The use of sound often used to evoke irrationality, an excess of emotion, or subjectivity to a crisis. Music are common examples of formal manipulations of sound, it creates an atmosphere/tension of a film.
Scream in Psycho are replaced by violins played at a high pitch because the scream of woman being stabbed to death cannot be reproduced effectively by an actor. Sound used in film may not necessary sound the same as how it sound like in reality. We’ve discussed in class that the sound of a car accident in reality is not the same in a film, it plays with fidelity and timbre and create what the audience think it might sound like.
In Barbarian sound studio, it shows us how sound engineers used (mainly) vegetables to create slashing/stabbing sound for a horror film- how horror films are built with mundane elements. Ears is the second most important cognitive organs to absorbs knowledge. Even though there isn’t any jump scares/scary plots but the sound and music used in the film builds an atmosphere and tension, as I watch the film I was excepting something scary to happen, but it didn’t.
Sound can be used to narrate a film, it gives out information to the audience and made us believe that something is going to happen. Reflex sound are stylized and accentuated so that the audience constantly notice them Sound plays a huge part, it engages the audience and it has the power to build the audience’s anticipation of the film.
Aliens
The readings by Jeffery Brown talks about how genre stereotypes in a film.The spectacle of the muscular male body had become the genres’ central trademark (Eg. Arnold Schwarzenegger). Through Aliens, we see a switch in gender roles, instead of the usual male hero, the heroine saves the day. Jeffery talks about how Masculinity is determined by one’s ability to perform certain culturally recognizable traits. In Aliens, private Vasquez shows the perfect example of a her masculinity.
James Cameron showed the audience that women can be as tough as men. In a particular scene, Ripley and Newt were claim while one of the male solider were panicking and screaming away. Being tough is not about a person’s masculinity but it is base on natural human instinct on survivor. Newt, a small little girl managed to survive by herself without proper training and food.
During our class debate, we were split into 2 teams to discuss if Aliens is more then just a science fiction. Through this exercise, our team did some research and find all sorts of evidence to support our argument. Marketing and promotion use genre as a platform to sell and promote a film- by looking at the official poster of Aliens, we can tell that it is a science fiction movie.
I enjoyed watching Sleepless in Seattle even though I find the plot unrealistic; there are sets of emotions/situations where the audience could relate. Romantic comedies are usually unrealistic, but audiences love the idea of plots, the perfect happy ending in a relationship. I guess that’s the reason why rom com is successful in it’s way. Women are highly influenced by rom com movies, they can relate to the story plots- loneliness, displacement of a relationship, finding a ideal soul mate.
From the readings, politics of romantic comedies- such fantasies left the audience dissatisfied with what they have, they expectations and reality is different- it can be harmful to one’s relationship building such fantasies.
There is an irony in Sleepless in Seattle; “An Affair To Remember” influences Annie’s romantic life, after persisting on her fantasies, she finally met Sam at the state of empire and they got together in the end. The chance of this happening in real life is very slim. Perhaps, winning the lottery would be easier.
I enjoy watching romantic comedies, even though it is exaggerates- as long as we know the fine line between fantasies and reality, it is actually quite entertaining.
Romantic comedy convention:
-Difference from what is usually expected in the non comic world
-In congruity
-Exaggeration
-Displacement, sense of things/relationship being out of place
-Happy ending
-Childish energies that can no longer be contained by the adult framework ( which makes it funny!!)
Sukiyaki Western Django
Adaptations:
This film is a remake of Sergio Corbucci’s Spaghetti Western Django. It is a western movie made by Japanese adaptations. The whole movie shows different adaptation of Asia and the West. We can identify all the western genre conventions such as gunfights, alcohol, horses, stranger wandering, empty village, man hanging at the entrance(disorder), woman always smoking etc.
When the 2 clans were pressurising the gunman to choose his sides of the clan, Ruriko also known as the bloody benten( dressed in western costume) cuts in and stop the argument. In most traditional culture film, woman never voice out their opinion when the man talks.
We can also identify some Japanese cultural elements like samurai, swords, clans, costume- colours used in the film, Heike and Genji’s clan represent the Japanese flag of red and white, geisha tattoo.
Language:
I find it interesting how Miike Takashi made all his actors speak English because ,from the reading-” Hollywood often employs English-speaking actors to play other non-American nationalities. “It is a very big decision as most of his actors have to go through English classes a month before the actual filming. He did exactly what Hollywood did- but somehow we find it stranger compared Hollywood productions.I wonder if we will find it as strange if the director gets a caucasian guy and made him speak Japanese?
We can all relate to the movie, weather we are Asians or western- as we share certain similar values, we no longer categorise them as Asian or western values- in my opinion it is basic humanity values.
It was an interesting film to study 🙂
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.
Welcome to your brand new blog at Media Factory .
To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.
For assistance, visit the edublogs User Guide. (Or come to class.)
