How is genre shown in cinematography

Cinematography is the usage of cameras in media, it is the blueprints and basic ground of filming. When you want to show a certain type of genre in a film you have to make sure the cinematography is used in the correct way so the audience does not get baffled with the setting or dodgy camera angles, this could lead to your audience being distracted or getting frustrated.

genre linking to pitch

Looking into further detail about the genre i am going to be using i decided to use the knowledge i have gained from watching gang films online or dvds i own. I noticed especially that the usage of ally ways were included specifically in the modern day gang films are seen regularly.

casting

I need to find a male who is broad, tall and looks old. I need this because when you put a tall broad man next to a small boy the comparison shows a range in gangs. This idea is taken from the research of films because i always come across a big man in a gang and it is the first person i notice when viewing it. I viewed the film reservoir dogs this helped me think about the right kind of people to choose based on the genre of the gang.

In the film props such as sunglasses and black suites show the trademark for this gang of organized crime, but the moral is that one of them is an undercover policeman. This gives us the impression that looks aren't everything in gangs and they can be deceived. I am thinking about making one of the smaller characters in my film to be a snake in the grass to show small as a metaphor for being the sly one, and the big nasty looking man is innocent and miss understood because he is generally a nice 

person but he still commits crimes involved with his gang.

My characters are going to be made to look smart and classy but have a feel of being scruffy and messy personalities at the same time. 

New idea

I have come up with a new idea to help me pot-ray my ideas in a way that i can actually feel like i have put put my all in. I enjoy posts on blogger but i never feel like my idea is fully understand, to achieve this i have decided to write myself a script and record myself talking into a camera explaining my ideas as i am a very upfront comunitive person. As i have been told to make my posts more creative this is a good way that i can do this. If i put my full effort in i could edit these videos so they are enjoyable for everyone to view. For influence and ideas i will study youtube channels where they edit the film of themselfes talking into a camera, once i have mastered the tricks to do this i can make them look professional and hopefully have a feed of videos coming into my blog frequently. I have taken to this idea like a duck to water because it fits my personality and i am pleased that i can advertise my idea to its full capacity.

trailer research - lock stock and two smoking barrels

Watching the trailer for this film i noticed two main factors of why it stands out. The non diegetic music is continuos and this makes the trailer simple to view and you don't feel like it is too fast too keep up with. Another factor to make this trailer easy to watch and up beat it when the last few seconds of a scene edited in is fast forwarded to make it have a full effect a

nd get you buzzing to see the film.

I want to create my trailer with influences from this film as this is an old school looking gang, this opens my eyes to how gadgets and clothing shows the change in time i can use this trailer as a more detailed timeline to how gangs are shown in there generation.

Deciding The Genre

Choosing drama as my genre of re- make of a trailer took allot of consideration, I will be explaining my reasons as to why I chose this particular genre. I believe that drama has a wider range of options to create a good trailer. For instance in a film of drama you can have a simple prop such as a cigarette that can play a major role in the up coming affect of drama. Deciding a genre becomes more simple when you view a handful of film trailers for each genre, after doing this i still wanted to concentrate on drama. Reasons for this are because i think that in drama other elements are included such as romance, comedy and possibly fair amounts of violence. This potentially gives us more to work with, more reasons for mis en scene, cinematography and other micro aspects to be included.

overview of genre in trailers

I have looked at trailers such as 'Aliens' for sci-fi, i have looked at 'The Haunting in Connecticut' and for drama i am looking at 'The Bucket List'

The Haunting in Connecticut trailer is around a few minutes long and from the start it builds suspence using music that starts of very quite and gradually gets louder and duanting, i believe this is something only horror films would be able to use because the suspence is used to scare, frighten or adgitate the audeince. If this technique was used in another genre it would not pull off the same affect. This particular trailer could not be recondnised in the aspect of its genre just by viewing the first few seconds as it could be mistaken for a drama, this is where micro aspects come into play such as mis en scene. Props including clothing give us a clear view that the film is set in the 80's as the clothes the dad wears are very stereotypical such as the large collars seen on his coat which were very popular in the late 70's and early 80's on top of this the family is wealthy and owns a new model of a car made in the 70s.

It is very important to take in all these points when evaluating how a trailer can be remade. Aliens is a sci-fi film so we look at how he micro aspects feed into this differently, props would automatically be different the angles of the cameras would be wider to show spaceships full capacity.

initial ideas gang culture 60s 70s

Original Gangs

I have decided to combine two gang cultures from different time settings in the same film, the trailer will show the differences and similarities. The 60s aspect will be filmed in black and white and the modern one will be in color. My reasons for this are that i want to concentrate on the aspects of modern props such as fashion, cars and guns as apposed to knifes, trademark things that makes one gang member recognizable such as a tattoo.

research for gang films

The films i have viewed to educate myself and get some more ideas for how micro aspects are used to show gang culture in a drama. The first film is a bbc independent film 'shifty' it portrays the life of a drug dealer in london and the effects it has on the people\family around him crushing his life, the moral of the story is to show its never too late to escape the catastrophe that crime offers. This film is not a drama it is a thriller but this gives me a better overview of gang culture and how it is shown in films.

Things i have noticed throughout the film that show the boy is making money, or high up in his game are things like shoes, accent urban speech and jewelry. Being raised in a gritty area the main character 'shifty' believes he has made something of himself, but an old friend comes back to visit to give him a chance at a new life. Now on the new character we see a rather normal choice of clothing showing a decent up bringing, although this is false. This film is set in 2008 which is beneficial to me because i need to see what modern gang culture truly consists of. 

The second film i have chosen to use as development is 'This Is England' which is an older film and is set in an older time, a different generation which excites me because i can now visualize the differences of culture in the same place but a different time. This film is set in the 1960's , i like the fashion that was used in this time era and how someone is recognized by i tattoo or brand of clothing. 

Pitch #1

Media pitch
Genre : Drama - Gangs

My initial idea was to create a drama trailer with elements of romance, but with further research i have decided to replace this with the aspect of 'gangs'. Films i have chosen to view include; 'Shifty' and 'This is england' and 'Gangs of new york'.

I wanted to range the micro aspects by viewing films from different time eras and places. The independent aspect of my film is going to be the fact that i am including two different story's in my trailer, meaning one section of the trailer is going to be in black and white for the older gang focusing on the recognizable props that would be seen in a gang set in the 1960's. And the other section of the trailer will be focusing on the way that modern gangs have completely different props that you would see in gangs in the new century.

The modern section will include new clothing, watches flash cars and money, knifes and guns as apposed to black suits, skin heads and doctor martens a fashion that gives off a very recognizable look for someone in an old gang. In the aspect of cinematography i will be using a low angle to show the gritty street life, making sure the pavement is covered in cigarette butts and litter.

The modern part will be include new

Feedback for pitch

After having a discussion with my teachers i have realized that i have to be more adventurous with the setting of my old trailer, and that mis en scene is going to be a difficult factor of how my trailer is brought together. My suit is good for an old school gangs look but i am going to have alot of other things that will need to be included for example the whole setting of my trailer for the old time cant have anything modern on show such as new cars and things like modern doors or anything that was not around in the 60's.

My grandmother has a very old looking house from the outside, this is a possible idea for somewhere to film, or i could think about places i have known about my whole life that haven't been updated. The modern half of the trailer is going to be easier is some ways to create as i do not have to make sure that there are no modern aspects in the background.

class feedback

From the class discussion i have gained two ideas for the story of my film. One of the gang members from the old gang is related to one of the new gang members, both gangs have an assignment to murder someone but these two murders collide as the new gang kills a member from the old gang is in trouble for the kill they have committed. This feedback is very helpful as i was struggling to come up with a story line, i think i will adapt this idea and create some personal interpretations

improved pitch

The initial idea of my trailer is to have two different time settings of the same kind of gang, i will be filming the old gang in black and white and the new gang in color so i can focus on the props that would be noticed by the audience. This introduces mis en scene greatly into my trailer but  i have to make sure that i don't accidentally have any modern props that wouldn't be seen in the setting i am attempting to make.

Ideas for places to film originally only included woods or somewhere that i could escape this generations specific props that you would see daily, but after my class discussions and teachers influence i realized i should be looking at places like my grandparents house because it is an old fashioned design and is spacious. This means i can metaphorically paint myself a picture of the setting i am looking for.

deciding genre

Exploring the importance of genre and why we must put thought into the final outcome


Genre is the basis of the final grade, it opens the doors to how the film will progress in the journey of its structure.The evolution of a genre occurs over time as certain story lines and plots are repeatedly shown but with just enough changes to seem new to the audience.Elements of genre that the audience becomes familiar with through continuous repetition in films of that genre create a certain disposition, or mindset. Genre gives the comparison of setting and the type of film you are making, so a main factor of choosing genre is where your film is set as you want the same background to give the emotion and visual concepts for the genre you are using. 

Why is it so important? 

 First things first, we need to break down the sub-genre and the main genre. Films such as "21 Jump Street" is claasified into the catogarie of action-comedy 

Genre of trailer

The genre i am going to do is drama, i have watched lots of films in this genre and on top of keeping me entertained the methods and strategies composing trailers together is recognised. The trailer i will be rein-acting will be the trailer for the film "Juno".  As well as being a drama this film has elements of romance and comedy. When looking over trailers i could re make i wanted to challenge myself this is why i chose an independent film rather than a block buster. I feel that the risk of getting every element right in independent films is higher than higher gross films. The trailer is mainly heartwarming and does not show the funny parts as much as the touching quotes. Re creating this will give me a better outlook on drama trailers. The main focus is mis en scene, the time of year most of the trailer is showed is is autumn\winter props such as hats, gloves and other woolly substances will help construct a better feel for the trailers genre.  Cinematography is a major player is the aspect of construction, i will have to make sure that every camera angle is exactly identical to the original of course the background setting will be much different but this does not matter as long as i bring up the level of accuracy in cinematography.

Other trailers i can look at to bring up my understanding of drama trailers consist of Les Miserables. Personally i did not enjoy this film, but the trailer is the complete opposite of Juno not only because it is a blockbuster but also the composition 

ideas for poster

When thinking about romantic dramas i focused i concentrated on how they are usually composed, i found that usually there are images of the characters dressed up and smiling. There are also background settings introduced. I chose to steer clear of this and keep it as just the characters above a title. This gives more of a misunderstanding of the film making the audience want to research into it with more depth. I was originally going to have just the images lined up next to each-other, thinking with more depth i decided to expand on this in ways that could be done with photoshop. With this in mind i separately cut out the images and cropped them so they were just outlines. This made the poster look more original and eye catching, the actors i have chosen are ellen page, jessica alba and joseph gornden levitt.

When looking for ideas to develop my poster i viewed as many famous and independent 

Trailer Research The Last Exorcism Part 11.

The first area of my task is to research trailers and pick three that i am going to examine. The website i will be using to research these films is 'Trailer Addict - Movie Trailers'

The first trailer i have watched is The Last Exorcism Part 11.



When viewing this trailer, i had high expectations as i have previously seen the originals. They kept me on a cliffhanger and i wanted to be smouthered with obvious pointers. The graphics are so much better than the last one, and there are many scenes in the trailer that keep the audience appealed. I thought that it was spoiled by giving away too much compared to other high ranking horror films that give teasers than smothering.
The very first exorcist film is hard to compete with as it is an original which this film lacks, but makes up for in promised audience and better quality and budget. There have been original pointers in the previous films such as. The next micro aspect i will be discussing is the music, i noticed that the song 'amazing grace' is played this gives a surreal feel to the trailer. This music added ontop of the clip can make the audience feel uncomfortable because this song is usually played at funerals or in a happy form like assemblies at school. Original props such as machines used during an exorcism and salt is poured on the floor. This trailer does not attract me i think that something is missing from it, it lacks originality and is smouthered with modern aspects and new characteristics are introduced.

Micro Aspects Development Mis En Scene / 'snowcake' trailer research and development

Mis En Scene is another micro aspect playing a high role in the creation of a trailer, for instance without  this aspect we would not be able to guess the genre, setting and time of which the film is set in without non-diegetic narration. Even the smallest things for instance a pair of shoes can hold allot of importance in recognizing the genre or setting of a trailer. A film i researched to give me a deeper look into the necessity of mis en scene is 'snowcake'. This film is concentrated on the affects that the disability 'autism' has on one persons life, or the people in who are also involved. In the first two seconds of the short trailer we see a truck, we see snow and a wrapped up young girl who is hitchhiking. Without the snow, we would not know the film is based in a cold country or winter, without the truck we would not have the knowledge that in this part of the scene people are traveling, but most importantly without a coat and cardboard with writing on it we would not know that the person is hitchhiking, mis en scene is key.

The next step in the trailer is when another main character arrives, wearing glasses and in a, what some people would call, 'old mans car'. Even though we do not know yet who this man is and know nothing about him from the crops we have just seen we can get a good idea that he is an average man quietly passing through. After being hooked in by a few seconds of soft music, the truck we saw earlier comes into play and crashes into the old mans car with the hitchhiker in the passenger seat. Now, in 17 seconds alone we have witnessed a fair amount of mis en scene aspects piecing the story together one by one. This research is helping me a understand in more depth how important mis en scene really is. I do now believe that mis en scene is the most important micro aspect in film/trailers. The prop of snow weather it is real or added on gives us the setting of the scene, this branches out to other props such as road clearers, spades and furry jumpers/big coats.

Aspects of cinematography in trailers

Cinematography techniques are of vital importance to any person/filmmaker because this helps tell the story in appropriate manor. Cinematography is often referred to as "painting with light", this is because the art behind a sequence filmed is cinematography. With this in mind, it is vital I remember each minuscule aspect of camera angling must receive large amounts of attention, failing to do so may lead in un in accurate editing and a confused audience. Baring in mind the genre I am concentrating on is drama, my clips will be pieced together perhaps a little fast as my aim is to capture the audience's heart and attention gripping them into a quick glance of entertainment. Further research of drama such as the films "les miserables" and "love and other drugs" gave me a wider range of how important the cinematography actually is. Lighting, the slightly obvious aspect of cinematography is by far the most visual micro aspect. Cameras come and go, but the tried and tested techniques are permanent, meaning lighting is always different but having control of light is power over genre of what we are looking at, for instance if I was looking at a chair with no lighting it would hold no purpose, where as if the chair had lighting beaming down causing a shadow giving it a statue like appearance this would give the chair; power, meaning, importance and entertainment. The two films I researched had differences meaning every drama is unique in its own way. Each character is placed smartly in each scene, I believe this could mean that the film is showing off using its characters at their best.

Trailer Research The Hobbit Part 2

The Hobbit The Decollation of Smaug

This film is a pre-sequel to the lord of the rings and a sequel to the first hobbit, this already gives the audience a promised idea of the story as most fans would have read the books and already know what they are set up for. On the flip-side this gives an element of challenge for the Producers to keep up the expected standards of the fans. When watching the trailer old characters are introduced to the advert such as Legolass. The film is the journey carried on the the halt of the dragon, an icon as big as a dragon captures all audiences including children and adults. This can promise high gross of sales through cinema on top of original fans. The props and costumes are loyal the theme of the previous films,  which should be obvious because fans would not expect change. The cinematography mainly consists of mountain shots and landscape views, this gives a background setting. The producers are introduced first, even before the music which shows how importantly they are wanted to be shown. The music that opens the trailer is very soothing but builds tension gripping the audience in from the start like a short film, speech is the next part I will will be focusing on, after the setting is introduced there is speech indicating the theme of the film. The camera angles often zoom out to show the whole imagine and gain full impact of the cgi that so much effort was put into.