Genre Theory

Genre Theory

A film genre is a motion picture category based on similarities in either the emotional response to the film (namely, tragic, comic, etc.) or the narrative elements. Most theories of film genre are borrowed from the literary world. The basic genres include fiction and documentary, from which subgenres have emerged, such as docudrama. Other subgenres include the courtroom and trial-focused drama known as the legal drama. Types of fiction which may seem unrelated can also be combined to form hybrid subgenres, such as the melding of horror and comedy such as in the Shaun of the Dead. Other popular combinations are the romantic comedy and the action comedy film.

Steve Neale’s theory of Repetition and Difference. Steve Neale states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the to the economy of the genre.
Neale states that the film and it’s genre is defined by two things:
How much is conforms to its genre’s individual conventions and stereotypes. A film must match the genre’s conventions to be identified as part of that genre.
How much a film subverts the genre’s conventions and stereotypes. The film must subvert convention enough to be considered unique and not just a clone of an existing film.

Neale states that Hollywood’s generic regime performs two functions:
To guarantee pleasure and meaning for the audience.
Popular cinema relies on audiences finding pleasure in difference and repetition i.e. recognition of familiar elements and the way those elements are linked in an unfamiliar way or the way that unfamiliar elements might be introduced.

Genre is constituted by specific systems of expectations and hypothesis which spectators bring with them to the cinema and which and which interact with the films themselves during the course of the viewing process.

Moral Panic - Cohen 1972

Moral Panic ; Cohen 1972

Moral Panic occurs when someone or something is defined by the media as a threat to the values or interests of society.

The key moral panic theorist is Stanley Cohen. Cohen suggested in his 1972 book ‘Folk Devils and Moral Panics’ that a moral panic occurs when “condition, episode, person or group of people emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests”.

Stanley Cohen believes the media play an important role in enforcing moral panic, even by just reporting the news.

In Cohen’s view the media overreact or sensationalise aspects of behaviour which challenge social norms. The media’s representation therefore then helps to define it, which can then lead to outsiders adopting and observing the behaviour based on the model they see in the media. The moral panic depicted by the media fuels further unacceptable behaviour.
I
n extreme cases moral panic creates mass hysteria within society. The general public start to believe whatever is being reported on is occurring everywhere in society.

Cohen defined his five stages of moral panic as:

1. Something or someone is defined as a threat to values or interests

2. This threat is depicted in an easily recognisable form by the media

3. There is a rapid build-up of public concern

4. There is a response from authorities or opinion makers

5. The panic recedes or results in social changes

Cultivation Theory

Cultivation Theory

Cultivation theory suggests that repeated exposure to television over time can subtly ‘cultivates’ viewers’ perceptions of reality. George Gerbner and Larry Gross theorised that TV is a medium of the socialisation of most people into standardised roles and behaviours.

Cultivation Theory suggests Television influences its audience to the extent that their world view and perceptions start reflecting what they repeatedly see meaning TV is considered to contribute independently to the way people perceive social reality and will have an effect on the audience’s attitudes and values. Long term exposure to violent media makes the audience less likely to be shocked by violence. Being less shocked by violence the audience may then be more likely to behave violently.

 

 

Trainspotting Overdose scene 2 extended

Overdose/Withdrawl Scene

The scene begins with Renton sitting crossed legged in the middle of the desolate drug den, the vivid red colouring of the walls being an indicator for danger. The conversation between Renton and ‘Mother Superior’ seems to be one which jokingly mocks the use of heroin, as if it’s a normality, by roleplaying a restaurant scene. The heroin intake is filmed in such an intimate way throughout the scene that it makes it quite hard to watch. The lack of audio, save from the highly emphasised sound effects of the needle, makes it even more intense. To see the drug taking in such an extreme close up gives the audience a chance to decipher their own ideologies about drug intake. It also highlights this one specific scene from the rest for it is so different to the others. 

We then see how this is different when Renton falls back onto the ground, sinking into the floor as if he is in a coffin, the red carpet acting as a lining. The point of view shot from Renton shows the reaction of ‘Mother Superior’, who seems unfazed showing the commonness of overdosing. When being dragged the point of view shots from Renton still give the effect of him being trapped due to the lining being around the screen. The quick paced shots of travel to the hospital, by taxi cab to show the  lack of care and hiddenness, reflected the drama of the scene, yet the facial expression’s of everyone around showed the normality of the situation. 

Renton’s withdrawal scene is one of the most weird scenes of the films, which delves into the fantastical and reflects the aftermath of drug addiction. He is locked in his childhood bedroom, shown by the train wallpaper which is quite ill looking on the walls as the room elongates to show the distance between Renton and the outside world. There are many things in this moment which reflect moments of the film which has happened, and are finally having an impact on Renton for example the baby crawling on the ceiling and Diane in her school uniform. There is also Begbie who acts as a conscience of Renton, as the camera follows him going under the covers we see Begbie and he speaks of how he’ll fight Renton if he steps out of line. This moment also foreshadows the fate of Tommy. We see his shadow first, and then he drags himself against the wall from the left side of the screen to reveal his violently ill and drugged face. The clothes which he wears are the ones which we later see him in when Renton finds out that Tommy is ill

Trainspotting; Club and Sex Scene

Club/Sex Scene

This scene begins with a wide shot of a nightclub setting, with strobe lighting which sets the period of the 80s/90s, and shows a young couple making out in the center of the shot. This then cuts to follow the main characters, most separated with various unknown girls, for example Begbie over-exaggeratedly making gestures to impress a woman and Sick Boy being intimate with a girl. These contrast to the shot of Renton who is awkwardly dancing along to 'Temptation' by  Heaven 17.  His clothing really reflects the period, especially the yellow patterned crop top with the shaved head. His surroundings show him to be amongst other socially awkward men (could be the rejects), which  might make it quite humourous. These men wear various common day outfits, such as a jacket, shirt and tie. 

To add to the comedy genre, in big subtitles at the bottom the conversation between Spud and Tommy are translated, since they're shouting over blaring music (which adds to the realism), even the font is in an upbeat style. The camera slowly pans into their conversation from a distance, showing the 'Clockwork Orange' references along the walls, relating to the current media and similarities. The conversation topics of their relationships and sex, known common topics between friends, is shown through humour. The closeness of the camera adds an inclusive feel to the conversation, yet enables us to still see the main interior between them. As they're discussing, fast paced editing cuts to their girlfriends talking about the same thing, continuing the conversation, which adds a comedic effect, for example the horrified tonality in which Tommy says 'useless mother******'. When the girls arrive, the low angle shows their dominance when they say 'what're you two talkin about?'. The quick movements and in-time speech adds humour due to the dramatic irony and relatableness.

When Renton first sees Diane, the music instantly changes to 'Atomic' by Sleeper. This give the idea of an intense love -at-first sight motif which Renton feels. Diane is in solitude, highlighted by a spotlight, with an outfit that makes her stand out from the rest. With slicked hair, short glittery dress she looks very classy for a nightclub and a complete contrast. The rotated shot of Renton acts as if it's in slow motion and gives us time to focus on his facial expressions. This is then followed by outside shots of Renton going after Diane, involving a teasing monologue which she says to confuse him. 

The scene that follows is one of quick paced editing which reflects the emotional peak of their night. It involves three different sex scenes all happening at the same time, two of which resulting in major consequences to the narrative. The non-diegetic music with a heavy involvement of a drum beat creates an intense tonality to it, creating an atmosphere. The three couples act very differently within each scene, the main one being Diane being dominant and professional about it (and her being on top (which makes the plot twist even funnier)). Whereas Spud, who previously said he hasn’t had sex in weeks, has gotten so drunk he’s fallen asleep and Tommy has mistakenly put in the wrong VHS tape (one which Renton stole and swapped). These scenes display the shift in the film, especially for Tommy. 

Trainspotting Notes : Tommy's Fate and Rentons betrayal

Tommy's fate:

The funeral of Tommy's begins with a sharp cut of a two-person shot, to show the intimate conversation in the funeral (as a symbol of respect of something they should not be doing) and is behind the characters to involve the audience in their conversation. When talking about Lizzy, who the audience knows that Tommy had an unhappy end with, the camera pulls out, however Lizzy is out of focus, showing how Renton could see her. By narrating how Tommy came to an end, the camera cuts as if to flashbacks, however these are purely scenic shots to reflect an ambiance. The camera follows side-ways with the kitten, stopping at the moment when Tommy's photo is in the center of the screen.This photo contrasts to the surrounding greyness of the walls, it focuses on bright colours and reflects when Tommy was healthy and alive. The more they continue to talk once the funeral service has happened, Begbie sharply turns in front of them in attempt to silence them. The fact that it's his character is ironic and makes it threatening, showing the seriousness of the situation. 

With a shot of the kitten, the camera pans out of this flashback to reveal slowly the dirtiness of Tommy's apartment. The Iggy Pop posters hangs torn on the desolate wall and the football sits alone, which reflects the destruction of Tommy's life. Whilst Renton is being told of the details of Tommy's death, the camera continues panning out to show the legs of Tommy facing down, creating a distance between Tommy and the narrative. To contrast to this significantly dark moment, the friend says 'the kitten's fine' which adds humour and tones down the horror of the moment. 



Renton's betrayal:

To begin the finale scene, atmospheric intro of 'music plays, showing the shift in mood and his decision being made clear due to the previous violent pub scene. The ceiling shot shows the positions of each characters, and could link to their personalities and statuses within the group, for example Begbie on the bed curled up with the bag of money. A close-up of a side view of Renton shows him biting his nails, which is a sign of nervousness. There is an over-the-shoulder shot of Renton looking in the mirror which shows him questioning his choices and a change in characterisation. The light above the mirror makes it feel personal to Renton, focusing entirely on him. The tensity of Renton trying to get the bag off of Begbie, due to Begbie's violent tendances, creates suspense for the audience however with the music, it is aware to the audience that this won't go wrong. 

The unspoken conversation between Renton and Spud shows the closeness between them, the pleading facial expression of Spud showing that they both know what the outcome will be. Renton claims that it's 'not a big deal' to convince himself of his rights, then knowing that he 'ripped off my so-called mates'. The sideways shot of Renton walking could show the difference in opinions between him and the usual normality of the others. Contrasting to an earlier straight on shot from inside the locker, this shot shows the camera from the right side, showing a continuation in mirrors and reflecting the future. Whilst placing the money in there, he says 'I felt sorry for Spud', referencing the future of Spud's grateful face after the end titles. Begbie's anger is one which the audience expects but makes them fearful for Renton. His final monologue, with the involvement of the audience - 'I'm going to be like you', is a parallel to the beginning speech, being a final conclusion to the film and yet being open-ended. 

Trainspotting; Opening scene.

Cinematography

 

 

 Close ups are used to draw attention to what happens, letting the audience know what the key ideas and ideologies of the film is. For instance, when Renton takes a hit, he falls on the floor, it then cuts to a close up of his head on the ground, enshrouded in shadows.

 There is a lot of 'dynamic' movement, that has been stabilised, this creates a surreal feeling within the audience, much like drugs would do. Such as when the camera pans from Renton's head, around to the other side of is body.

 The camera doesn't stop moving, until drugs are involved. This signifies that drugs are to be taken carefully and respected by them, as they take more time with them than other activities, such as football.

 

 

 

Editing-

 

Freeze framing is used when introducing the characters, with a title name appearing. This allows the audience to know who the characters are from the very beginning, and also that they are who they need to pay attention to.

 The characters are represented and foreshadowed during the opening sequence, as to how they will act later on. Tommy is trapped in a corner looking for a way out, in the football match, he later is the one who needs help and no one gives it to him. Sick boy trips someone up and the gets angry, much like how he blames what he does on others... etc.

 There is a very quick pace, especially at the beginning, there is no establishing shot, instead it begins with a  close up of Renton running and a quick cuts. 

 The editing also goes back and forward in time... Renton takes a drug, then it cuts to football, then Renton gets kicked in the head by a football and starts falling, it then cuts to him falling after taking a drug, and continues to cut between the two.

 

 

 

Sound

 

The song "Just for life" by Iggy Pop, is a very upbeat song, and this is what the film begins with. However, Iggy Pop was also a very big heroine addict, so the song still has a sense of darkness and reliability to the film. 

 The use of Renton's voice over is also helpful for the audience, as it gives a background to the characters and story, it also introduces Renton as the protagonist.

 

Mise-en-Scène-

 

The lighting is very high key, there is very little shots that a dark, especially when drugs are being used. Combined with a lot of colour within the flat when taking drugs, mostly reds and greens. However, this is also mixed with a lot of normal light colour and other smaller colours. Yet the bedsits are grotty, in contrast with the rest of the, otherwise, clean feel and happy lighting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dracula End Scene

Overview;

 Stoker’s Dracula was filmed and produce in 1992 by Francis Ford Coppola. Based on the infamous vampire novel Dracula in the 1890s.

The film stars Gary Oldman as Dracula throughout the film, the hero Harker is played by Keanu Reeves. Winona Ryder play two parts of the film, one is the wife of Dracula the opening sequence and later plays the fiancée of Harker reincarnated.

 Anthony Hopkins play the priest of the Christian church of the opening sequence and also does the voice-over for the film.

Plot;

The film starts out in 1462 where Muslim Turks try to invade Transylvania with a massive army.                                 

After the title has faded it is 1892 London, Renfield is shown in a mental institute talking to himself about being rewarded by some dark force. He then eats a cockroach and thanks someone.

Jonathon Harker is shown talking his employer about organising a property buyer in Transylvania named Dracula who wish to buy a property in London. Harker asks his employer about what happened to Renfield in Transylvania who also was trying to organise a property for Dracula. The employer replies with family problems.

Mina, Harker’s fiancée talks to Harker about getting before Harker’s to Transylvania. But Harker suggests they would marry after his business trip.

Representation;

Dracula – When you see Dracula in the film he is clad in red armour that is shaped like human muscles and tendons, holding a sword in an aggressive pose.

Elizabeta – As you see Elizabeta with Dracula she has long flowing curly hair with a tiara in it and wears on white bodice on her dress. This shows innocence and also shows her as a victim a crime of some sort. Her voice is soft gentle and high pitched. After committing suicide the dress she wore is dark and gothic now looking damned.

Under The Skin; Homework Good vs Bad

Under The Skin;What Makes A Good Human?

Good Human:

• Compassionate
• Hard -Working
• Ethical 
• Empathy 
• Forgiving
• Easily approachable
• Good with people

Bad Human;

• Not compassionate 
• Doesn't follow the rules
• Lacks of understanding of Right vs Wrong
• Creates a bad atmosphere
• Lacks Empathy 

We need to talk about Kevin Notes

• The uses of flashbacks and parellism in the structure of the film can be usefully explored. The film begins in the aftermath of the massacre, then flashes back to the events leading up to the massacre ( including flashbacks to the beginnings of Franklin and Eva’s relationship). The complex inter-realtionship of the narrative timelines culminates in the massacre itself and then flashes forward to the meeting between Eva and Kevin one year after the killing . 
• The effects of this complex structuring of time in the plot can be usefully explored by considering the opportunities it affords the storyteller for showing parallels between characters and event, and in raising question about cause and effect.
• How exposition of the narrative occurs in the film can be an intresting source of inquiry. We are presented with fractured elements of a story at the beginning that 

We Need To Talk About Kevin; Family Death Scene

Scene 1:
Family death scene (Flashback)

The death of of Eva's family is a prime example to show how flash backs are used to portray the feelings and also potentially provide a red herring or foresee the future. This scene starts with a long, slow pan up to the curtains, with non-diegetic sounds, such as scratchy violins. The noises used are to put the audience on edge, as they are commonly signified within horror films. Just before reaching the curtains, the screen becomes heavily over exposed, again, another convention for flashbacks. This creates parallelism, as the flashback goes back to something at the beginning of the film, a large food fight. However,  the colour of the tomatoes and food is red. The meanings love and danger can be denoted from the colour red, both of which are relevant with what the audience is about to see; making this flashback a foreshadow, as subsequently, Kevin has killed the other people that Eva loves within her family.

The demographic isn't subconsciously aware of what the flashbacks offer in terms of understanding the narrative, as well as the importance of them. As i mentioned, the narrative allows the audience to work out what is about to happen. However, this is not always the case, as sometimes the flashbacks offer a red herring, leading the audience in a different direction. The audience later feels gratified... in a horrific way, as they now see the curtains again, but rather than stopping at that, it cuts to still medium  shots of Eva's family with arrows in them. The diegetic water sprinklers now replace the violins, and speed up once the audience sees the deceased characters. This effect speeds. up the heart rate, making the audience feel even more tension, emphasising the importance as to what they have just witnessed.

The film does not work in a chronological order. The scene the I have chosen is a prime example, as it conveys how Eva is in between the two time spans. The protagonist has now developed and is living in a new, small home. There is a flash forward to the death scene, but then a flashback, to before the time at which she is in now. Yet the more the audience watches, the more they are able to place bits of this fractured narrative together, to create a, some what, chronological narrative.


The use of flashbacks and parallelism in the structure of the film can be usefully explored. The film begins in the aftermath of the massacre, then flashes back to the events leading up to it (including flashbacks to the beginnings of Franklin and Eva’s relationship). The complex inter-relationship of narrative timelines culminates in the massacre itself and then flashes forward to the meeting between Eva and Kevin one year after the killings. The effects of this complex structuring of time in the plot can be usefully explored by considering the opportunities it affords the storyteller for showing parallels between characters and events, and in raising questions about cause and effect.


> How exposition of the narrative occurs in the film can be an interesting source of inquiry. We are presented with fractured elements of a story at the beginning that we have to piece together with little indication of how to organise these into a chronological framework of time and space. The difficulty of doing this is compounded by the fact that there is a lack of expositional dialogue and conventional establish of narrative setting. The first three scenes are the net curtains blowing in the wind, the tomato festival and Eva waking up which all occur in very different places and times (which we discover later) but how we can organise these scenes into a story is restricted from us until much later in the film.


> Eva’s and Kevin’s characters provide many sources for inquiry, particularly in their position within the narrative. The questions about who is the film’s protagonist and antagonist, who is the ‘centre’ or initiator of the drama and how we are supposed to respond to the characters is complex and ambiguous at times. This complexity of character identification and function within the narrative is further complicated by the use of mirroring. The characters are made to look like each other and often display very similar expressions and body language… frequent graphic matches force a further comparison which suggests characters that are connected in more ways than simply a mother-son relationship.