The document discusses opening sequences in films and the concept of genre. It provides examples of opening sequences from films like Se7en and Donnie Brasco to illustrate techniques. Genre is described as a "regulated variety" that develops conventions to satisfy audience expectations. While genres allow audiences to understand new works, they also prescribe social values and may oversimplify the diversity of artistic works. The document examines how genres represent the anxieties and interests of their time periods but also serve commercial and ideological interests.

1. 1.OPENING SEQUENCES –
A CLOSER LOOK
2. WHY DOES THE CONCEPT OF
GENRE EXIST?

2. Learning Objectives:
 To consolidate understanding of an opening
sequence (elements and functions)
 To understand what is meant by the concept
of Genre and discuss its limits and
implications

3. So what do we know about
opening sequences?
Generic conventions?
Film Studio Intro- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FezAW6sqvys
Face/Off
http://www.youtube.com/watcv=3yinIbOy5VI&feature=player_embedded#!
 Students’ work:
 http://www.youtube.com/user/hurtwoodhousemedia#p/u/2/YjklOuPJWF
Q
 http://www.youtube.com/user/hurtwoodhousemedia#p/u/5/6kiIRtan5vc
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPXaysjZbkA&feature=related

4. Looking more closely at
titles
 Se7en
 Donnie Brasco
 Fight Club
 Taxi Driver

5. SE7EN
http://www.newline.com/aboutus.html
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-executive-producer.htm

6. SE7EN

7. Donnie Brasco

8. Donnie Brasco
 http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/04/11/donnie-brasco/
 giorlando says:
 This is a quiet and subtle sequence which I think goes under
appreciated because it is so quiet.
 Like the best gangster movies this film explores tensions in our moral
framework – we sympathize with and even grow fond of criminals –
their virtues of friendship and brotherhood resonate with us. We
temporarily overlook their criminality even brutality.
 The meta-referential shift when the stills turn into snapshots/ film
and back again is not only an analog of the main character’s duplicit
persona-shift, but is also an abrupt refocusing of our own moral
camera.
 Check out the uncanny kerning. It is the familiar ineffably not quite
right – easy to initially overlook but unmistakable once discovered.
The type acts not only as a metaphor of the gangster’s overlooking
Donnie Brasco’s true self but it simultaneously makes our point of
view coincident with the gangsters; and ultimately forces us to
confront our moral oversight.

9.  http://www.imaginaryforces.com/company
 http://www.imaginaryforces.com/featured/5/
83
 http://www.imaginaryforces.com/featured/5/
538

10. http://www.newregency.com/

11. Fight Club

12. Fight Club
 “The opening title sequence was supposed to be starting
inside the fear center of Edward Norton’s brain. The electricity
is like photo electrical stimuli that is running through his
brain.
 These are supposed to be impulses, fear-based impulses. We
are changing scale the whole time so we’re starting at the size
of a dendrite [and] we are pulling back through the frontal
lobes, going through this black section where there are
particles; we’ve left the brain and are going through the skull
casing.
 This is inside the skull where Arnon’s name appears, inside
bone where apparently there is some fluid in, which I did not
know. And then we pull out through this clogged pore. The
first time we showed this to [Edward] he said, “My face is not
that dirty.” And I said that this was all based on actual
photographs…of your skin.”

13. Home learning 1
 http://www.artofthetitle.com/2010/01/21/sher
lock-holmes/
 Fill last column

14. Job Titles
 Co-Producer
A producer who performs a substantial portion of a creative
producing function, or who is primarily responsible for one or more
managerial producing functions. A co-producer has less responsibility
than a producer for the completion of a project. Note that if a project
has more than one producer, it doesn't mean that these individuals
are "co-producers" in the technical sense of that term. See also
executive producer, associate producer, line producer.
 Executive Producer AKA: Executive in Charge of Production
A producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the
filmmaking process, but who is still responsible for the overall
production. Typically an executive producer handles business and
legal issues. See also associate producer, co-producer, line producer
 Producer
The chief of staff of a movie production in all matters save the
creative efforts of the director, who is head of the line. A producer is
responsible for raising funding, hiring key personnel, and arranging
for distributors. See also associate producer, co-producer, executive
producer, line producer, Producer's Guild of America.

15. Functions of an opening
sequence?
 To establish the visual style of the film and to
introduce the viewer to all or some of the
following:
 Character(s)
 Location / setting
 Narrative / Plot
 Genre
 Themes

16. So, typically, an opening sequence
contains…
 Details of cast and crew
 The film’s title (titles’ style should fit in with genre or mood)
 An introduction to character or type of character
 Indication of place
 Indication of historical period or time
 Clue about mood and tone
 Indication of the genre
 The type of soundtrack / non-diegetic sound or theme tune /
tune
 Enigma code (questions that the viewer finds intriguing)
 Type of editing adopted in the rest of the film
 Type of camera work and mise en scene that will be used and
elaborated upon in the remainder of the film

17. FACE/OFF

18. GENRE
Why do we even talk about GENRE?

19. Charlie Brooker

20. How have the movies been
grouped?
Scream
Hostel
Saw IV
Nightmare on Elm Street
Halloween
Dumb and Dumber
There’s Something About Mary
Shrek
Dodgeball
Wayne’s World
Goodfellas
Layer Cake
The Godfather
Scarface
RocknRolla
Die Hard 4.0
The Dark Knight
Transformers
Casino Royale
Rambo

21. So… What is genre?
And why does genre happen?
And why are some genres more
successful than others?

22. Starting with the last
question…
 Some genres are successful because the
conditions for the genre’s existence exist
(i.e. some people’s interests are served by its
labelling)
Whose interests do
generic ideas serve?

23. Genre Theory:
a “regulated variety”
(Neale, 1980)
 Genre theory is to do with a circulation of
expectations between industries, media texts
and audiences. This leads to a “regulated
variety”

24. Hartley, 1999
“A contract between producer and
audience which ‘disciplines’ choices and
reduces desires.”

25. Barry Keith Grant,
‘Experience and meaning in Genre films’
 “Surely one of our basic ways of understanding film
genres, and of explaining their evolution and
changing fortunes of popularity and production, is as
collective expressions of contemporary life that strike
a particularly resonant chord with audiences.”
 “For eg. The 30s musicals are on one level “explained’
as an Escapist Depression fantasy;
 Film noir in the 40s expressed first the social and
sexual dislocations brought about by WWII and then
the disillusionment when it ended;
 The innumerable science-fiction films of the 50s
embodied cold war tensions and nuclear anxiety new
to that decade.”
Can you think of recent films which could define the 00s and society’s anxieties?

26. Genre as ideological?
“The Genre film offers a lesson in how to act
within society and how to deal with current
problems and anxieties. But it does not offer
neutral ways of dealing with social problems;
instead, it prescribes a preferred set of
values.”
Can you think of what kind of values would be predominant?
Think of current films to refer to specific examples.
Remember the early point we made: genre serves the
interests of several parties… How could this become
problematic if a writer wants to emphasize a different set of
values?

27. Genre as ideological?
“The Genre film offers a lesson in how to act within society and how
to deal with current problems and anxieties. But it does not offer
neutral ways of dealing with social problems; instead, it prescribes a
preferred set of values.”
 Preferred set of values in today’s films:
 Those of capitalist ideology with its emphasis on
the individual:
The individual’s right of ownership, private
enterprise, and personal wealth;
The nuclear family with traditional gender roles;
The necessity of conforming to moral and social
laws
Etc.

28. Assumptions made around Genre for
critique (ie you need to engage in the
debate)
 Genres are defined by producers and easily
recognizable by audiences
 Genres evolve
 Genre is ideological
 Texts belong clearly to a particular genre
 Genres are not specifically located in history

29. All theorists agree…
 … about the ‘slippery’ and ‘fluid’ nature of
labeling texts in this way.
 But the exception to the rule is the pure
genre text…
 And of course, the AUTEUR film

30. From Micro to Macro
 Study the micro elements on your given
picture:
mise-en-scene (lighting, props, costumes,
colours etc)
setting
character types
actors used
Then come up with the big picture (macro
level):
Can you attach a genre to the still from a film?

32. The creative task
 Construct and storyboard a 2min sequence of
rendez-vous in a particular genre.
 Use post-its
 Aim for 14-20 frames

34. Genre
All genres are made up of key elements including:
Protagonists
Plots and situations
Icons (objects or star)
Backgrounds
There is a name for these key elements…

35. Genre
Generic Conventions – the features that
you would expect to see in a particular
genre.
e.g. The generic conventions of a horror
film include isolated settings, storms,
teenage protagonists, murder, darkness,
etc…

36. Film Genres
Horror Musical Thriller
Film Genres
Drama
Comedy
Disney
Crime
Action
Western
Fantasy
Romance
Adventure
Disaster
Science Fiction
Chick Flicks
Gangster
British film
Animation
Teen

37. Star Association - When an
actor/actress becomes an icon for a
particular genre

38. Star Associated
Genre
Examples
Hugh Grant Romance Notting Hill
Love Actually
Jim Carrey Comedy Ace Ventura
The Mask
Jennifer Aniston Romance Along came Polly
The Good Girl
Adam Sandler Comedy Happy Gilmore
The Wedding Singer
Fred Astaire Musicals Singing in the Rain
Hello Dolly
Sean William Scott Teen Road Trip
American Pie
Will Smith Science Fiction Men in Black
I Robot
Angelina Jolie Action Mr & Mrs Smith
Tomb Raider

39. Examples of poster terminology

40. Examples of poster terminology
Title Block
Stars
Central Image
Characters
Rule of 3
Tagline
Genre – Crime/comedy
Mark of Quality
Typical Characters – Police
officers. Simon Pegg and
Nick Frost are star
associated with the comedy
genre e.g. Shaun of the
Dead, stereotypical
characters
Typical Narrative –On a
mission to save the city of
London from another
terrorist attack.
Typical setting –The City
Icons – guns, smoke

41. Titanic

42. Most films are “hybrids”
 They span more than one genre
 They might ‘rework’ conventions in some way
(see later on in lesson)

43. The Hit Making Software…

44. So what do we think…?
 How useful is genre?
 Is it useful to have a genre brief?
 Is it a hindrance to creativity?
 Do some research and look at who
the winners are…
http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
http://www.filmsite.org/bestpics2.html
http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/

45. What have you learnt about
the Thriller genre?
 Five minutes to jot down all you can think of
including generic conventions and subgenres
with examples.

46. Consider the list of conventions below in your analysis and
technical construction of a thriller: (1)
 The narrative centres around a crime eg. a theft or a murder.
 The protagonist is fallible and has an 'Achilles heel' that is
exploited by the antagonist. The title of the thriller may
relate to this weakness egVertigo and Insomnia.
 The protagonist will be seen 'in peril' in one or more scenes
before the resolution.
 The antagonist ensnares the protagonist in an increasingly
complex web, until the protagonist feels isolated and
helpless.
 The narrative presents ordinary situations in which
extraordinary things happen.
 Micro elements combine in a build up of suspense.

47. Consider the list of conventions below in your analysis and
technical construction of a thriller: (2)
 Themes of identity are common: mistaken identity,
doubling/doppelgangers, amnesia.
 Themes of seeing, reflection and mirroring. Manipulation of
perspectives and optical illusions are common.
 The audience of a thriller is placed in the ambiguous
position of voyeur.
 Voyeurism can also be a theme and the objectification of
female characters is common especially in earlier thrillers
 A series of/ one important enigma(s) are/is set up in the
opening sequence of the film, is further complicated during
the first part of the film and only resolved at the very end.

48. THE SUSPENSE THRILLER
Charles Derry is one of the few theorists who has tried to
systematize the genre and shift the focus to films other than
Hitchcock’s. Derry defines the suspense thriller “a crime
work which presents a generally murderous antagonism
in which the protagonist becomes either an innocent
victim or a nonprofessional criminal within a structure
that is significantly unmediated by a traditional figure
or detection”
Derry’s broad definition means that films as different as
Vertigo (1958) and Fatal Attraction (1987) fall under the same
label and that is why he further recognises six major sub-types.

49. 1. The Thriller of Murderous Passions
Organised around the triangular grouping of
husband/wife/lover. The central scene is generally the
murder of one member of the triangle by one or both
of the other members. The emphasis is clearly on the
criminal protagonist….(and)…the criminal motive is
generally passion and greed.

50. 2. The Political Thriller
Organised around a plot to assassinate a political
figure or a revelation of the essential conspiratorial
nature of Governments and the oppositional acts of
victim-societies, countercultures, or martyrs.

51. 3. The Thriller of Acquired Identity
Organised around a protagonist’s acquisition of
an unaccustomed identity, his or her behaviour
in coming to terms with the metaphysical and
physical consequences of this identity, and the
relationship of this acquisition to a murder plot.

52. 4. The Psychosomatic Thriller
Organised around the psychotic effects of a trauma on a
protagonist’s current involvement in a love affair and a
crime or intrigue. The protagonist is always a victim –
generally of some past trauma and often of real villains
who take advantage of his or her masochistic guilt.

53. 5. The Thriller of Moral Confrontation
Organised around an overt antithetical confrontation
between a character representing good or innocence
and a character representing evil. These films often
are constructed in terms of elaborate dualities which
emphasise the parallels between the victim and the
criminal.

54. 6. The Innocent-on-the-run Thriller
Organised around an innocent victim’s coincidental
entry into the midst of global intrigue. The victim
often finds himself running from both the villains as
well as the police.

55. Hybrid

56.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJXlvacsv
NE&feature=fvw