Journal 01
Whenever I go to the cinemas, I choose a movie genre based on how I feel that day. If I had a rough day, I’ll watch a comedy movie to lighten my day up. As a movie audience, genres categorised the different types of movies; it makes it easier for people to choose the movies they want to watch. As a film student, I’ve learned in today’s lesson that there’s a lot of different aspect in understanding a genre. The style of the shots, the editing, sound, scripting, lights, character eg. adds on to how we differentiate each genre- it can be more complex whenever we define a genre. Like what Neil Gaiman said: “ There is a huge difference between for example, a novel with spies and a spy novel; or a novel with cowboy in it and a cowboy novel. Different genres lay the fundamentals of structure for the writers/directors to work with. If it is a cowboy genre/novel, the focus will be on the life of the cowboy, the main actor should be cowboy.
After watching High Noon, Psycho and Singing in the rain’s scene in class, comparing to a recent western, thriller and musical genre, the fundamentals of the genre remains but certain style changes alongside with the era/generation. Like how technologies advance, genres evolve. Who knows what other new genres will exists 20 years later?
250-word statement of intent –What do you want to get out of this studio? This can be an informal response to the question, but be sure to cover any areas of research, film genres, or technical skills that you’d like to work on.
Whenever people ask me, where do I see myself 5-10 years down the road? I tend to give them a more realistic answer, which is to be a film producer. Deep down, it is always my dream to be a film/TV producer and director. Becoming a director doesn’t comes overnight -I believe that it takes years of experience in production in order to be a good director. Which is the reason why I am here to have more in depth knowledge in film theories – applying these theories into my future projects. I’ve always known genre as different categories of films- at the end of this studio, I would like to have a better understanding of different genres. How different genres evolve along the way and how genre convention was used by the producers/directors and how the audience conceptualized genre conventions. We’ve learnt the different aspect of genre- how the music, editing, plots or even dialogs plays a part in crafting a genre film. Through this studio I would like to learn how to break down and understand these aspect/convention in details and how film directors blends in different genres into their short film.
During my polytechnic days, we have learned the basics of camera, lights, audio and script writing. I am never the technical person but through the workshops I would like to improve on my technical skills to so that I can explore different ways and to understand certain genre convention used in a film. Especially in audio as audio is one of my weakest point in production. With these theories and skills, I hope to communicate better with crew from different departments.
300-word case study –Choose a genre film that you find interesting (not necessarily that you like). Write 300 words on why it’s interesting. Try to tease out one or two of the genre conventions used in the film, and whether or not the filmmaker/s play with those conventions. Make use of some of the genre analysis techniques/resources discussed in Week 1. Keep this piece of writing as formal as possible, and cite/reference where necessary.
Thriller/Mystery
I hardly watch thriller/horror movies because these genre tend to lead to violence and gore, I would prefer drama/comedy/action more then thrillers. But then again, in my opinion – thrillers and mysteries movies engages the audience more compared to the rest of the genre. I would like to talk about an Australian thriller film- predestination- it is not my usual watch list but I couldn’t help to find myself at the edge of my seat throughout the movie. It is interesting because the storyline featured intersex condition, which is very rare- the main character was forced to go for a transgender surgery. At the end of the movie, the audience will find out the mystery on the intersex condition. This brought up the chicken and egg theory, which comes first? Besides the action, the scripting was intelligent; it leads the audience into the movie. The introduction bar scene was about 6-7 minutes long, no actions, just conversation between a bartender and a guest revealing their background and yet I was really engrossed and impressed with that scene. This movie reminded me of similar movies like Looper, Gone Girl and Old Boy by Park Chan-Wook.
Similar plots/genre conventions like –
- Figuring out the protagonist’s identity along with the protagonist throughout the movie
- The main character dies in the end (by killing himself)- As we followed through the storyline of the protagonist, the audiences built a relationship with him/her, we sympathize them- put ourselves in their shoes only to find out that they are the villains/the cause of the complications in the movie
- Complicated timelines (jumping back and forth) It may jump back to the exact same scene we’ve watch 20 minutes ago but this time round, the director used it to reveal another character’s point of view in the movie.
I guess the reason why these movies are so popular because the whole structure of the storyline made audience like me wanting to re-watch the entire movie. Even though the ending is always mind blowing/unexpected/disappointing but we enjoy the process of the storyline more. I am not a fan of the genre but this particular film made me change my mind.