This homework is designed to show how well you understand how to deconstruct the genre of a film of your choice.
You do not have to be an expert in the particular genre, but you must have an idea of the codes and conventions - so you may need to do some preliminary research before you complete your analysis.
The slide below gives you the details of what you need to look at and below the slide there are some tips on how to complete this to the best of your abilities (and how to make it a bit easier).
Hints:
What trailer to pick?
My honest advice for this is for you to pick a film you have never seen before. It might sound a bit crazy but it will help you be objective about discussing what genre the movie is. If you are over familiar with a film then it is easy to get caught in the trap of only analysing that film and not how it fits into a larger canon of work.
If you anticipate this exercise being difficult then make sure you pick a film that is typical of the genre. Choosing an unusual or even obscure film is not going to do you any favours at all.
Remember we've done all this stuff in lessons so if you are stuck at all then consult your notes or the pages on genre that are on this website:
As should hopefully be apparent, you need to look at the genre of the film from two different perspectives; the functional and the aesthetic.
You can actually start by analysing the aesthetic look of the trailer, maybe pick out some iconic elements of the genre but then use these as a way of talking about the themes and oppositions that are typical of the genre as well.
The work needs to be made as a post on the blog with the trailer that you have selected at the beginning of the post.
Remember how to write paragraphs of analysis from the practice we did in lesson - if in doubt, just make sure that you are not simply describing the trailer again. You must identify what is there and then say WHY!!
Label your blog post with: Your Name and Genre Analysis
The trailer I have chosen to analyse is the Steven Spielberg classic "Saving Private Ryan", starring Tom Hanks. The film genre is definitely a hybrid, consisting of action, drama and war, which is evident as the use of "Private" in the title shows that the film is about the war as private is a rank in the army.
At the start of the film, the genre is immediately shown through the amount of close up shots of certain photographs that were shot on Normandy Beaches, which obviously means that the film will be about the war. The letter is the first picture in the trailer, it is a deeply upsetting letter that was typically sent out to the families of those who had died in battle. Viewers of the trailer immediately recognise this and they start to ask questions; Who has died? Who is the soldier they are writing about? Its a clever technique in trailers because people engage in the trailer, they are hooked, and want to see more of the trailer. The extreme close up of the word "loss" highlights that a soldier has been killed, but to me, it means that the writer of the letter felt hugely sympathetic to the family of the victim. "Loss" to me, sounds like they miss the soldier and that him dying has a hugely negative effect on those who were close to him. The use of long and very long shots to show the background as well as the characters in the film allows people examine fully the background and the setting in which the film is taking place. The voice over of the letter creates a compassionate feeling, there is no emotion on the voice at all, sounding like he really is sad about the death and that it hasn't sunk into him yet that the soldier has died. Voice over is also important in a articular scene, when one private says "It's not going to be easy finding one particular soldier in the whole damn war" which shows that they knew their mission was going to be suicidal, and they may not come out alive, but they still had to save the other private as they are all in this together, but they are brave, and aren't going to give up that easily, despite how hard the mission will be.
The setting is equally as important, people recognise that the film is set in the war, more specifically World War Two, as one of the photographs is of the most infamous beach used in D-Day in 1944. Thousands (thought to be in the 4,000 area) of soldiers perished in Operation Overlord, the day is never represented to be good at all, and when thought about, people think to the gloomy, dark days of war, which is highlighted in the trailer. The photographs are dark, they represent all that was bad on that day, and the war all together. The camera editing is slow, but the use of extreme close ups frequently is meant to show the viewer the emotion on the faces of the people in the film. Tom Hanks' face is zoomed in as it shows the pain and agony that was happening to the soldier at the time, who had presumably been shot by the opposition. The pain on his face stands out, as the mouth has dropped to show that he is screaming loudly to show how much pain he was experiencing when he got shot, and was on the verge of death. The extreme close up means that the viewer cant look anywhere else other than the soldier, which could represent that we cant see a positive, or an, future for the soldier, as we can clearly see the fear in his face, so June 6th may be the soldiers last living day.
The trailer goes on to name other privates, all ending in the surname "Ryan" which shows that the entire family all went to war to fight for their country, something that wasn't unusual in the second world war as thousands of families gave up their time to save the country, many veterans watching the film can see a sense of familiarity from the film, showing how realistic it is. But the written code of "The greatest danger for 8 men, was saving... One". This gives the viewer the feeling that they are truly heroic and brave, for trying to save one man after the D- Day shootings, which says that they were all in this together, and they are all for one, and one for all. This is what the audience wants from a war film, the good side beating the opposition, the binary opposition of Good Vs Evil, viewers want the bad side to lose, matching our expectations can make a truly wonderful film.
The characters in this film, more specifically the actors, are fantastic at portraying the true extent of how painful the war was. The facial expressions and their body language is fantastic, and some scenes in the trailer you actually could believe are actually from the war, thats how good the actors are in the trailer. The uniforms they are wearing are obviously war uniforms, people can recognise the genre of the film just by the clothes that the men are wearing in the trailer. The director of the film, Steve Spielburg, arguably one of the greatest directors in the word and a very easily recognisable name in the film industry, when the audience notice that he is the director, it can make more people go to visit the film and watch it due to how popular Spielburg is.
The music in the film is epic, it is the typical war song, sad, slow, but great at building aa tense atmosphere in the trailer. The music starts to become more dominant in the film towards the end, when the bombs explodes the music starts to get faster, which is represented when several shots of the men are seen which go well with the music played over the trailer. When Hanks looks up to the camera, the music gets quicker, which represents that he can see a glimmer of hope in the operation of saving Ryan, and that he can see a future with both of the man, something that was so slim towards the start of the trailer when the extreme close up of Ryan was used to represent no future at all.
The film trailer I have chosen is Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Star Wars is apart of the sci fi and adventure genres. The title helps emphasis why Star Wars is apart of the sci fi genre due to the words "the force", the force is the mythical power used by the "jedi" and the "sith". The adventure genre is shown by the use of spaceships in space, travelling into the unknown. The use of spaceship helps the audience know that they're watching a sci fi film as most sci fi films usually involve spaceships and travelling through space at the speed of light. Throughout the film, there is a Binary Opposition of light vs dark as scenes involving the jedi (good side) are bright and the lighting is well lit and scenes involving the sith are always dark. When you see the teased lightsaber duel between Finn and Kylo Ren, the presences of Kylo sends the trailer into darkness. The colour of the lightsabers also show the binary opposition of light vs dark because Finn has a light blue colour where as Kylo has a dark red colour. The soundtrack of the trailer also fit in with the sci fi genre. Typically, sci fi soundtracks feel "epic" and is performed by an orchestra. The trailer mostly uses wide shots to show off the setting and the battle between the spaceships and uses close ups to show the characters emotion (although you can't see Kylo Ren's due to him wearing a mask).
The film is a hybrid genre. It is a hybrid of a Legal Drama and a Biopic centering around the life of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
David Fincher directed the Social Network. This is typical of the Drama genre as most of his Filmography is Drama movies. However, the film uses a lot of unconventional acting. Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake all have acting credits that are mostly comedies or lighter roles. The use of unconventional actors within the drama genre signifies that the director is attempting to create intrigue within the audience by casting actors in a new light.
The film features a score that is a recreated of the Radiohead song 'Creep'. The song is melancholic, sad and dramatic. This is very conventional of the Drama genre. The use of the piano instead of the original songs guitar based music is also significant as it makes the film seem more emotive and serious in tone, that being typical of the Drama genre. As the editing and the pace of the trailer increases, the song becomes louder and more climatic, mirroring the rise in action within the trailer, making it feel as though the entire trailer is leading to a climax, and then leaving it hanging to create suspense and an urge to see what's next.
Many of the films characters prominently wear suits and formal clothing, this is typical of the Legal Drama in particular as a suit has heavy connotations of formality, authority and legal procedures. However, a character that is not seen wearing a suit often is Mark Zuckerberg, perhaps implying that this character is someone who is surrounded by legal issues while he has a more laid back mindset. This suggests that the film is unconventional in the fact that main character is disinterested in legal issues in a legal drama. This iconography is conventional of the Legal Drama yet when contrasted with the main characters costume it can be seen as an unconventional twist on the Drama genre.
The trailer presents many themes and binary oppositions. One binary opposition is 'Friendship vs. Business'. At the start of the trailer, Eduardo and Mark appear to be quite close. However, as the trailer continues and Mark's business in Facebook continues to grow, Eduardo and Mark can be seen arguing and being hostile towards each other, suggesting that business has come between the two characters. Friendship is a theme that is explored in the trailer. There is a close up of the Facebook button "Add as Friend". This is a clear example of a visual signifier that informs the audience that the film will have themes of Friendship. The theme of friendship is shown throughout the trailer as the effect of Marks business become clear on his and Eduardo's friendship.
The Django Unchained trailer portrays the text in such a way that the exact genre is next to impossible to decipher, without the inclusion of numerous Quentin Tarantino's pioneer hybrids. Aesthetically, the trailer is made out to look similar to the standard Western film, for the reasons that follow;
Initially, the establishing shot of the slaves wandering through the desert shows a typical setting for a lot of Western films, which is usually in a form of barren wasteland used for ranch working. This shot conveys this immediately, eliciting the same sort of response an audience would receive if shown this shot at the beginning of any other Western film. This use of mise-en-scene (setting) signifies the common theme of isolation, that was also felt during the time that the story is (conventionally) set in. With prior knowledge on Western films, I know that they, by standard, take place soon after the American civil war, which is also connoted through the use of (non-diegetic) music. Although the music has been tampered with a modernized beat, the melody (instrumental) aspect is similar to the minimalist guitar and violin combination that is commonly seen throughout classic Western films; this is conventional of the genre. (see example below.) The music resembles triumph but also rebellion; innately, music of this sort is associated with the good vs evil binary opposition, which is also seen through the Django Unchained trailer. (Bounty vs hunter.)
Additionally, the use of costume also connotes codes and conventions of the Western genre. In addition to the cowboy hats, horse saddles and roughed-up blazers, comes the (once again) civil war styled, anti-imperialist uniform that Django wears during a later point of the trailer. This, at the very least, signifies the time frame of which the story is set, from which we can connote that the character types and narrative as a whole will follow a similar structure to that of the Western films we have come to know.
The pair of protagonists are always framed in a way that represents them as being figures of authority, which, although juxtaposes the vision of African-Americans during that time, is significant when analyzing the genre. Western films were renown for presenting two main characters in a form of partnership, that work together for a common objective. This leaves the audience with a sense of familiarity within the text, given the almost reflected sense of clothing and posture that the two share. This is conventional of Western films, as we have the protagonist (hero) and the secondary protagonist (the sidekick.)
As for props and iconography, the six shooter revolver and the double-barrel shotgun signify the genre in a very profound, nostalgic way. For obvious reasons, the arsenal that forces dealt with at that time were limited; specifically, to revolvers (with a chamber that could hold six bullets), long range rifles, and shotguns. For the small amount of time that these two props are previewed on frame, we as an audience can safely say that the director, Quentin Tarantino, has tried to represent this limitation on screen, with these two iconic, traditional props. The juxtaposition that these two props signify within the narrative is also of importance; the character holding the double barrel shotgun, framed only from a low angle to signify power, ends up succumbing to the six shooter revolver, which had previously been shown being held through a high angle, which connotes vulnerability and weakness.
Functionality that contradict;
Soundtrack change (towards end), more funk-soul than Western.
Similar to 70's push on racism in film, rather than Western.
Both character types juxtapose expected.
Binary oppositions of evil vs evil.
I have chosen to analyse the Star Wars: the force awakens trailer, this is from the science fiction genre. The opening shot of this trailer is a close up of someone wearing very unfamiliar clothes, this person is next seen in a wide shot climbing through what look to be the inside of a spaceship. A wide shot is used to show the same character walking through the desert with a robot. The shot is framed to show the two characters in the centre, the background is completely covered in sand, this is used to show the isolation and the space of the environment these characters live in. The iconography of the robot is a common use in sci-fi movies as it represent the advanced technology present in this environment, you cant have a sci-fi movie without these themes of advanced technology. The non diegetic music at the beginning of this trailer enhances these themes of space, isolation and exploration which are key themes shown in this genre. Wide shots are again used to establish the setting of space, as the mise-en-scene of these shots include spaceships battling and the planet are shown in the background which show that this movie is set in space. The iconography of space is used in sci-fi movies because they are a blank space which can be used to show exploration and discovery. The non diegetic music of the trailer becomes more dramatic as we are introduced to a new character, we can immediately tell that this character represents evil as shown through the visual signifiers of his black and sharp looking clothing. He also says "im going to finish what you started" his voice is very dark, deep and disguised which again reinforces this idea of evil. The quote shows the plot of this film, that who ever came before this character has started this war and he will carry it on. Throughout the trailer more wide shots of spaceships
Media Homework - Genre Analysis
The Trailer that i have chosen to analyse is for the movie "By the Sea" staring Angelina Jolie Pitt & Brad Pitt which fits into the Romance genre. The trailer begins with the two entering what looks to be their new home, with an old sounding song repeating "its the perfect way, to end a perfect day". They're then shown on opposite sides of bar, glaring over at each other; suggesting that they have issues and need their space, but are still deeply in love. Roughly half way through the trailer, a dialogue is then introduced, using a voice over of Brad's character saying "do you wanna talk about it?" again implying that they have issues within their relationship. This uses the enigma code, leaving us questioning what they are and if and how they'll solve them. This is then followed by a montage, quickly flashing through images and scenes of their worst times; slowly revealing how the characters think and feel regarding the 'issue'. The trailer ends with the same song as he leaves their home; leaving everything behind.
The film that I decided to choose is War of the Worlds (2005) which is obviously a science-fiction genre. How we can depict this film being of the genre, science-fiction is by the mise-en-scene as the lighting in the film's trailer is high-key before the disaster to denote that everything is fine before the alien invasion and sort of put the presence of reality into it, however there is also high-key lighting is some parts of the disaster which is used to emphasize to use of special effect etc... but generally during the disaster low-key lighting is used to show to darkness of the situation that the whole city is in. Next is the costume which in the film, is made to begin with normal everyday clothing which is used to make the audience relate to the characters in it- however, when everything starts to go wrong, the characters look rather dirty and over-worn looking which emphasizes the uncertainty of how the disaster will play out, which keeps the audience engaged and gets them thinking of the outcome. Along with the make-up in this film with the use of dirt,cuts and blood also follows this ideology.
From the trailer of War of the Worlds, I can see that the setting of this film is set in New York mainly due to the use of Tom Cruise's cap and that represents where he is from. The use of settings through out this trailer show a cellar, the streets of New York and Boston and also fields. These settings all signify fear and isolation which provides the audience with the Binary Opposition of Life Vs Death as these places present this and makes an audience question whether they characters will live or not.
Next, I am going to talk about the use of the camera and the editing in this trailer specifically. First is the use of close-ups, which provides the audience with the Binary Opposition of Fear Vs Safety.
We see this when we see the characters, Ray and Rachel looking scared at what is happening to their world and clearly can see by their facial expressions when they are frightened and not safe compared to the beginning of the trailer when the close-ups were the facial expressions of happiness and love. Next in this particular section of the film, the use of special effects such as the gathering of grey skies and the lightening in the "storm" and also the collapsing of the road along with the buildings and fires. These all create tension as they present to the audience with the Binary Opposition of Humanity Vs Greater Powers. This can depicted through the use of knowing the genre of the film (science-fiction) as we know that the formations of the skies in this trailer is unfamiliar to man-kind, so its obvious it would be put down to other life, such as aliens etc... Finally in this part, the use of high angle shots and low angle shots show the audience that the Binary Opposition for this is Weak Vs Power. This is shown through these shows due to the uses of them and the connotations at which in this case is weakness and power.
The characters in this film, War of the Worlds are played by Tom Cruise as Ray, Dakota Fanning as Rachel and Justin Chatwin as Robbie, who are the main characters in the film. Ray is the protagonist of the film and is a more complexed character in the narrative of the film as he is the one able to figure out what the aliens/tripods' purpose is down on planet Earth, and he's the one character that seems to have all the answers in a sense. However, on the other hand, Rachel is a less developed character as we actually see her develop through out the film, as in the beginning of this trailer in particular, we see her being a normal, casual child where as, as the trailer progressed, we see by the use of camera shots, and her facial expressions, the film gets more tense and frightening for her character, were she has too mature a lot, in such a short space of time. With Robbie as a character type, we see him as a dynamic character along with Ray and Rachel, however, his character doesn't seem to be around much at the beginning as he drives off somewhere with Ray's car, and also as I've watched the film, Robbie goes away to try and seek revenge of the Tripods, showing he is a determined character. Another character type is Robbie and Rachel's mother, Mary-Ann (Miranda Otto) who is basically in my opinion there to set the narrative of the story, in terms of "something bad is going to happen" this is shown when in the trailer she says to Ray before leaving "Look after our kids", which creates some sort of tense atmosphere surrounding the film to the audience. Finally, the character that seems to be the villain in this film is obviously the Aliens and their tripods, as they are there to destroy the main characters city/world and kill them- revealing them to the audience as the enemy of the main characters, who we see as good and gives the audience a Binary Opposition of Man Vs Alien.
Next is the use of Music and sound, in which case the music is used to create a tense atmosphere which creates suspense, due to the build up of the diegetic sound of music in the trailer from start to finish, where an audience can depict what genre it is by this music as well as feeling sort of uncomfortable by how tense it actually is. The silent music at the beginning of the trailer is only quiet because there is only a diegetic sound of dialogue which is used to show an audience what the story's purpose is and is able to give an audience an idea of what is going to happen, with baring in mind the genre of the film. The sound effects in this trailer consist of wind and footsteps etc... which enables the audience to feel as if they're apart of the film-like they're actually there. Finally is the progress of music towards the end of the trailer which ends abruptly with a sound identical to a thud.
The story line of this film is the main-character's (Ray) struggle of being a responsible father to his two children, Robbie and Rachel when their mum drops them off with him for the weekend and from then we can feel a tension filled atmosphere, like "something bad is going to happen". However when the lightening start to strike we know that this "reality" in the film is actually coming true, which turns out to be an alien invasion and Ray must find a way to protect his children as they seek refuge. The whole film has themes of Control, Confidence and Determination as shown by the Binary Oppositions I have given in this essay and also shown by the characters.
To begin with the film shows a shot of New York city at night where everything is peaceful and calm. This suggests that throughout the trailer we are going to see this peaceful city no longer be calm and peaceful causing the superheroes to stop the villain to save the city. This is a common convention of superhero films; the hero must save their city and the people in it. This could be the directors ideology that a society should stand together in times of trouble weather that be war or any type of mass tragedy that takes place e.g 9/11 in New York. Through out the trailer there are many jump shots between each Avenger while they are in thought about Ultron and when they are fighting against Ultron. This is a part of the mise - en - scene of a superhero film, having close ups of each important character to try and get the audience to wonder about what they are thinking causing them to become attached are root for the hero. The music in the trailer doesn't start till 30 seconds in with one note slowly playing. As it goes on more and more instruments start to come in adding to an eerie atmosphere. The words that are sang are "I've got no strings to hold me down". These are lyrics from the iconic song from one of Disney's classic films Pinocchio. Many of the audience members would recognise the song even though it is distorted and changed to fit in with the distressed and creepy mind of Ultron. This would cause a the audience fear Ultron as he is taking something that would be nostalgic to many members of the audience and it has been changed into a dark statement. At 1:35 the music instantly turns into an intense orchestral piece with the stomp of the big iron man's foot as his is about to fight the hulk. The signifies that form this moment in the unity that was portrayed before hand will no longer be there and from now one their main focus will be how to destroy Ultron. Within each main beat of this piece it shows us a character facing some kind of issue, exposing to us that every part of this film will be an important moment that will affect each individual character in some way.
At the start of the advert we see the avengers together celebrating something being together. Through out the advert we see this unity slowly breaking apart. We see this from them fighting each other and fighting against something on their own; not fighting together against the one enemy. This breaks the common conventions of a superhero film as normally the ideologies behind them is that in order to succeed you have to be a team and even though in the end they come together to defeat Ultron their is this corruption with in the team which is making them dislike each other. The second to last shot in this film is of the iconic shield that Captain America uses smashed which is supposed to be indestructible. This could expose the breaking that will happen to the group throughout the film no matter how people say that their unity is 'unbreakable'. The first two times that we see Ultron we see him as a weak broken robot at the start and in the middle. When it is coming close to the end of the trailer we hear Ultrons voice but we do not see him, we only see to destruction that he is causing. The last shot in this trailer is of Ultron being fully developed. This signifies the importance of Ultron that without even being involved with them physically he can still cause destruction to take place. The binary opposition that is shown throughout the trailer is humans vs technology. This is shown by the overall battle between the avengers, who are a group of humans, against Ultron, who is artificial intelligence. The message behind this is that even hough we have the power to create things that maybe able to improve our lives may not be the best thing to create. Some things should be left uncreated.
Law Abiding Citizen (2009) - Director, Roger Ebert.
Law Abiding Citizen is a film about a man whose wife and daughter are
murdered in a horrific attack, he seeks revenge and dedicates his life to
making the killers of his family a misery, however he does not only make the
killers a target but the people who did not give the killers enough justice.
The film is a cross genre between, Crime and Thriller.
It provides the audience with the Binary Opposition of Good vs Evil, this is
when he is determined to get revenge for the evil acts carried out on his wife
and daughter. This shown when he has Derby strapped to the table. This is
signifying that he has waited a long time to get his revenge when he says
''Your heart is beating so fast. Mine too."
In the trailer there are many cut shots, an
example of this is when he sees the killer of his family shaking hands with the
man who was supposed to be bring justice to his family, we see him looking at
them then it cuts to him walking away, then cuts again to where he is further
away. the camera does not move, this may represent the distance he feels with
the prosecutor, as he feels he has not brought enough justice, also just in
this scene there numerous camera shots, these are medium close up and very long
shot. When Clyde is duct taped across the mouth we have an extreme close
up of his face, we see he is in pain and can only see his face, signifying that
he is trapped and cannot do anything to help them. The music used in this
trailer is of an epic style. It is very fast paced when the trailer is fast
paced, but when something bad is about to happen it suddenly stops, this
emphasises the action going on in the movie. The setting of the trailer varies,
however mainly being set either in a court or prison. We know this as a
lot of the people in the scenes are wearing suits, implying they are by means
playing an important role. We also know it is set in a prison as Clyde’s
uniform is a prison uniform, we do not have to be told he is in prison as we
can clearly see in the background of some of the scenes metal bars, and security
guards. Also in the scene where Nick is interrogating Clyde, we see the use of
over the shoulder shots, it switches between the two as they speak so when
Clyde speaks we see him over the shoulder of Nick and vice versa. The use of
shot/reverse shot is also used as the relationship between nick and Clyde is
building up to be bad. The final 3/4 of the trailer becomes very fast paced with
lots of different scenes in a short period of time. This is called a montage. A
montage is a good way of revealing a back story and also it shows the
progression of the movie in a very short period of time, the montage ended also
with 'epic' music. We see the use of voice over in the film, however the voice
over is Gerard’s voice and is voiced over a scene for a few seconds, then it
switches to the actual scene he is talking in. This is good as it can prepare
us for
what we are going to see. The use of enigma codes is used in the film, when the
trailer first starts, when we see Clyde first open the door and he hit over the
head with a baseball bat and when he is tied, this makes us question, what has
he done to be in that position? An action code used in the film, is when Clyde
first sees Nick shaking hand with derby, the action code is used as, as soon as
he sees them the music stops and suddenly changes and slowly progressing faster
and faster.
