Codes and Conventions of Three Genres Studied

The three genres that have been studied are romantic comedy, thriller and horror films. The codes and conventions of these genres differ greatly and attract a variety of audiences for each one.


Romantic Comedy:

Romantic comedies generally tend to follow a main character and a main plot, as well as a number of sub-characters and sub-plots. There are many cliche aspects of the romantic comedy genre that are used time and time again but never seem to get old:
* A single female or less often male lead.
* The plot following the lead character's everyday life and antics.
* The lead finding themself in embarassing but comic situations.
* Usually set in a large city but not limited to this.
* Likeable and funny sub-characters including both family and friends.
* A boy meets girl (or vice versa) storyline materialising.


Thriller:

Thriller films can follow characters that have not met yet e.g. a police officer's investigation into a case of murders and the serial killer's actions before the investigator finds what they have done. They are usually fast paced and designed to make the viewer think deeper as well as including unusual twists that keep the viewer interested. Although thriller films seem to differ greatly between themselves, there are a few basic conventions that are used within them:
* A lone killer or a group.
* A team of investigators, mainly following one of them..
* Fast, loud and usually contemporary music.
* Car chases, fights, explosions, buildings in flames, shoot outs etc.
* Finding more out about the killer's background up until they are finally caught.


Horror:

Like the other two genres, horror films generally follow a main character and a main plot though there isn't usually any sub-plots. Like in thrillers, there can sometimes be a twist in the plot to shock the viewer into realisation.
* An eerie setting e.g. an abandoned place like a house or an entire city (seen in Silent Hill)
* Bad things happening largely in dark places or at night time.
* Blood, gore and violence.
* A likeable main character as well as sub-characters, a few of whom are unliked and usually get killed off first.
* Creatures, psychopaths and the undead used as the enemy e.g. zombies, ghosts, vampires, werewolves etc.
* A happy ending isn't always expected.
* The main character usually survives.
* Gothic and religious themes used.


* Spooky music and sounds used throughout

Genre: Thriller II

Old Boy

* The scene starts with man holding another man over the edge of a building by a tie. This instantly engages the viewer through a sense of mystery an the want to find out how this situation has come about. At first, it appears threatening - the viewer may at first belive that the first man is threatening the other with death by dropping him from the building when in actuality, this isn't the case at all.
* The sound use in the background is very fast paced and high pitched. This could represent the adrenaline rush and the feelings of the characters, this involves the viewer.
* The very first shot is an extreme close up high angle of the first man's hand holding onto the tie. The shot pans out to reveal the first man's upper body and face with a medium shot however, the sun is directly behind the character which almost turns him into a silhouette. This represents the darkness, evil and power that this character may have. IT then cuts to the man being held over the building with an over the shoulder low angle shot. This is not only to show the height of the building upon which they stand, but also to show the contrasting features of both men and the first man's power over the second man's life.
* This sequence ends with a close up of the first man's face and cuts straight to a flashback. This is effective because it allows the viewer to compare the first man in present time to how he was in the past and to realise the great contrast in his character over a period of time.
* The background music also cuts off between the scene to the flashback. As the music was so loud and fast but cuts to complete silence, it forces the viewer to focus on the scenes more.
* You are now led to a brightly lit scene at night time with diegetic sound of rain and cars driving past. The main character, although drunk and a little battered, appears to be much less battered than in what we saw in the first scene. He is still wearing a suit, which could symbolise the lack of change in his character - but the concept of change is apparent due to the difference in the character's nature. Also a few features has differed e.g. his hair is less crazy, he shows more emotion here too.
* Handheld camera is used here to make the viewer understand the main character, Oh Dae-Su's state of mind. It is made clear that the setting is a police station. The canera is sett in a head on medium shot directly facing Oh Dae-Su. The police come from behind the camera to calm him down - the viewer is put in the same position as the officers and view Oh Dae-Su as they view him.
* There are a few rough cuts/edits where you can see Oh Dae-Su and then it cuts straight to him doing something else or the officers suddenly appearing on screen as if from nowhere and then disappearing again during the next cut. This mirrors Oh Dae-Su's inebriated state of mind and the drunken mess he was in which made time jump around and pass in his mind like a haze.
* There is a close up next of Oh Dae-Su addressing the camera directly and the officer replying from behind it. This involves the viewer and really stresses how drunk Oh Dae-Su is, again, the viewer is getting the same point of view as the officers are.
* There is an interval of quietness next where Oh Dae-Su quiets down for a while. He is squeezes on the bench between three other men - this shows the cowardece of his character until it suddenly cuts to a low angle of him rolling around on the floor and shouting loudly until he is handcuffed.
* Next there is a medium close up looking into Oh Dae-Su uin the phone box. The camera stays in this angle while Oh Dae-Su's friend chats on the phone and turns to the other side of the phone box when Oh Dae-Su disappears. This is done so the viewer focuses on the phone box and forgets about Oh Dae-Su until his friend calls out to him and the camera cuts to a low angle shot of the phone box which rises and twists. The background music has slowly crept in at this point to represent panicking and fear.
* This shot slowly becomes a birds eye view. You can hear people passing by and the sound of Oh Dae-Su's friend calling his name out and looking for him.
* The scene ends with a low angle shot of the angel's wings that Oh Dae-Su bought for his daughter as a birthday gift. This confirms to the viewer that Oh Dae-Su has gone missing.

Genre: Thriller

A thriller film is usually full of action, filmed at a fast pace and circulates the good guy who overcomes an obstacle and defeats the bad guy.
I am going to analyse the opening scenes of a few thrillers, some examples of which films I may use are Donnie Darko, the Matrix, the Bourne Identity, Old Boy, Run Lola Run, Infernal Affairs, Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born Killers.

The Matrix

The Matrix is an action/thriller based on a different perception of reality. The idea is that the entire world is a fake reality which has been created by machines in order for them to have ultimate control over humans. It follows a character named Neo, who starts out as a normal person living his life, but is suddenly sucked into reality and made to find a way to free man kind from the shackles of the matrix.
The scene opens on a dark screen, with high pitched, slow and eerie music, as though it is building up to something. The screen then looks like a computer screen, with bright green coded numbers flashing, the camera is gradually moving in closer to focus on certain parts of the coding. In the background you can hear a phone call between a man and a woman, this entices the viewer to continue watching because the conversation remains mysterious until it ends, it doesn't give away too much information, but enough for the viewer to know that they will understand it all if they watch it through. You can tell that the two people speaking are dangerous and quite secretive just by the way they speak to each other, you feel as though they know something that you don't, which could again be a device used to draw the viewer in. When Trinity, the female begins to think the line is being tapped, it makes you feel like you're eavesdropping on the conversation as though you traced the line yourself - this involves the viewer.
The scene cuts to a dark and dingey hallway which sets a dark theme for the entire film. You see a lot of police officers approaching a door and it's hard to link this in to what was said during the phone call. The camera involves the viewer again by creeping towards the door behind the officers at quite a low level. The only lighting during this part of the scene is cast from the torches that the officers are using. Already you can see the amount of armed officers, the torches all aimed at door 303 - this keeps you in suspense because you want to know what is behind the door, why the officers are there etc.
You can tell that the lack of music and slow paced camera movement is building up to something big. When the door is kicked open, you enter a small and poorly lit room, occupied only by a woman, a computer and a phone. This is quite confusing because it makes you wonder why so many police men have shown up to arrest one little and seemingly harmless person. Next there is a close up shot on Trinity where you can see her reaction after the police burst in, but she looks quite still and calm which is a pretty suspicious reaction in such a circumstance. This draws the viewer in, you want to know why she is there, what she has done and if she'll get out.
The scene cuts to outside of the building, you can see the amount of police cars and even more officers set outside for backup. When the agents show up, they illustrate how dangerous Trinity is and you can tell that they have authority over the normal police officers. There are quite a few over the shoulder shots used during the confrontation between agent Smith and the chief officers, the lighting is again pretty dark with most of the light coming from lamp posts.
Whenever the scene switches, you get this high pitched noise which only lasts for a second which is used to build tension. It cuts to the room again and it's extremely quiet, every small noise like the jangle of metal hand cuffs is elevated. There is an extreme close up shot of Trinity, where again, you realise that she's a dangerous individual if only from the expression on her face - she is surrendering, she's surrounded by policemen with guns, yet she is oddly calm.
When the escape begins, the music becomes louder and more fast paced. During the fight, there is a lot of non diegetic sounds placed for punches, kicks and general movement. There is a slow motion/pause and camera movement so you get an extreme effect of the violence and of Trinity's skills. The camera moves back and forth quite quickly to keep up with the pace of the scene. There is a final low angle from the top corner of the entire room which shows how many men Trinity took out. This lures the viewer in because they want to find out more about a specific character - how was she able to take out such a large group of men? what did she do to have them all come after her?
I think the key elements in this opening scene is that we are given clues about they story, but no set facts. We are kept in suspense throughout but not in a scary way because that would make the film a horror! Instead, we want to know what happens next. During an opening sequence of a thriller film, you can feel that everything is building up to something and you want to find out what. The music and switch in camera paces builds tension and is incredibly effective.