This document discusses key conventions of short films, including characters, twists, and situations. It provides examples of films that effectively employ these conventions. Regarding characters, short films typically focus on 2-3 main characters to develop their personalities within limited time. An example film is "Strangers" which develops binary opposite main characters. Regarding twists, most short films include a twist to maintain viewer interest and provide narrative impact. Example films are "December" with a genre twist, and "Sight" with a dark thriller twist. Regarding situations, films keep viewers engaged by developing intriguing situations, like "The Horribly Slow Murderer" and its comedic ridiculous premise.
Learning ObjectivesAfter reading this chapter, you should be abl.docxsmile790243
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
· Explain the difficulty in defining genre, and contrast the advantages and disadvantages that genres offer film studios, filmmakers, and audiences.
· Describe the popular film genres of westerns, gangster, mystery, and film noir.
· Describe the popular film genres of horror, fantasy, and science fiction.
· Describe the popular film genres of romantic comedy, musicals, and documentaries.
· Categorize films into genres, recognize when films cross genres, and analyze films using genres.
· Trace the history of popular sentiments and social issues through the evolution of films inside genres and recognize various social functions of genres.4.1 What Are Movie Genres?
A genre is a type, or category, and genre films are usually easily recognizable as part of a certain genre. This is because they tend to use familiar story formulas, character types, settings, and iconography (visual imagery with symbolic implications), all of which lead viewers to have certain expectations about what the movie will be like before actually watching it. For various reasons, which we shall note, genre films are prime candidates for analysis to reveal significance far deeper than the surface stories. Many genres also have a variety of related subgenres with more narrowly defined formulas and expectations. For example, any film in the horror genre can be expected to produce fear or anxiety in the viewer; some of the many subgenres of horror films include the vampire film, the zombie film, the monster movie, the mad doctor movie, the insane slasher-killer movie, and the psychological horror film, among others.
In Evil Dead II, a freewheeling horror film directed by Sam Raimi, Ash, the protagonist, played by Bruce Campbell, experiences some genuine terror, including (but not limited to) cutting off his own possessed hand with a chainsaw. Audiences and critics alike found it intense and scary. They also found it hilarious. How can a movie that includes the following exchange not be?
Ash (talking to mirror): I'm fine . . . I'm fine . . . (Mirror Ash jumps out of the mirror and grabs Ash.)
Mirror Ash: I don't think so. We just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound "fine"?
Courtesy Everett Collection
Little Big Man is a revisionist western. It takes the genre's conventions and reverses them. The Indians are the heroes and General Custer is the villain.
With its violence, gore, and shocks, there is no question that Evil Dead II, considered a cult classic, is a horror movie. With lines like the foregoing, there is also no debating that it's a comedy. So is it a horror film or a comedy? Why can't it be both? Evil Dead II is an example of a movie that crosses genres. The word "genre" comes from the Latin genus, which refers to birth, family, race, or class, and by extension to any sort of categorization. However, as we will see, there is much debate over just what the term genr ...
2. Characters
Characters in short films are an obvious convention of
short films, within a short film it is regular to have a focus
on two-three main characters at most, some even only
contain one. This is in order to maintain relative depth to
their personalities in the small amount of time they are
able to be developed, this usually doesn’t include giving
a character history (like what you might see in a feature-
length film) but rather giving an example of their
personalities or lifestyles in order for the audience to
sympathise.
An example of a film I watched in which the characters
we’re developed in an interesting manor was ‘Strangers’
(2004, Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv). In this film, the two
main established characters are binary opposites; a
Jewish man and a Israeli man, the narrative progresses to
a point in which, although they are innate enemies, they
have to ‘put aside their differences’ in order to escape
from a group of skinheads. Though we only see the
characters for a limited amount of time, it remains clear
what kind of people they are.
3. Twist
Short films often contain a twist so to make a lasting
impression on the viewer, the majority of them do this
as it maintains interest in the film while also giving the
producers an important narrative device. This can be
done in a variety of different ways be it in the narrative,
where maybe someone abruptly dies or perhaps in the
genre, where a film we might have previously thought
was a horror could turn to be a comedy (like ‘December’,
2010, Andreas Pasvantis)
An example of another film in which used a genre twist is
‘Sight’ (2012, Eran May-raz) which begins relatively like a
sci-fi romantic drama, in which the audience believe is
intelligent yet innocent, the ending twist however is a
dark turn, and as the main characters motives become
more clear the film suddenly resembles more of a thriller
than romance. This twist is effective as it builds on the
complexity of the narrative, as through doing this the
producers have presented a comment of how they
believe what direction the progression of technology will
take humanity.
4. Situation
The situation in which a short film takes place is key in the
enjoyment of a film, in order for the audience to stay
connected they have to be intrigued towards the progression.
One particular film in which the ‘situation’ has been developed
in a manor which implores the viewer to continue watching is
‘The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient
Weapon’ (2009, Richard Gale). In this film the enjoyment of
the audience rests purely on the comedic value of the
ridiculousness the main character finds himself within, as an
‘ancient evil’ (a key feature in a variety of famed action films
like the Indiana jones and transformers franchise, among
others) chooses a regular man as a target for beating to death,
with a spoon. As it takes the route indicating an regular
comedy turned action/horror epic and the audience are
consistently left asking themselves why this is even happening.