The document discusses the fantasy genre and conventions used in the movies Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Thor: Ragnarok. It analyzes the codes and conventions of the fantasy genre, including the use of magic, imaginative creatures, and battles between good and evil. It then summarizes the key plot points and characters in each movie based on Todorov's narrative theory. Finally, it analyzes some specific stylistic codes and conventions used in the opening sequence of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, such as costumes, shots, and music, that establish it as a mystery/fantasy film and hook the audience.

1. Unit 10 Assignment:
Genre Two: Fantasy – Movies: Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban & Thor: Ragnarok!
Codes and Conventions:
Fantasy films use magic and fictional stories rather than supernatural elements, they may
also include elements of magic and imaginative and original magical creatures.
The ‘Fantasy’ genre is usually targeted at, families, teenagers and young adults.
Most fantasy films are in series format and most prove successful. Examples include The
Harry Potter Series, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit Movies.
The movie Thor: Ragnarok falls into the ‘High Fantasy’ sub-genre.
This sub-genre, is set in a world that is not considered real (Sakaar, Asgard), the location is
fictional, the rules in this place differ from the real world. During this genre, the plot is
usually centred around a battle which is between good (Thor, Hulk) and evil (Hela,
Grandmaster), both parties are easily recognisable from each other.
The movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone falls into the Sword and Sorcery sub-
genre. This sub-genre is much more plot driven than that of the ‘high fantasy’ genre. Hence
the name of the genre includes ‘sword’, this means that the plot is heavily centred around
action. In addition, ‘sorcery’ implies that during these heavy action fights there are also
elaborate fights that include magic. Just like the ‘high fantasy genre’, there is also a battle
between good and evil, however, within this genre they may introduce a hero who sets out
to protect ‘something’ or ‘someone’. The characters within this film tend to be more
human, for example ‘Harry Potter’, although he is surrounded by magic and magical
creatures, he is still human.
In Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, Harry, Ron and Hermione are the heroes, the
main characters that the audience recognize as key people in the film. The villains are
Professor Quirrell and Voldemort. Voldemort is the man who killed Harry’s parents.
Dumbledore is the helper. He anonymously gifts Harry his father’s invisibility cloak which
proves to be invaluable tool for Harry during the film. The donor is Professor McGonagall
because she bends the rules and gets Harry a broomstick so he can play quidditch. The
dispatcher of this film is Hagrid. He picks Harry up and reveals the truth to him about his
wizarding powers and gives the letter that allows him to go to Hogwarts. In Thor: Ragnarok,
Thor is the hero/main character. Hela is the villain. Odin is the father figure. Doctor Strange
is the donor. He helps Thor find his father, Odin. Hulk/Bruce is the helper. He helps Thor get
his people to safety away from Hela. Loki is the false hero in the beginning. He pretends to
be Odin, betrays Thor a few times but then finally redeems himself by helping save the
Asgardians. Both films also follow Todorov’s narrative theory. In Harry Potter and The
Philosopher’s Stone, Harry lives a quiet, supressed life where he’s used to taking orders and
being ignored by his relatives. This is the equilibrium. The disruption is when Harry begins to
receive letters, then Hagrid turns up and reveals the truth about Harry’s parents and that
he’s a wizard. Harry then leaves for Hogwarts leaving his old life behind. Also disruption is
shown when Harry and the others begin to discover the importance of the philosopher’s
stone – that there were attempts to steal it – and that there are many methods of
protection in place because it’s currently at Hogwarts. The recognition comes when they

2. realise someone has been trying to steal it from Hogwarts and suspect its Snape trying to
acquire it for Voldemort. They believe that if Voldemort gets the stone, he’ll use it to kill
Harry. The quest to resolve and restore/the journey the character goes on to solve the
problem including any conflicts and the climax is when Harry, Ron and Hermione decide to
stop Snape and go after him by taking on the tasks guarding the stone and they complete a
series of these before Harry alone discovers Professor Quirrell & Voldemort (not Snape)
waiting for him and the final battle between them over the stone follows. Harry wins.
The return/new equilibrium is when Harry wakes up in the hospital wing with both the
stone and Voldemort supposedly destroyed and there is no more threat and when the
school year ends with them all getting on the train to return home for the summer – Harry
goes back to living with his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin who won’t treat him any different from
the beginning of the film. Thor: Ragnarok starts with Thor, in a cage after being away from
earth for two years in search of infinity stones. This is the equilibrium: Thor searching the
cosmos for the stones. The disruption is when he returns home, figures out that Loki is alive
and pretending to be Odin and when they go to see Odin he dies and Hela escapes her
prison. Also disruption is when Hela throws Loki and Thor out of the Bifrost and returns to
Asgard. The recognition comes when Thor meets Valkyrie and Hulk and plans to return to
Asgard to stop Hela. The quest to resolve and restore the equilibrium is when the three
(along with some friends) go to Asgard to fight Hela and Thor realises to save Asgard he has
to let it be destroyed. The recognition comes after Hela has been defeated and the
Asgardians are on their way to earth.
Both films use binary opposition but Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone uses it
uniquely because it sets up a red herring villain in Severus Snape. The moment Snape looks
at Harry during the sorting ceremony, Harry’s scar hurts. This is done to make the audience
think Snape causes this but for those paying attention on their second watch of the film
they notice that we can see the back of Professor Quirrel’s head is faced toward Harry and
we now know that’s where Voldemort is.
Reference 1 (Snape looking at Harry which leads to Harry’s scar hurting, notice that the back
of Quirrel’s head is facing toward Harry)
Binary Opposition in Thor: Ragnarok is shown through the characters and their
personalities. Thor is the hero of the film and is male. Hela is the villain of the film and is

3. female. Also they are brother and sister. Those are the main three ways binary opposition is
shown during the film.
For stylistic codes & conventions the opening to Harry potter and the Philosophers Stone
uses various techniques to hook the audience, enticing them to watch the film. The opening
sequence is very effective as it sets the base of the story, reveals the genre of the filmand
puts across the ideologies of the film. These are achieved through the techniques of: how he
story is introduced, technical elements, what and who we are introduced to, codes and
conventions of the genre of film and withheld information.
The initial scene in the film’s opening sequence begins with a fade shot of the street sign for
‘Privet Drive’ with the camera panning around the mysterious location. The location, as the
camera is panning round, appears to be very dark and gloomy. The use of colour is mise-en-
scene, which suggests the genre of the film to the audience as being mysterious and entices
them to continue to watch to discover the mystery. There is an owl sat on the street sign
which suggests to the audience that it is the middle of the night, as well as presenting
wizarding connotations as stereotypes suggest that owls are commonly related to being
owned by wizards and witches, therefore, making owls a common code and convention of
wizard films. Furthermore, the non-diegetic score used in the first scene, which is a slow
pace and soft twinkle, infers that the genre of the film is mystery and fantasy. In addition, as
the camera continues to pan around the location, the audience is introduced to the first
character; an older man with a long white beard, glasses, a pointy hat and wearing long
robes. Mise-en-scene has been used in this scene through the character’s costume which
presents wizarding connotations and supports the stereotypes associated with wizards.
Additionally, seeing the wizard suggests to the audience that the filmwill involve
adventures and magic. Moreover, after the audience is introduced to the wizard, Albus
Dumbledore, a low angle shot is used to show him stood in the street. The shot illustrates
that that he is of a high significance and possesses an important role in the film. Moreover,
following this an establishing shot is used during the part of the sequence where Hagrid is
landing his bike after flying through the sky. The effect of the establishing shot used displays
the contrast between the real world and the wizarding world as a flying bike is not a natural
occurrence in the real world. Furthermore, the flying bike further supports the suggested
genre of fantasy because it is not an object which exists in the real world. The bright light
from the front of the bike breaks through the darkness and contrasts the dark sky making
the bike stand out, highlighting the significance of whoever is on the bike. In addition, the
light is an example of mise-en-scene and it illustrates hope and foreshadows that whoever is
on the bike will bring hope to their world. The opening sequence ends with and extreme
close up of a baby’s face and he has a scar on his head. At this moment the baby’s name is
revealed as ‘Harry Potter’ and as his name is revealed the score becomes louder and more
intense. This infers that harry Potter is a character of great significance. Furthermore, the
close up focuses on Harry’s scar which makes the audience wonder about the story and they
will continue to watch the film to find out how he got the scar.
There is a lot of missing information and unanswered questions from the opening sequence
such as who harry is, how he got his scar, what happened to his parents. These questions
and many more will assist in enticing the audience to continue to watch the film.

4. Overall, the opening sequence of Harry Potter and the Philosophers tone is very effective
and successful at hooking the audience. This is achieved through the introduction of main
characters, giving an insight into the story, the genre as well as making the audience aware
of the setting and location.
Thor: Ragnarok differs from the other two Thor films and heavily shifts its style from dark
and brooding to full of colourful backgrounds and characters and is filled with comedic
moments. The film differs from Harry Potter because it answers most of the questions that
it presents such as ‘Who is Hela?’, ‘Where is Odin?’ and ‘What happened to Asgard with Loki
in charge?’ The movie also channels comic creator, Jack Kirby, amongst others, director
Waititi gives us epic ‘80s visuals and an awesome ‘80s soundtrack to go with, not to mention
some truly colourful and stunning scenes and imagery. Also the mise-en-scene here is quite
memorable, as the art direction clearly relied on a very 80’s colour palette and mood.
Reference 2 (Colourful 80’s Background)
During the movie Thor has been seen to wear a warrior-like costume which almost takes the
shape of body armour. This costume is associated throughout all the Marvel movies. It also
gives Thor a Viking kind of look. Thor's hammer is presented all the way throughout due to
this being his weapon and his strength, as we recognise and associate this with the
character of Thor. It is a symbol of triumph throughout the trailer as without his hammer he
wouldn't be able to win the battle between him and Hela. The location is typical as it shows
a futuristic city in space which shows flying spaceships as well as large buildings and city
landscape. The locations of a futuristic city are present throughout a lot of Marvel films,
which again carries on the theme of the supernatural and other fantasy elements. Close ups
have been presented throughout the trailer in order to capture the action and emphasise it.
It also emphasises the way the action affects the character and shows their reaction in order
to build up the tension.
A mid shot of Hulk was added in order to show the anger and identity of the Hulk which
shows a common characteristic of him. In the trailer, this image shows the first entrance of
Hulk throughout the entire short film. This shows the drama and the scariness that should
be associated with the Hulk from the audience. Thor has the most screen time due to him
being the main character as well as it being his film. This represents the importance of him
as well as his action as a superhero. There is an action soundtrack in the background
throughout parts of the movie in order to create a more dramatic effect as well as it fitting
in with the fighting scenes and the action. The soundtrack heightens towards the end whilst
corresponding with the continuity editing in order to welcome Thor's grand entrance near
the end of the movie.