Video Production; Specific Research

We are now beginning to focus of film genres and the conventions within a genre. As my video will have a slasher/stalker horror genre we looked at several films with a similar idea. The three clips we looked at were: One missed call, scream and when a stranger calls. All three films have young characters acted by late teens. This is mainly used due to this genre has a target audience of young adults. There are always a mixture of slow and rapid edits which can add tension to the film. The costume and props are always things that are well known to the target audience. If the surroundings and the setting are

Video- Film Openings: Initial Research: Institution

There are several very large companies/muti-national conglomerances that produce and distribute Hollywood genre films. Examples of these are; Universal and Paramount. The films that they produce tend to be formulaic films, with very large budgets and big stars that tend to reproduce dominant values.

Social realist films are normally produced by similar companies. These films are usually low on budget, fewer will known 'stars', less special effects and more complicated narratives. 'Sweet Sixteen' for example was partly produced by the Alta Films and the BBC. The film was on a low budget and the cast were not that well known to a mainstream audience.

Art house films are also owned by smaller companies. Films such as Funny haha which was produced by 791 cine. These films tend to challenge dominant/residual ideas and take more risks; as they cost less to produce they are able to take these risks. They are made for more personal reasons similarly to as I said before.

You are often able to know that types of messages and values within a film by lookin at who produced it. These companies that produce and distribute a film can often give a general guide that help the audience pick their desired style of film.

Video- Film Openings: Initial Research

To begin research for my video production, I looked at the variety of forms. There were three forms that I looked at; Hollywood Genre Film, Social Realist Films and Art- House Films. Looking at these three forms allowed me to see what forms and conventions would be most suited for my two minute opening sequence.

Hollywood Films are classed as being quite broad and non specific. When looking at three Hollywood Films with the genre Action such as Die Hard, Bourne Trilogy and any of the Bond Films, they all have several factors in common like their conventions. The conventions of Guns, Explosions, Cars, Women, Chases, killings, money/gambling, etc are all present in these films, and almost every other film that has the genre 'Action'. They also all have relatively simple narratives. The basic narrative includes, Hero saves everyone and kills the villain after many chases killings and explosions. Endings of Action films are usually resolved can be fairly happy as the villain gets what he/she deserves. Hollywood films are aimed at mainstream audiences which can be categorised as C 1/2.

Social Realist Films have a more difficult subject matter. The representations are quite complex and realistic. The target audience are B/C 1. The characters are often working class too so the audience are able to relate to them. Unfortunately the endings are not always as happy as Hollywood films, the endings are not normally resolved in social realist films. This Is England and Sweet Sixteen are examples of this genre.

Art-House Films have less conventional structures and do not contain a narrative structure either. Instead of the emphasis being on content it is mainly on style due to the target audience being more sophisticated and niche. This is mainly die to the projects being quite personal. Funny Haha is an example of this type of genre.