2. Fantasy Films
Films from the fantasy genre are films that feature things such as magic, make
believe creatures and supernatural events. They have an element of
myth, mystery, wonder and escapism.
I think fantasy is one of my favourite genres because of how you have to be able to
use your imagination to actually enjoy the films and get involved in them and they
can be in any type of place, from real places that exist to make believe worlds. I also
like how different the characters can be in fantasy films, you can have humans
mixing with aliens, or other supernatural beings or you could have completely made
up creatures as the main character.
There are many types of fantasy films, some that are aimed at children and feature
things such as fairies and have a basic good verses evil storyline and others that are
aimed towards a more mature audience that feature more scary or complex
creatures, events and storylines. However with some films the fantasy genre tends to
overlap with other genres, such as science fiction, when this is done the films feature
new technologies from different worlds or the genre can overlap with horror and a
supernatural feature can be used to frighten the audience.
3. Pan's Labyrinth
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Year of Production: 2006
Pan’s Labyrinth is set in Spain, 1944, five years
after the Spanish civil war. The film is narrated
by an unseen person and tells both the story of
a the real world and a fantasy world that is
centred around a abandoned overgrown
labyrinth and a faun that the main
character, Ofelia, talks to. The main character
lives with her pregnant and ill mother and her
stepfather who is a Falangist Captain searching
for remaining Spanish Maquis.
Ofelia comes into contact with many mystical
creatures while trying to help her pregnant
mother get better, they lead her through the
trials and tasks of the labyrinth.
4. Special Effects
Pan’s labyrinth uses a lot of special effects, such as
animatronics and CGI, to bring the creatures and
scenery alive in the film.
Special effects are a great way of making your film
more effective and memorable, as when people
watch them they will remember certain bits because
of the way special effects have be used.
An example of this is a scene in Pan’s labyrinth
where Ofelia, the main character, is told to go through
a door where a creature who is said to eat small
children if she eats any of the food on the table. The
creature she discovers there a tall, saggy skinned
man(?) with no eyes on his face, instead they are on
his hands which he holds up to where his eyes
should be, in this scene Ofelia is chased by the
creature and gets out the room in just the nick of
time, this scene is quite scary to watch and is a
scene that I and other people remember from the film
because of how the creature looked, this was
achieved by special effects.
5. Spirited Away
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Year of Production: 2001
Spirited away is a fantasy animation set in
japan, the main character, a young girl called
Chihiro Ogino is moving house with her parents
when they come across an abandoned town, in
which they find plates and plates of foods which
her parents begin to eat. Chihiro goes exploring
and when she finds her parents she discovered
they have turned into pigs. The town that they
have come across is in fact an alternate reality
that is ruled over by a bathhouse owned by the
witch Yubaba, who is the one who transformed
Chihiros parents to pigs. To set herself and her
parents free, Chihiro takes a job at the
bathhouse where she meets Haku and young
boy who helps her on her mission to escape
back to the human world.
6. Story Line
The storyline of Spirited Away is about a young girl who has to find her way out
of an alternate reality with the help of a young boy and other mystical beings
she meets a long the way. I liked the storyline of this film because at first it was
easy to follow but as it developed I found it to be really interesting.
Having an easy story to follow is a good way of getting people to watch a film
because it enables people to tell other about the film without giving too much
away, this way a film will get more popular by word of mouth.
Although I do prefer films with more complex storyline because it gives you
something to think about during the film and also after, I think a film is more
memorable when you have to think about what happened afterwards to try and
make sense of what was happening and putting all the bits together.
Sucker punch would be an example of a film with quite a complex storyline.
7. Sucker Punch
Director: Zack Snyder
Year of Production: 2011
Sucker punch is a film set in a mental
institute, the main character is Baby
Doll, who is forced into going there by her
step father after the sudden death of her
mother. The film centres around Baby doll
as she tries to escape the institute before
the date of her lobotomy, in five days. She
switches from real life to fantasy, as she
and fellow female inmates plot to escape
the institute together. Along with a
mystical guide, they fight to find the items
that will help them escape and defeat
fantastical and real foes.
8. Star Theory
One of the main reasons I watched Sucker Punch was because of the people
that starred in it, the main character is played by Emily Browning, one of my
favourite actresses. Also two other actresses who were in the film are Jena
Malone and Vanessa Hudgens, actresses whose films I have enjoyed.
I think that Start Theory is a big factor in why a lot of people go and see other
films, or buy them to view at home. If a well known actor or actress is in a
film, more people are likely to go and see it, because they see them in
magazines, on tv, on radio and on the internet so much they develop an
interest in them and become more interested in wanting to see films that they
star in.
I also think that star theory is a very clever way of broadening the audience of a
new film, because if you have star from a different genre of films from what they
usually star in then their fans will watch their new film to see their favourite
actor/actress, this way your film will make more money from their fans as well
as fans of the genre of the film. For example the films that Vanessa Hudgens
has stared in are usually romance or comedies, so her fans will be used to this
type of film with her in but they might want to see Sucker Punch as she is in
it, despite it being different from their choice of film.
13. Media Literacy
Media literacy is a repertoire of competences that enable people to
analyse, evaluate, and create messages in a wide variety of media
modes, genres, and forms. This is a key way of getting films recognised.
The main way that I find out about new films are trailers on the TV and
on different websites on the internet, I think that trailers on TV are a
better way of advertising films because there is a huge number of people
that watch TV and if a trailer is played a lot they will become more and
more interested in going to see a film. I also think that the internet is a
good way of advertising films because you can add more information
abut the film then, and people can find out more things about the film.
Other ways of advertising films are billboards, blogs, word of mouth and
social networking sites.
14. Reception Theory (Hall)
Reception Theory supports the idea that the meaning of a film is created when a viewer
watches and processes the film. Reception theory can be linked to Star theory because it
argues that a person is more likely to see a film if a star who they like and has been in other
films that they enjoy are in a new film. This is why many directors choose to have well known
actresses/actors in there films as they bring in a bigger audience and their films make more
money. According to reception theory a person will only see a film because of there personal
perception of a film. If a viewer can relate to the storyline and characters of a film, they are
more likely to see and enjoy a film. Your age, place of upbringing and how you were brought
up also influence what films you see.
One of my favourite films is Girl, Interrupted, I originally watched the film because I had
previously read the book and the storyline was about something I find interesting to watch/read
about because of things I have had to/still deal with, another reason that I chose to watch the
film was the two main stars, Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder. I think that both actresses play
any character well, no matter how different the character might be to any other they have
played. I also enjoy The Lord of The Rings trilogy, this is mainly because when I was younger
my Grandad was a fan of the books and films and from him talking about them and making me
watch them I have gone on to read the books and enjoy the films more as now I’m older I can
understand them more. This has also made me want to see The Hobbit film that has recently
come out as it is a Prequel to these films. This backs up the theory that your background can
influence the type of films you see and enjoy.
