Genres

Genres!

Well we have had many an argument on what Genre we would like to do. First horror, then documentary, maybe action/crime or a fantasy film. So here is a little sample of films from the listed films and some pros and cons of the three genres. First I shall look at Horror. This is a classic genre to be chosen to create a film, sometimes it is too common and often becomes a cliché. Researching into the origins of horror films has lead me to pike out two classically horrors. One will be a normal horror, and the other a hammer horror.

Horror 1 : The Shining (1980)

The Shining is about a man, his wife and son becoming winter caretakers of an isolated hotel, where the son Danny sees disturbing visions of the hotels past, using a telepathic gift known as 'The Shining'. The farther, Jack Torrance, is under way in a writing project when he slowly slips into insanity, a result of cabin fever, and the hotels from guests ghosts. after being convinced by the ghost of a waiter to 'correct' the family, Jack goes completely insane and the only thing that can save Danny and his mother Wendy is The Shining.

Horror 2 : Dracula (1958)

Dracula is about Jonathan Harker, who attacks Dracula at his castle, which is apparently somewhere in Germany, the vampire travels to a nearby city, where he prays upon the family of Harker's fiancée. The only on who may be able to protect them is Dr. van Helsing, Harker's friend and fellow student of vampires, who is determined to destroy Dracula, whatever the cost.

Action/Crime : Taken (2008)

Taken is about seventeen year-old Kim who is the pride and joy of her father Bryan Mills. Bryan is a retired agent who left the Central Intelligence Agency to be near Kim in California. Kim lives with her mother Lenore and her wealthy stepfather Stuart. Kim manages to convince her reluctant father to allow her to travel to Paris with her friend Amanda. When the girls arrive in Paris they share a cab with a stranger named Peter, and Amanda lets it slip that they are alone in Paris. Using this information an Albanian gang of human traffickers kidnaps the girls. Kim barely has time to call her father and give him information. Her father gets to speak briefly to one of the kidnappers and he promises to kill the kidnappers if they do not let his daughter go free. The kidnapper wishes him "good luck," so Bryan Mills travels to Paris to search for his daughter and her friend. 

Documentary : The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Blair Witch Project is about three film students who go missing after travelling into the woods of Maryland to make a documentary about the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.

Fantasy; Harry Potter And the Philosopher's Stone (2001)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the first film in the Harry Potter series based on the novels by J.K. Rowling. It is the tale of Harry Potter, am ordinary 11-year-old boy serving as a sort of slave for his aunt and uncle, who learns that he is actually a wizard and has been invited to attend the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry is snatched away from his mundane existence by Hagrid, the grounds keeper fro Hogwarts, and quickly thrown into a world completely foreign to both him and the viewer. Famous for an incident that happened at his birth, Harry makes friends easily at his new school. He soon finds, however, that the wizarding world is far more dangerous for him than he would have imagined, and he quickly learns that not all wizards are ones to be trusted.

The Pros & Cons

Horror

Pros: 

• Easy to achieve
• Easy to form a plot
• Easy to design
• Larger target audience

Cons:

• May be costly to buy make up and costumes
• No special effects, so you have to stick to home grown, e.g Lost in the woods
• Hard to find suitable cast

Action/Crime

Pros:

• Captures attention of audience
• Exciting
• Easy to film
• Large target audience

Cons:

• Hard to film
• Problems with filming some scenes
• No special effects

Documentary

Pros:

• Easy to film
• Plot is straight forward
• Cost effective
• Less common

Cons:

• Sometimes boring
• Hand held cameras can be too jerky
• Effect can be lost
• Less common, so may have lest interest
• No special effects
• Small target audience

Fantasy

Pros:

• Can be about anything
• Large target audience range
• Any age cast

Cons:

• Expensive to produce
• Need special effects
• Ideas may be copyright