Genre is a term that can be split up into different categories, based on characteristics that they share, for example, settings, storyline's, narratives, characters and themes. In particular, genre can be referred to Films, and they can be classified as being a particular genre, for example, Action, Horror and Thriler. Steve Neale states that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference' and 'genres are not systems, they are processes of systemisation'. He also say's that, definitions of genre are historically relative and are therefore historically specific. Believed that there was a system of expectation and that by using own knowledge and applying conventions of the genre, the audience should be able to infer the narrative and storyline of the music video. He also declares that difference is essential to the economy of genre; mere repetition would not attract the audience. While researching genre theories I found this prezi that outlines a few more genre theories. http://prezi.com/az3nups9huvw/genre-theory/#
I also found this slideshare that describes genre theories in detail and states David Bordwell's theory as well as some other theories.
Vladimir Propp analysed a whole series of Russian folk tales in the 1920s and decided that the same events kept being repeated in each of the stories.
These 31 functions are as follows:
A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced as a unique person within the tribe, whose needs may not be met by remaining)
An interdiction (a command NOT to do something e.g.'don't go there', 'go to this place'), is addressed to the hero;
The hero ignores the interdiction
The villain appears and (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc; or intended victim encounters the villain);
The villain gains information about the victim;
The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim);
The victim is fooled by the villain, unwittingly helps the enemy;
Villain causes harm/injury to family/tribe member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc, commits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc);
Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc/ alternative is that victimised hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment);
Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action;
Hero leaves home;
Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against them);
Hero acquires use of a magical agent (it's directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, is eaten/drunk, or offered by other characters);
Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
Hero and villain join in direct combat;
Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
Hero returns;
Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
Hero unrecognised, arrives home or in another country;
False hero presents unfounded claims;
Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
Task is resolved;
Hero is recognised (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
False hero or villain is exposed;
Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc);
Villain is punished;
Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).
the villain, who struggles with the hero (formally known as the antagonist)
the donor,
the helper,
the Princess, a sought-for person (and/or her father), who exists as a goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain
the dispatcher,
the hero, who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and weds
the false hero (or antihero or usurper), who claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero (ie by trying to marry the princess)
Although the plot is driven by the actions and choices of the hero (the protagonist), these narrative functions are spread between the main characters. Propp also defined these character categories:
the villain, who struggles with the hero (formally known as the antagonist)
the donor,
the helper,
the Princess, a sought-for person (and/or her father), who exists as a goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain
the dispatcher,
the hero, who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and weds
the false hero (or antihero or usurper), who claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero (ie by trying to marry the princess).
Another theory of narrative is Todorovs theory which goes as follows:
On this days filming we will be shooting the first part of our film as it will be in the finished article. This is the first scene through to the end of the title sequence. This is a medium sized scene with a short but effective title sequence which is mixed in with a range of shots that we will filming on this date. The scene involves Alex's character the 'hitman' awakening in his bed and going to his kitchen, before he is made aware of his next job. The title sequence is in between shots of Alex's character getting his Hitmans' suit on.
After we have filmed this we will shoot the scenes where Alex's character makes his way to the given location of the job, this will involve filming the Hitmans vehicle driving along, as well as a couple of car interior shots.
For this days filming we will need:
Alex (Actor)
Alex's Costumes (Suit, casual gear)
Shot List for selected scenes
Script
Car
Driver (As Alex cannot drive)
Camera (HD 1000)
Tripod
Package (prop gun, image of target (max) and instructions)
Shooting Schedule 23/10/14
On this date we will shoot the very first scenes of our film 'Hate Mail'. The first scene we will be filming is the scene involving only the character 'Quincey' played by Max. This is a relatively short scene that involves Max's character 'Quincey' working away in his office then looking to a clock and leaving his office to set of home after a late night at the office. This scene will take place towards the end of the film and immediately after this scene will be the end scene in which the 'Hitman' get filmed by 'Quincey'. We are not filming in chronological order.
We wanted to start filming with a easy and short scene and leave the harder and longer scenes until the end, as this was logistically easier for us.
I was researching how to be able to achieve smooth and effective tracking and small rising shots and came across this video. It shows how to get very effective shots of this kind which also look great, it is also a simple method. This is something that we are going to incorporate into our filming process.
This video shows the results of our questionnaire from a selection of respondents. While filming people answering our questionnaire we decided that it was too long so we shortened it down and asked fewer questions.
After collecting the data we collated it in to graphs to help us see more clearly what our respondents had said about or film to see if anything would need changing. The results are as follows:
This shows us that the majority of people understood our story line, however a select few did not. While this does not warrant any changes to the story line we will have to make sure that while filming and editing that it flows and makes as much sense as possible.
When asked what the certificate of the film would be all of our respondents said a 15. This means that it is clear that this film contains scenes of violence and of an unsuitable nature for those under 15. This will help us to attract our target audience.
The respondents gave a mixed responses when asked if what genre they thought the film was. The majority said action however there was an exception of Adventure, Drama and Thriller. Our film is actually an action thriller. So it is clear that there is some obvious elements of action in the film. But our film is lacking the elements of tension and suspense that appear in a thriller film. Our story is also seen to have elements of other genres, which is good as it means our film will be appealing to a wide range or people, however this is very different to what our film actually is so it is a bad thing in the way that we may not reach our target audience.
We feel that when watched it will be more clear what genre the film actually is. We may have to consider making some changes to add the thriller elements and to make it more obvious as to what our film is trying to be.
Finally the last question was would you go an watch the film. Everyone we asked said that they would go and watch the film. This means that we have come up with a good interesting idea that the vast majority of people would want to go and watch.
A2 Media Progress Diary (10/09/14-10/10/14)
Over the past three weeks we have carried on with the blog work. We have completed most of the blog work required before filming with the exception of one or two small pieces of work. Also in the past few weeks we have had some experience using the bigger HD cameras while filming people answering the questionnaire. We have finished the main blog work such as writing the scrips and drawing the story boards. Over the next few weeks we plan to carry on with our blog work and finish all the work required before filming. We also will be doing the preliminary exercise next week to give us even more experience with the cameras. We are expecting to be filming the actual film very soon.
