Choosing a Genre

In this post i will embed some different film trailers with a range of genres, i will then evaluate the genres and find out which genre i would like to create. I will look at trailers within these genres; Action, Comedy, English Drama, Gang Culture and Horror.

The World Is Not Enough (1999) - Action



Ali G Indahouse (2002) - Comedy



This Is England (2007) - English Drama



Kidulthood (2006) - Gang Culture



Wrong Turn (2003) - Horror



Now i will look at the trailers above from a wide range of different genres and decide on which genre i would like to create for my trailer. I will take into account if i could actually recreate the trailer, for example i couldn't recreate a hollywood film with lots of special effects as i do not have the resources.

The first genre i chose to look at is action, i chose this genre as it is one of my favourite genres and is very entertaining. The film trailer i chose was, The World Is Not Enough which is a James Bond film what was made in 1999. The film opening is quite hard to recreate as it is very fast paced with lots of different shots, the tempo is very fast. The shots are difficult to recreate as they switch from a speed boat to a hot air balloon and i do not have access to these things. Also the location of the different shots are hard to recreate as they are filmed in a wide range of different locations. There are a lot of explosions and gun fights in the trailer which i cannot recreate as I don’t have the resources. For the simply reason that i do not have the resources, I have chosen not to make my trailer from the action genre.

The next genre i will look at is comedy, the trailer is from 2002 and it is Ali G Indahouse. Comedy is one of my favourite film genres and one I will consider when i create my own trailer. The film opens with a funny gun fight between two gangs, both of these are dressed brightly and create the effect in the viewers mind that it will be a comedy film. The audio at this time is hip-hop to help build up the feel of the gangs. This trailer would be hard to recreate as of the bright costumes and the location of part of the trailer is in the House of Commons. The Trailer builds up the comedy genre by the audio as it goes from dramatic music to Ali G in the House of Commons telling the Prime Minister to “Relax, you batty”. This genre would be hard to create as if the actors are not funny then the trailer will not work, and the genre would be distinguished.

I will now look at the genre which is English Drama, The trailer is This Is England from 2007. The film starts with music from the 80s, and the first image is of Margret Thatcher, you see a lot of famous things that happened within the 80s, you then see the characters and they are also dressed differently from the current time so you automatically think that the film is set within the 80s, this would be difficult for me to create as I do not have the costumes for this era. The beginning of the film starts light heartedly when the skinheads joke about with the boy, however when one of the main characters the film meets the boy the joyful music stops and you get a darker feel about the film, also you hear shouting from the character so this builds up a dark feel. The film is quite shocking as it contains a boy trying to buy alcohol and cigarettes, also the trailer contains violence and vandalism. This is a genre I believe i could create but it would be difficult.

I will look at the trailer from the film Kidulthood from 2004 which is from the genre gang culture. The film starts off with a shot of the title zooming in slowly, this builds up tension. The trailer then quickly shows different shows which create an urban feel, along with the grimy soundtrack. This trailer would be difficult to recreate because it is set in central London with a lot of the trailer set on a large council estate, also there is a lot of violence. There is a lot of fast paced dialogue which builds up tension, along with the rising tempo of the film. The trailer suddenly ends with the title back on the screen and the music stops. Then the final shot is off one of the main characters saying bye mum and closing the door. This is something I would like to create as has a good effect for the closing scheme. This is a genre I will consider when I decide which genre to create my trailer on.

The final trailer i will look at is from 2003, and from the genre of Horror. The film is Wrong Turn. The film starts off with a car crash, it gives the viewer a shock as it quickly kicks in. The music is quite slow and mysterious, the tempo slowly rises with a few bumps along the way which makes the audience jump, the tempo rises to a sudden stop and then the action starts in the trailer, the video makes you jump during the short clip and makes you want to watch the full film. The film is set in a wood which also adds to the effect. I really like this trailer as I believe I could create something similar to this, the loud bumps make the audience jump. This genre is one of my favourite types and one I will seriously consider when I pick the genre I will create.

The genre I have chosen to create for my trailer is horror, i think this genre can be created using good sound effects and a decent location to film in. I will mainly focus on building up tension in my trailer and trying to make the viewer jump.

Initial Thoughts

I have to analyse a range of different film trailers with different genres, this is so i can gain an understanding of what makes a film genre, i will create my own teaser trailer for my own film so by deconstructing a range of different genres of trailer then i will be able to decide on which genre i would like to recreate myself for my own trailer. I will analyse a range of different film posters and DVD covers also to find out how these can build up a specific genre.

I will research;

• look at different film trailers on different genres to find out more about the genre
• Find out which genres i would be able to recreate easily
• Find out how film posters build up a specific genre
• different DVD covers genres

The different genres i will look at are as follows;

• Comedy
• Horror
• English Drama
• Gang Culture
• Action

Brief

A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with the following two options:

• A film magazine front cover, featuring the film
• A film poster
• A DVD cover for the film

-