genre conventions research

1. INTRODUCTION: THEMES:
Genre, which is a French word meaning “sort”, “type” or “style”.
The Genre of a movie can be recognized by its features such
as setting, props, characters etc. Genres are defined by
producers and understood by the audience. It’s usually a
category to which something belongs to. A film identification.
Conventions are what you expect to see in a certain genre. For
example: In a fantasy genre film you would expect to see
maybe unicorns, demons and, heroes/villains.
I have chosen the mystery chick-flick as my genre as it’s what i
enjoy most watching. An example of this genre in the film
industry is Scream Queens.
If the plot is what is on the surface of the film, then the
theme is what is under the surface. Themes are
sometimes called a “life lesson or a message”. Betrayal,
loyalty, self-worth, ambition, jealousy, hypocrisy,
obsession, alienation these are some examples of
themes. Typical themes for my genre are death, jealousy,
judging, trust, destroyed friendship, love etc.
In my opening sequence, the going to include is death
and betrayal, and romance as it matches my genre.

2. CHARACTERS: AUDIENCE:
.Characters are important in a movie as they connect
with the audience watching the film and gives the
audience a feeling of connection. They are very
essential in movie making. Characters are usually what
engage the audience. My character is going to be
presented to the audience in a mysterious way to create
enigma. I want my protagonist to link to my target
audience and make them feel connected, by only
showing her features such as lips and eyes.
The typical audience for my genre is teenagers and
females because of the colors, music, props, and themes.
Females usually watch this genre because there are
gossip and drama and that's what most girls experience
in life. I want my target audience which is females and
teenagers to be able to relate as we live in a luxurious
city, Dubai, and most teenagers living in Dubai are spoilt.

3. SETTING: ICONOGRAPHY:
The term setting is meant by where the film is taking
place or filmed. Setting is important in the film as it can
give a huge meaning to the story. The conventional
setting for my opening sequence is going to be in a huge
luxurious villa filled, i will be filming in my room as it has
the mirrors needed for my sequence and the set up.
Iconography originally comes from the study of art. It was
used in the analysis of images. In media it’s used as a part
of genre , we expect to see certain objects on screen when
we see a particular genre. Example: a western movie
should include cowboy hats, guns , horses etc. so
iconography could be defined as the hints and signs we
see in a particular genre. It helps the audience Understand
the genre way better and the story. The iconography in my
opening sequence that i’m going to use are Makeup, heels,
shopping bags.

4. NARRATIVE: STYLE:
Narrative is simply defined as storytelling. It’s the way
different elements are organised in a story to make it
meaningful. (beginning , middle and end). I'm going to
use all the 5 stages of narrative to help me make my
story better. Enigma is one of the main one as my
protagonist will not be shown and the picture of the girl in
the drawer will be presented in the opening sequence
which will create enigma.
Its a group of conventions used by filmmakers to add
meaning to the film. Its linked to the genre as it defines
what the film is about. The style of my genre which is
mystery chick flick is love and death and these are the
styles im going to be using in my opening sequence.
Using “The Devil wears Prada” and “Legally Blonde” as
an idea of what i want my opening sequences style to be
like. I’m going to use a lot of close up shots and special
effects such as slow motion to engage my audience.