a similar plot line as most other War films do.

Film Sample 2

Jarhead: This film is one of the all time classics when it comes to war movies. Even though the main character never actually shoots his weapon in combat, the producers were able to use other elements to immerse the audience in feeling the same way as the main character and the toll the war has taken on him.

Other Films

Other films include: 

American Sniper

Hacksaw Ridge

1917

Full Metal Jacket

Representation

 Stranger Things 

I decided to write my analysis about the television show Stranger Things. Stranger Things is a very popular Netflix tv series that is set in the 1980s and the main characters are these kids/teenagers and they are faced with fighting these monsters and supernatural creatures.  

Throughout the show the directors use lights and the flickering of these lights to alert the viewer of what may happen and give them a clue since whenever there is lights flickering something that has to do with the monsters or the parallel world from the show is about to happen. This use of representation is used vigorously within the couple of seasons the show has been out. 

 

^example of the flickering lights. 

Another use of representation in this show is whenever the character Eleven would use her powers she would get a nose bleed. This depicts to the viewers how whenever she uses her powers it hurts her a little, but even though it hurts she knows she must do it for the good of the group. 

 

^Eleven’s nose bleed 

Another use of representation in the show is how the directors created Joyce Byers. Joyce is Will’s mom in the show. In the first season Will goes missing and Joyce makes sure to do everything in her power to find him, and get him back. This depiction of a single mother represents the love they have for their child and how they would go to the ends of the earth to make sure that they are safe and ok. 

 

^Joyce Byers 

Sound Project

 We recently have been learning about soundscapes and how they can influence an audience during a film. We learned about how Foley sounds can be used to help create these soundscapes in tandem with digital sounds.

For the sound project we were tasked with partnering up and creating a soundscape for a short 1-2 minute film. This creation wasn't allowed to have any video. This allows for the sounds to be the only way for the audience to understand what is going on. We were allowed to use a maximum of 7 words in this film. We also had to use Foley sounds to create at least 4 of the sounds we would use for the production. The rest could be digital sounds.

We approached this project by first creating a word document to plan out what sounds we would use and in what order to properly tell the story. We decided on having the film be about someone taking a test in school. Once we figured that out we were able to create an order of where each sound should go. We also labeled which sounds we wanted to use for the Foley sounds. 

Our organized brainstorming sheet made the editing and creating process seamless as we had a clear and thought out plan for how we would assemble all of these songs.

The Foley sounds: PaulTaylorFoleyP1.MOV

The Soundscape video: Final Soundscape