Genre Research

In order to make desicions towards our main task we had to decide on a genre and then research around the genre to get an idea of what we could possibly include. We chose fantasy as our genre, here are some examples of fantasy films;

Harry Potter
Lord of the Rings
Labyrinth
Pirates of the Caribbean

We each chose two films and made notes on the films opening sequence, the 4 key areas (Camera, Sound, Editing/SFX, mise-en-scene), and similarities within the genre. I chose to do Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix and Labyrinth.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix

Opening Sequence:

The titles are dark and include whispering in the background to give it a more eerie feeling; this then goes onto a birds-eye-view of the countryside. A transition leads onto a scene where Harry is on a swing whilst looking at a family. I can connote from this that since he is smiling he is either slightly jealous or emotional due to him not having any parents. Dudley (harry's cousin) then comes along with his friends and starts to mock Harry about his loss of parents; Harry then gets angry and threatens Dudely with his wand which we can see makes Dudley scared as he knows what Harry can do. As Harry threatens Dudley the couds above become darker and thicker, so much so that it starts to rain heavily; this is shown as a birds-eye-view with Harry and Dudley running home. As they enter a passageway Harry notices that it becomes colder, suddenly out of nowhere a dementor appears and grabs Harry whilst Dudley runs. Another dementor appears and Dudley falss to the floor. The dementors do what they do best (sucking the happiness out of their victims) but Harry then reaches for his wand and casts a spell to get rid of them. Dudley is in shock when taken home and tells his parents that Harry did it; after this a letter appears from the Ministry of Magic saying that Harry has been expelled from Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

The Four Key Areas:

Camera;
Dolly shot of countryside
Flat angle on Harry throughout
Birds-eye-view of Harry and Dudley running
High angle on Harry when Dementors arrive

Sound;
Diagetic music
Ambient music and noises when Dementors appear and when Mrs. Figg talks about 'you know who'

Editing/SFX;
The dementors are special effects
Lights from wand are special effects

Mise-en-scene;
Casual, nowadays clothing
Taditional, old fashioned wallpaper in Dursleys home
Graffiti on subway walls
Mrs. Figg wears stereotypical old lady clothes


Labyrinth:


Opening Sequence:

The titles are small are light blue; the transition between titles is an animated owl flying through the screen. The music in the background is David Bowie who incidently is in the film itself. An owl flies through the screen as another transition from titles to beginning scene where Sarah is running onto the screen with a dog in a park. She then starts to recites some lines from a fictional book called 'Labyrinth' but is interrupted when it starts to rain and so she runs home with her dog. When she gets home she meets her step-mother and birth father who are all dressed up as they are ready to go out. Sarah gets angry and storms off upstairs, as she sits down in front of her mirror she recites the same lines again. Again she is interrupted but this time by her little brother, Toby, who is crying due to the thunderstorm. Since he interrupted her she gets angry and says some 'magical' lines of which would apparently make the Goblin King take Toby to his castle; after this she walks out and turns the light off. Toby stops crying and this worries Sarah so she goes to check on him, but he is not in his crib. She is given a big fright when an owl comes through the window and starts flying around her. This owl then transforms into the Goblin King of whom tells Sarah where Toby is. He then disappears as Sarah intends to go through the Labyrinth to find her younger brother.

The Four Key Areas:

Camera;
Flat angle on Sarah
Pan movement on Sarah as she runs home
Over-the-shoulder shot with Sarah and Goblin King

Sound;
Diagetic music
Non-diagetic clock chime
Ambient noise when Goblin King enters and when Toby goes missing

Editing/SFX;
Owl turning into Goblin King (SFX)
Glass ball turning into snake (SFX)
Glass ball appears out of nowhere (SFX)

Msie-en-scene;
Old fashion dress over jeans (Sarah)
Posh home (Sarah's parents)
Powerful stirct look for Goblin King
Goblins are scruffy


Similarities within Genre:

There is a set location for the characters to end up in.
All fantasy films include 'magical creatures'.
There is always a leader of the group and/or an extremely helpful person.

Limitations;

However, even though these films may influence our piece there are some limitations that we have identified. For example; the use of special effects could cause trouble as we do not have the full range of equipment needed to do so. Another limitation could be down to mise-en-scene. By this i mean that it may not be possible to create the costumes required for the character because of financial issues or being unable to gather the right resources.