Questionnaire

What age range are you in?

0-11

12-17

18+

What genre of film do you mostly watch?

Action

Adventure

Comedy

Crime and Gangster

Drama

Epics/Historical

Horror

Musicals/Dance

Science Fiction

War

Westerns

Thrillers

Why did you choose that genre?

Research Into Opening Sequences

I watched five different films from some different genres to get an idea of the generic codes and conventions for an opening sequence of a film.

Napoleon Dynamite

·         Genre: Comedy.

·         The character dresses oddly to make him look stupid.

·         The film uses very few tracking shots; they mostly use still shots with lots of cuts.

·         The film uses upbeat music from the start; this gives it a light hearted mood.

·         Its target audience is people aged 13-30.

·         They use a plain stupid character.

·         The film has a little bit of editing where it has cuts from scene to scene.

28 Days Later

·         Genre: Horror.

·         It uses a CCTV shot at the beginning to make it look like it’s a news report. The film uses tracking shots to follow the action; it also uses a little montage sequence at the beginning.

·         The film uses lots of cuts to change between scene or view.

·         Props used: riot gear, police uniforms, hospital uniforms and equipment.

·         The film uses digetic sound in the starting sequence; they also use quick paced music to match with the action when it happens.

·         Its target audience is people age 18-30

Donnie Darko

·         Genre: Thriller

·         It uses slow music at the beginning it then gets quicker and more upbeat a little way into the film.

·         Editing-uses slow motion, cuts and a voice over.

·         Its target audience is people aged 15-30

40 Year Old Virgin

·         Genre: Comedy.

·         Upbeat music from the start to give it a light hearted mood.

·         Editing-it uses cuts and writing on top of image (credits).

·         The target audience is people aged 15-40.

·         The film uses the stereotypical nerd dress.

·         They use a plain character.

Harry Brown

·         Genre: Thriller

·         The film uses digetic sound (a radio) at the start.

·         Editing-It uses cuts and blurs the image at the start.

·         Its target audience is people aged 18-40.

·         It uses hoodies, guns and knifes to show the stereotypical estate gangs.

·         It uses a quick mobile phone filmed part in the opening sequence.



  

Research

I have researched into the different genres of film to get an idea of what is needed to make a film and what the genre mainly cantered around.   

War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles. Their stories may be fiction, based on history, docudrama, biographical, or even alternate history fiction. An example of a war film is:

Saving Private Ryan (1998)-War film

Directed by Steven SpielbergWritten by Robert Rodat

Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes are thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases. Story and character development are generally secondary to explosions, fist fights, gunplay and car chases. The genre is closely linked with the thriller and adventure film genres, and it may sometimes have elements of spy fiction and espionage.  An example of an action film is:

Transformers (2007)-Action

Directed by Michael Bay

Produced by Steven Spielberg

Thriller is a genre of literature, film and television that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. Thrillers are mostly characterised by an atmosphere of menace, violence, crime and murder by showing society as dark, corrupt and dangerous, though they often feature a happy ending in which the villains are killed or arrested. Thrillers heavily promote on literary devices such as plot twists, red herrings and cliffhangers. They also promote on moods, such as a high level of anticipation, adrenaline rush, arousal, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety and sometimes even terror. An example of a thriller film is:

Shooter (2007)-Thriller

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Based on a novel by Stephen Hunter

Horror films are unsettling movies that strive to create the emotions of fear, disgust and horror from viewers. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, which means it is frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres. Horrors also frequently overlap with the thriller genre. An example of a horror film is:

The Ring (2002)-Horror

Directed by Gore Verbinski

Based on a novel by Kôji Suzuki's

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, crime and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves, others, society and even natural phenomena. An example of a drama film is:

The Last Samurai (2003)-Epic Drama

Directed by Edward Zwick