Genre Analysis Essay

Star Wars: Episode 3



I'm going to analyse Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. The Star wars' are commonly known as a Sci-fi genre but in my opinion I'd say that it is actually a hybrid gengre. It has so many genres inside it such as action, fantasy, western, romance and obviously Sci-fi. Star Wars conveys themes such as good vs bad, technology vs nature, Jedi vs Sith and love vs loss.

All this is obvious through the generic codes, like the mise-en-scene. The setting helps us identify what genre it is by where and when it's set. Obviously everyone has seen Star Wars so we know that it is set in the future, but to show that it is Sci-fi we see different planets and space travel. The fact it is set in the future shows us as an audience that they'll have more/better technology and futuristic weaponry. Star Wars uses props like lightsabers, ray guns and a whole load of futuristic tech and weaponry. These types of props are typical in a Sci-fi because they're very exagerrated and futuristic, making them seem 'alien' to us as an audience (and as humans). The plot links in to western and fantasy. These two plots use the same basic template, evil try and take over, and band of good guys fight the bad guys, heroine/princess is kinapped, good guys go on quest/mission to save the world/universe from bad guys and get the girl, main hero saves the day and girl and they all live in peace. This is a typical plot of western and fantasy and that is how we can tell what genre it is. The binary oppositions used are also common for these genres as we see good vs evil, hero vs villian and love vs loss (in many hybrid genres we'll either see them lose they lover or save her). The music in this film is grand, overwhelming and overpowering. This type of music is used to show how epic and big the film will be, making it more dramatic and making it a key aspect to the hybrid genre.
 The characters help to identify the genre as they are typical characters what you'd expect to find in the hybrid genre. The fact that the Sith lords wear black robes and cover their faces show they are evil and connote death and destruction, and then the Jedi masters, the fact that they have lighter colours show that they are the good guys, on the lighter side trying to save the universe. Also they haave the lighter lightssaber colours while the dark side has red, and the colour red connotes danger.

The narrative codes include captions, 'A long time ago in a glaxy far far away..' this showws the audience that the setting is somewhere distant in space, proving to the audience it's a Sci-fi. The dialogue also is used to indicate what genre is being portrayed in the film, the words used are understandable but technical, people know what is being used but the words are futuristic and fantaciesed. The shots are cut by fades and wipes in the film, this is done to show a pass of time and place, it is also a mysterious way to cut to a different shot helping to define a genre.