Genre Research

WHAT IS A FILM GENRE?
A film genre is a motion-picture category based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film.

Types of Genres

1. Action
2. Narrative
3. Western
4. Thriller
5. Romantic Comedy
6. Fiction
7. Melodrama
8. Mystery
9. Dark Comedy
10. Satire
11. Adventure
12. Humour
13. Fairy tale
14. Espionage
15. Space Opera
16. Mystery
17. Musical
18. Play
19. Parody
20. Biography
21. Paranormal Romance
22. Suspense
23. Science Fantasy
24. Psychological Thriller
25. Drama
26. Romantic
27. Apocalyptic
28. Tech Noir
29. Comedy
30. Magical Realism
31. Horror

WHAT IS SUB GENRE?

A subgenre is a subordinate within a genre. Two stories being the same genre can still sometimes differ in subgenre. For example, if a fantasy story has darker and more frightening elements of fantasy, it would belong in the subgenre of dark fantasy; whereas another fantasy story that features magic swords and wizards would belong to the subgenre of sword and sorcery.

WHAT IS HYBRID GENRE?

A hybrid genre is a genre that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres. For example ”action” and ”thriller” are two different genres, but ”action-thriller” is a hybrid genre.

WHAT IS MY FILM GENRE?

My Film Genre is ”DRAMA”’ mainly but ”MELODRAMA” also fall into the categories of my film.

WHAT IS SUB GENRE OF MY FILM?

Melodrama: Melodrama films are a sub-genre of drama films characterized by a plot that appeals to the heightened emotions of the audience. They generally depend on stereotyped character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

WHAT ARE CODES AND CONVENTIONS?

CODES:

What are Codes?

Media Codes are Tools that are used to construct or suggest Meaning in media products weather they are Technical, Symbolic or Written. These Include camera work, editing, lighting mise-en-scene, sound, color, VFX, Typography, text and graphics.

Types of codes:

VISUAL CODES:

• Props: Objects used in a film.
• Costume: Clothes the character wear.
• Lighting: The harshness or softness represents the mood.
• Makeup: The mask, prosthetics on a character.
• Colour
• Black: Authority, power & overpowering.
• White: Innocence, purity, light & neutral.
• Red: Emotional intense colour, love & noticeable.
• Pink: Romantic & girly.
• Blue: Cold, depressing, calm & peaceful.
• Green: Improve vision, natural, & bad luck.
• Yellow: Cheerful, attention & optimistic.
• Purple: Royalty, luxury & sophistication.
• Brown: Solid, reliable, earth, sad, & wistful.

SHOT SIZE:

1. Establishing Shot: A very wide shot that establishes the location/scene.
2. Master Shot: A master shot is a long shot that captures all or most of the action in a scene.
3. Wide Shot:  A wide shot to showing characters in relation to their environment.
4. Full Shot: A Shot that cover the character head to toe.
5. Medium Full Shot: Also known as Cowboy Shot. Head to waist
6. Medium Shot: A shot from the head to the lower chest.
7. Medium Close-up: A shot from head to mid chest. Prioritizing the character.
8. Close-up: A Shot covering head to shoulder and capturing characters emotions.
9. Extreme Close-up: A shot extremely closer to something to show the importance.
10. Point of View: A shot from the perspective of a character eyes.
11. Over The Shoulder: A shot from a characters shoulder.
12. Reaction Shot: A reaction of the character to something.
13. Two Shot: A shot with two characters in it. Usually used to create a relationship.

CAMERA ANGLES:

1. Eye Level: Am angle where the camera is at the characters eye to create a connection.
2. Low Angle: An angle where the camera point upwards. Showing the character powerful.
3. High Angle: An angle where the camera points down. Showing the character vulnerable.
4. Dutch Angle: A tilted angle showing that something is wrong.

CAMERA MOVEMENT:

1. Static: This is where the camera doesn’t move at all, this could be achieved by locking a camera at a tripod in a fixed position and let the scene happen all by itself.
2. Pan: A pan is when the camera rotates horizontally left to right, it can be used to follow a character in a scene, or reveal something in that location, The if you Use the pan very fast, it becomes a WHIP PAN. A slow pan can build anticipation while a whip pan can increase the energy of the shot.
3. Tilt: A tilt is when the camera moves Vertically Up and down, this is most commonly used to reveal a character, show a very big location or a scale.
4. Tracking: A tracking shot physically moves the camera, typically to follow the subject. The camera moves WITH the subject wherever the subject moves the camera moves with them.Tracking can be further divided by TRACK IN’s where the camera pushes into the subject and the TRACK OUT’s where the camera pulls away from the subject.
5. Zoom: A Zoom can direct the attention of the audience without the camera even moving. Zoom in context to the entire scene or tighten up the space. Slow Zoom can sometimes create uneasiness. A fast zoom is known as a CRASH ZOOM where the camera Zooms on the subject very quickly its used for comedic or dramatic effect commonly. A DOLLY ZOOM is when the camera moves forward and the Lens Zooms backwards or vise versa. This creates the so called Vertigo
6. Roll: A Camera Roll is when the camera rolls in the same proximity and direction this creates a very unsettling image and distorts equilibrium.
7. Boom: Boom is when the camera physically Moves up/down left/right, this mostly can be achieved by a crane, drone, jib crane or a pedestal.
8. Hand held: A hand held movement is when the camera is not on a tripod or any other device, it is Hand Held. It gives a unmotivated or slight movement to the camera This creates a very realistic environment.

FRAMING:

1. Single: A single is When there is only one person in the frame.
2. Two Shot: Two shot has two person framed in the shot and this can further categorized by Three shot, Four shot, Five shot and crowd shot.
3. Over The Shoulder Shot: An OTS acts like a hybrid Between a single and a two shot focusing on one character at a time. This is when we see the frame Over the Subject’s perspective.
4. POV shot: A point of view shot is from a person’s perspective. Or his Point Of View.
5. Insert Shot: The insert shots are commonly used to go Tight on the detail of the object being shown inserts can also be combined with POV shots to generate First person perspective.

MISE-EN-SCENE:
Mise-en-scene in simple words is EVERYTHING that we can see in the frame, every single detail in the frame is part of the Mine-en-scene. It is a French term means “put into frame” it consists of Props, Costume, Lighting, Color, Make up and many more.

AUDIO CODES:

DIEGETIC SOUNDS:

Diegetic sounds are the sounds the belongs to the film world and are happening then and there in the scene.

1. Dialogue: Dialogue is a conversation happening in the scene with two or more people.
2. Sound Effects: Sound effects are additional sounds that are added in Post production. And the sounds are happening in the scene. (I.e. Tap water, door slams, car honks).
3. Ambient Sounds: Ambient sounds are the sounds that are naturally occurring in the scene and we have no control over it. (I.e. Birds chirping, crowd talking or sea noise).

NON DIEGETIC SOUNDS:

Non Diegetic sounds Are that does not have a screen source, these are the sound that the characters can not hear. Basically the sounds that are nor physically present In the scene.

1. Voice over: Voice Overs are usually the sound of a character speaking, either narrating the story or explaining a situation. This voice is not physically present in the scene it is like a God’s POV.
2. Internal Monologue: An Internal Monologue is similar to a Voice over but more related to the character, it is a character’s thoughts without him speaking.
3. Film Score: A film score is the Music or track that is designed for a film That plays in several moments of the film.
4. Soundtrack: A soundtrack Is similar to Scores but it is not Designed specifically for the film it is a music already produced, which is used in a Film.

TECHNICAL CODES:
Editing is comprised of different CUTS and TRANSITIONS. This is the most basic edit we can do, its simply going from one shot to another.

CUTS AND TRANSITIONS:

1. Simple Cut: This is the basic cut (also known as a hard cut) that puts two clips together, connecting the last frame of one and the beginning frame of the next. This is the most common cut, and doesn’t really invoke any meaning or feelings, as others do.
2. Cut Away: Cut away is simply cutting from a shot to an insert shot of something and the cutting back.
3. Cross Cut: The technique of the cross-cut, also known as parallel editing, is where you cut between two different scenes that are happening at the same time in different spaces. When done effectively you can tell two simultaneous stories at once and the information being given to the audience will make complete sense.
4. Jump Cut: This is a cut that pushes forward in time. It’s normally done within the same frame or composition, and many times it’s used within montages
5. Match Cut: A match cut is an edit that gives a context and continuity to the scene and pushes it in a certain direction, without disorienting the viewer. You use it to either move between scenes or move around a space, while keeping everything coherent. A very basic version is shooting someone opening a door from behind, and then cutting to the opposite side as they walk through it.
6. Fade in / Fade out: You fade out one clip and fade in the other. This implies a passage of time most often, like a night-to-day switch or someone falling asleep, but can be a bit jarring if not used properly.
7. Dissolve: A dissolve can serve several purposes and motivations within the story. It can signify a passage of time or it can use the overlapping “layers” or dissolves to show multiple stories or scenes happening at once, but shot at different times
8. Smash Cut: You want to use it when you’re transitioning between two completely different scenes, emotions, or narratives and you need to make an abrupt transition. This is used a ton when people wake up from dreams, and it’s also used quite often in comedy 
9. Iris: An iris shot is a technique frequently used in silent film in which a black circle closes to end a scene. The iris shot is divided into two types depending on their use. An iris out is used at the end of a scene, and an iris in is used at the start of a scene, often after a previous iris out.
10. Invisible Cut: invisible cuts are the cuts we can not see, mostly it cuts in the dark or Whip Pans it is designed to look like a single cut but there is a cut in between.
11. L cut: This is an Audio based transition this is when the audio to the current shot carries over to the other shot.
12. J cut: A J cut is when the Audio of the next scene start to play before we get to see the actual scene.
13. Wipe: A wipe is a transition that uses an animation (mostly digital these days) that “wipes” the first scene away into the next scene.
14. Cutting on Action: You cut at the point of action, because that’s what our eyes and brains are naturally expecting. When someone kicks open a door, we expect to see the change in angle when the door is kicked, not after it’s flown open and swaying for a moment.
15. Cutaways: Cutaways take the audience away from the main action or subject. These are used primarily as transition pieces to give the audience a view of what is happening outside of the main character’s environment. This also goes a long way in helping you emphasize specific details of the mise-en-scene and allowing you to add meaning to them.

CONVENTIONS:
The conventions of a genre are the elements that commonly occur in such films. They may include things like characters, situations, settings, props, themes and events. For example, a convention of the science-fiction genre is that the story often includes robots, aliens, time-travel or genetic manipulation.

CONVENTIONS IN A FILM CAN BE ACHIEVED BY ?
Convention in a film can be achieved in many ways such as…

Scene Setting can help achieve verisimilitude, atmosphere or give symbolic importance to the narrative. For example; an old abandon house can give a spooky feeling as it must be a house with a ghost.

Casting is very important as it will have a big effect on how the audience perceives the character. Along with this Performance of the actor is also very important because a performance is what drives the audience emotions the most, facial expressions, body language and dialogue delivery is very important.

CHARACTERIZATION can help you manipulate audience’s feelings for example, by Creating a sympathetic character can create sympathy for the audience towards the character, while an unsympathetic character can do the opposite. By creating certain stereotypes audience can reinforce their way of thinking to the certain groups as they exist in real life.

Lighting can help on creating a scene as a dark colour scheme will make audience feel the horror of the dark side of the world, high-key lighting can make audiences feel joyful.

Costume is what a character wears in a film, and this can help on creating a perception and stereotype to the character to which audiences can either relate to or feel about.

Plot helps on how the audience will watch the film, as if it is a Mystery Thriller with plot holes, and then the audience will try to find the plot holes and make a hypothesis of their own.

Cinematography is absolutely essential in creating meaning to a scene visually, as a close-up with a dark colour scheme can make the audience fell the dark side of the character. Certain angles can make audiences feel in a certain way as a low angle will make the character appear powerful and audiences feel it.

Casting is very important as it will have a big effect on how the audience perceives the character. Along with this Performance of the actor is also very important because a performance is what drives the audience emotions the most, facial expressions, body language and dialogue delivery is very important.

Sound creates an atmosphere in a scene which either can be creepy or joyful which can be felt.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS USED IN MY FILM

WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS GENRE ?

I choose this genre as i watch a lot of documentaries, in Pakistan most of these short dramas and documentaries are made on this genre that i choose. I had a lot of aspects to play with especially the story line and the actors and their role. This kind of genre and the film that i have made is very relatable to the Pakistani society so i wanted to show something that would represent our culture. I also wanted to show the degradation the women get and the dominance they face from the men, this could maybe act as an eye opener for the people that indulge in these kind of bad acts. Not many people studying media studies choose this kind of genre so i wanted to be different and unique from everyone as most people would opt to make a horror or a crime/drama thriller. My favorite directors and filmmakers have made films that indulge upon social issue and matters, so this is absolutely another reason for my choosing of this genre.