Genre is a category a film is placed into, based on particular conventions to appeal different, mass and nische audiences. The different conventions are visual, audio and thematic. When comes to what makes up a genre, you look at the signifiers which are key things that are related with that genre.
In this part about genre, I am going to list the signifiers of the main genres for film.
Horror
Knife (visual)
Blood (visual)
Screaming (audio)
Use of black (visual)
Supernatural (visual)
Low pitched music(audio)
High angles of vulnerable characters (visual)
Psychological theme (narrative)
Innocent victim (narrative)
Comedy
Pitiable Protagonist (narrative)
Romantic Comedy (narrative)
Spoofs (narrative)
Foul language (audio)
Harmless violence ( visual)
'Chick flick' (narrative)
High pitched music (audio)
Action
Guns (visual)
Fighting/Conflict (narrative)
Male protagonist (narrative)
Fast tempo music (audio)
Innocent women in need of protection (narrative)
Hostages (narrative)
Slang language (audio)
Sci-fi
Aliens (visual
Space (visual)
Supernatural (narrative)
Aliens taking over the world (narrative)
Protagonist Hero (narrative)
Antagonist Villain (narrative)
CGI (visual)
Slow tempo music (audio)
Among these major genres, you get films that use one of these main genres and an another element added. These are called hybrid genres and normally appeal to nische audiences.
The genre of Pulp fiction appears to be Crime/Thriller. This is due to guns being used has harmful weapons. Guns have connotations of violence and harm. It is a very recognise symbol for Crime, which allows the audience to get an idea of what type of film they're watching without struggling. The use of curse words and foul language is also a key factor that links with crime. Due to the stereotype of people who are associated with violence, they normally use verbal abuse to exaggerate their actions.
The narrative of the film is enlightened through the use of dialogue in the opening. It allows the audience to hear the conversation of the two characters. This allows the audience to get a better understanding of the film as they so far have probably only watched the trailer for the film which would not give a specific idea about the narrative of the film. As a male and female character are introduced, it may suggest that there will be other people who would be paired up in order to carry out certain tasks.
In the opening, the main focus is on the two characters sitting at the diner table. As the camera does not pan over the setting or show their surroundings, these are the only main characters that are shown within the opening. They seem to be from the working class, blue collar workers due to their personal hygiene and appearance. As the lady is not wearing a lot of make up, it could indicate that she has more masculine features more than feminine. However, the male is shown to have a slick comb over which is related to classiness.
The atmosphere within in the opening seems to be calm for the first 4 minutes of the opening. The couple are having breakfast at a diner and seem to be not disturbing anyone in anyway as they are talking to each other. this makes the atmosphere seem very peaceful and respectable for the morning. However, when the gun is shown in the film, the tension increases and the shrieks from the people within in the diner suggest that the atmosphere has changed dramatically. As guns and screaming combine, the atmosphere has now changed to chaotic.
The main theme used in the Pulp fiction opening is Violence. Normally films would have multiple themes in the film, but by only looking at the opening, there is a limited amount of themes shown. However, the theme of violence is only shown towards the end of the film.
The setting of the opening is in an American Diner. The 180 degree rule stays in tact in the opening which allows the audience to follow the film properly. The setting allows the audience to gather that the film is based around American culture as the American Diner is iconic to the USA. The audience never see the other side of the camera so they only see the seat that the characters are sitting on.
The use of non diegetic and diegetic sound is used in the opening of this film. They are used equally through the use of dialogue and background music. The sound allows the audience to know what the characters are getting up to in the scene. It might give the audience an insight into what is happening. As the genre of the film is Crime/Thriller, the use of gun shots adds to the tension within the film. The characters aslo talk about killing people which supports the genre and theme of the opening/film.
Titles are presented in the last 2 minutes of the film opening. This film opening is very different compared to others that I have analysed. Normally the credits of a film are introduced before nay major even happens in the film or before they fully introduce the characters. The name of the film is introduced first and the rest of the titles follow from that.
The Clockwork Orange appears to be a Sci Fi Drama from watching the opening. This is because the characters that are introduced half way through the opening seem to be dressed in all white and have blood stains on their clothes. The white clothing could indicate them being related to astronauts and space. Also, the use of props make it seem more Sci Fi as they are very unusual having several mannequins in very vulgar positions. for the first 30 seconds, the screen is block red. This could suggest that the film may contain some sort of horror or violence.
The narrative for A Clockwork Orange appears to be mainly around Science. The protagonist is introduced within 45 seconds of the film and a close up shot is focused on him for 15 seconds. He is shown wearing a top hat and white clothing, which is contrasting, therefore making him stand out the crowd. This could connote he may be a social outcast due to being so bold and expressive in the way he dresses. The camera starts zooming out form his face, which reveals more characters to the audience. They all appear to be wearing the same attire as the protagonist however they do not have the unique make up under the right eye. Due to the protagonist having unique make-up that no one else has in the opening, may suggest he's the leader of a group. They all seem to look very docile, which could indicate that the drink they are drinking could be some sort of rare substance. As many characters are drinking a white liquid, this may suggest that the liquid could be a key part throughout the film.
After the protagonist is introduced in the opening, the camera zooms out to reveal more characters that are in the film opening. It takes 45secs for the camera to zoom out to reveal all characters. This may increase the audience's curiosity which would make them more intrigued by the film. As they are all wearing white clothing it could signify that they are innocent as white is related to angels. However, this assumption is soon turned around when the camera reveals that most of the characters have blood on their clothing. Blood has connotations of violence and horror. The black hats could signifies death, which relates to the red on their clothing.
The atmosphere within the film seems to be very tense and uncomfortable for the audience. To be presented with a film opening that begins with a red screen may be alarming to some as it has connotations of blood which suggests that the film will contain violence. However, due to the red screen being shown for a long time, it could have the opposite effect on the audience. They may make the assumption that the film will be interesting due to the build up which creates suspense. The atmosphere in the film seems to be tense due to the slow build up of showing the characters. This could possibly indicate that the 'group' is planning something as they are taking their time to reveal themselves.
The themes I think that A clockwork Orange could have is psychological harm. As the characters hardly blink or move within in the opening, could mean that they have been brainwashed or in a hypnotised state. This allows the audience to be able to understand psychological and philosophical issues more due to being shown the effects of the harm. The blood on their clothes could mean that another theme the film could have is abuse. Abuse is related to violence which is also related to anger.
The setting in the film includes the use of props which add to the unique aspects of the film. The characters are in a room which is painted silver and has various white props and writing that stands out from the background. As no outside locations are shown within the opening, it could mean that the film has been created in a studio. This means no natural light was used but artificial light was used to highlight all the bold colours within the set. As the room seems to be quite packed, this could have connotations of chaos due to the the state of the room.
In the opening, there is no diegetic sound used. All the sound is non diegetic. The different uses of non diegetic sound used are the background music, the dialogue and sound effects. The background music is very eerie which sets the scene as the red screen is shown. The combination of these two things build tension for the audience. The dialogue is used when the camera is zooming out of the protagonist face and appears to be the voice of the protagonist. This is because the dialogue gives insight to the audience of the narrative. This means the leader would normally know what's going on in the group.
The title that is introduced firstly is the production company and it is presented within 30 seconds of the opening. As the film is based on a novel, the nest title to follow is the name of the man who created the novel. By doing this it makes the audience aware that this film is an adaptation and also it gives credit to the writer. The nest title to follow is the name of the Film. This is key feature for an opening as if it was a trailer, the name would be shown more towards the end of the clip.
The Notebook appears to be a romantic drama. I have made this assumption as the setting of the opening is a lake and a sunset. This would often be referred to romance. The opening has connotations of romance as the opening shows two people feature in the opening. The two characters that are presented are male and female. This is a romantic drama stereotype as it normally indicates that the two characters are going to fall in love and whilst their love grows, they come across a few issues. The continuous use of the orange and black tones is stereotypical as these warm colours are related to romance, which adds effect to the romantic drama stereotype.
The narrative of the film is romance. The protagonist of the film is introduced within the 2 minutes of the film. She appears to be watching someone who is rowing a boat in a lake. This could suggest that the lake is a key feature in the narrative of the film as it is introduced and focused on for a long period of time. The storyline is not completely introduced in the opening for The Notebook. As only main character has been introduced in the opening, it allows the audience to look forward to the whole film as the storyline hasn't been revealed yet which means that the film will be enticing. By not introducing all the characters at once the storyline builds up as it goes along.
The opening of the notebook does not introduce all Characters that star in the film. The supposedly protagonist is introduced within 2 minutes of the opening. The character that is introduced appeared to be an elderly woman who is dressed in silk pyjamas and a robe. This could indicate that she is well off and classy due to wearing silk clothing.
The atmosphere in the opening I think is intended to be relaxing and calm. By combining classical music and the sunset within the opening, it sets a calm atmosphere within the film and for the audience. This atmosphere may suggest that everything is at peace within the opening and there are no major indicators have been introduced just yet as it would not have the sunset background and slow classical music. The atmosphere may suggest that the film could be a romance as the sunset is an ideal setting for a romance to occur due to nature's beauty. The atmosphere has an impact on the audience as they would also feel relaxed as there are no sharp transitions within the opening, which makes it seem calm. On the other hand, the atmosphere could be really upsetting/sad due to the dark colours and slow music. We see a lot of silhouettes of trees, which are black, black has connotations of death.
In the whole of the notebook I think there are multiple themes that it could have. I think one of the main themes in the opening is Love. The sunset and the romantic mood contributes majorly to Love to make it the dominant theme in the opening. This is the only theme I could recognise from the opening. This theme is probably used throughout the film to ensure that here is continuity within the whole film. Other themes could be introduced in the film later on such as social status and financial status. This would mean that the Notebook could have a similar narrative to Romeo and Juliet.
In the opening of the Notebook, it appears that the setting is at sunset and by a lake. These two things are focused on the most throughout the film. This could suggest that the lake is a significant part of the film. The settinf is cliche due to the film's genre. As the Noteboook is a romantic drama, the setting is ideal to be used as it allows the audeience to get teh right impressions from the film. The warm colours in the sunset ameks everything seems so serene
In the opening of the notebook, non diegetic sound is used. The non diegetic sound used in the opening is the piano background music. The piano music sets the scene for the opening as it contributes to the romantic theme. No other uses of sound is used in the opening. This may or may not be a good thing to do in the opening of the film. Having minimal sound might entice the audience and make them follow things slowly. On the other hand, it could be a negative thing as the audience might get bored and think that the opening is too vague with the use of sound.
Looking at the opening. it appears that the actors/actresses name appear to be in a certain order. The order may be in the order of who has the most screen time to the person who has the least amount of screen time. Since I am looking at the opening, the most important credits normally appear in the opening credits and the rest are shows in the ending credits. The first title that comes up is 5 seconds within the opening. Having 5 seconds before names are introduced, it allows the audience to be aware of the setting and the location of the scene.
From what I can see from the opening sequence, I would say that The Girl With The Dragon tattoo must be an Action. This is because in the opening, we are shown guns, this connotes violence. The use of black makes it look sinister and evil, which is sometimes associated with violence. Black has connotations of death.
I think the Narrative starts off by introducing the main characters, but not obviously. The use of oil going over spreading over multiple things may signify oil. The oil may belong to a car. If there is fast paced music, then there could be a car chase that occurs later on in the film. The way the oil corrupts the laptop and wires could indicate that there is some form of hacking that happens in the film.
We are introduced to 2 main characters in the opening. However, you cannot make out their exact features as special effects have been used over their actual selves. This could connote that they have something to hide. One of them appears to be male and one appears to be female. Going against stereotypes, the female was helping the male to untangle himself from the wires.
The atmosphere within in the films seems quite tense due to the slick editing and dark colours. Also, how the two characters are attached to eachother makes it seem like quite an intimate moment. Although, the tension is broken when they rip off each other and become separate. Also, as the music goes up and down in pitch, it makes the audience tense up due to the sudden change. This may have connotations of unstability. As I mentioned before, black has connotations of death, it makes the atmosphere quite haunting. We also see a crow in the opening. Crows are seen as connotations of death.
Due to the action nature of the opening, I would think that the rest of the film would follow a high impact, fast, deteriorating theme. I could imagine the whole film being to destroy all man kind as this new technology is sucking everyone in. But the characters that we're introduced to, appear to break free out of this hold over them. This is represented by the flower opening and closing.
The opening has non diegetic sound of screaming/shouting in the background. The shouting is in tune, which makes it an effective soundtrack. Screaming has connotations of pain and torture. The fast pace increases appears to be increasing their speed of getting out. There are many different layers of sound, which makes it sound even more scary and terrifying.
The titles are quite hidden in the film opening sequence, this may be because the directors of this film wanted the audience to concentrate on the effects more as they probably spent a lot of money on it.
