Three Act Structure #7

Three Act Structure


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-act_structure

Not all films follow the 3 act structure, for example Disturbia

Act 1 - Inciting incident. A car crash in which his father dies 



Act 1 - Turning point. He is put under house arrest 




Act 2 - Confrontation/Development. The protagonist becomes suspicious that his neighbour is a murderer and begins to spy on him. 




Act 2 - Turning Point #2. The neighbour kidnaps the protagonists mother and it is up to him to save her. 




 







Act 3 - Climax. He saves his mother and kills the murderer.





Act 3 - Resolution. He gets his tag removed and gets the girl



In act 1 the audience meet the protagonist and the other characters that will appear in the film. We also get an insight to what problems will occur later in the film. The key to act one is to keep it interesting and to not give away the film too early. Act 1 is also an opportunity to learn about the protagonist and form an attachment to them.

Act 2 is normally where the complications arise. Problems that were shown in act 1 now have to become more dangerous and complicated. At the end of act 2, the main character shown be at their lowest point and desperate. This could be either physically or emotionally.

Act 3 is usually the resolution to the antagonists problem. The main character usually ends up victorious but some films occasionally have downbeat endings where the main character loses or dies.

Narrative #6

Narrative

While the term narrative is certainly similar but not used as commonly as "story", most people know that it mostly refers to stories. Narrative is essential as the audience need it in order to make sense and understand the film. Genre and narrative are related as typical story lines can be found in many genres.

Narrative story                                   Narrative plots

Narrative story is what happens         Narrative story is the order
in the film and includes the                of how the story is told
backstory.

Example of narrative story

Crime conceived
Crime planned
Crime committed
Crime discovered
Detective investigates
Detective identifies criminals

To make the narrative more interesting, the sequence of events could be re-arranged

Crime discovered
Detective investigates
Crime conceived
Crime planned
Crime committed
Detective identifies criminals

Hybrid genre #5

Hybrid genre

A hybrid is a combination of two or more genres.
Hybrids can have larger audiences due to appealing to a wider audience through their multiple genres. This would be more lucrative for the film companies.
Some people consider them more exciting and creative.

As horror movies are perennially popular, film-makers might start with a set of horror paradigms to guarantee audience interest, before throwing other tropes into the mix.
This gives us genre hybrids like:

• Horror romance (twilight saga)
• Horror war
• Historical drama
• Historical romance

"Genres are not static , but evolve. Therefore, their common attributes change over time. Most films are hybrid genre, since they possess the common attributes of more than one genre." by Warren Buckland

Hot fuzz

Hot Fuzz is an example of a hybrid as it intertwines the aspects of both action and comedy.

Sub-genre #4

Sub-genre

Sub-genres are identifiable sub-classes almost like a sub-heading, within the larger film genre, with their own distinctive subject matter, style, formulas and iconography.

For example in action films; Spy, Political. Thriller, Martial Arts and Race against time.

James bond is an example of a film with sub-genres.
These include Spy, Romance and Martial Arts.

 

 

Another film with examples of sub-genre are Speed.
The sub-genre of Speed race against time















The sub-genres of comedy are

Slapstick
Screwball
Parodies
Romcom
Satire

Case Study On A Genre #3

Case Study - Musicals

How genres change

The 1930's through the 1960's are considered to be the golden age for musical film.

The musical genre is one of which that audiences for a long time because of the idea of integration and an example of a more lively enjoyable life. This is because of the recurring convention of characters spontaneously erupting into song and dance as though it's as natural to them as speaking.

Hollywood released more than 100 musical films in 1930, but only 14 in 1931. by late 1930, audiences had been over saturated with musicals and studios were forced to cut the music from all films that were then being produced.

In the 1960's, musicals made a comeback. This was because the new type of successful films being produced were adaptations of prosperous stage productions such as "Oklahoma!" and "The Sound Of Music"   

Genre #2

Lesson on genre

Genres function according to sets of rules and conventions, which govern their capacity and range. They respond to these rules and conventions by developing formulas and patterns (paradigms). Over time, these formulas and patterns may acquire not only typical, but even archetypal force, dominating ways of seeing and representing the world around us.

• Genre - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_genre
• Paradigm - the overall pattern created by a film that helps us categorize it. (iconography/structure/theme)
• Iconography -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconography
• Conventions - The individual elements which help specify which genre a film belongs to.                                                 Eg, the conventions of action = Weapons, violence and explosions 

As far as TV and film are concerned, the commercial idea of genre grew with the evolution of the film industry. It was particularly developed in Hollywood in the 1920's and 1930's when studios were being established. Film producers wanted ways of attracting  audiences to create profit. Their solution was to establish films people liked and produce them in large numbers. Marketeers could then give films labels so that audiences knew what to expect, luring them into the cinema. Genres thus became formulas consisting of predictable conventions that audiences enjoyed.
Certain genres are considered appropriate to certain ages/genders in society, and choices are made accordingly. Eg, teen movies "chick flicks" have expectations about the content and style, according to its genre.


Genre has both positive and negative effects. Rigorous conformity to established conventions (or paradigms) while giving the audience what they want can lead to stagnation of a genre as a "They're all the same" attitude appears. This happened to traditional Hollywood westerns and musicals as they became stale through over repetition and audiences lost interest. Only when a new type of western or musical (Broke Back Mountain or Moulin Rouge) come along that a non-niche audience is willing to watch. 

Genre #1

Film Genres

Film genres are identifiable types, categories or classification used to categorize film with the same or similar themes. Types of genre include Thriller, Adventure, Action, Sci-fi, Comedy and Horror.

Comedy

This is the trailer for the comedy film Grown ups.

This is a typical comedy film. It is obvious from the trailer because it shows people making jokes and funny scenarios which are commonly found in comedy movies. The actors found in the
film also give us an insight into what genre of movie it is. In this case, the main character is played by Adam Sandler who is mainly associated with comedy films.


Action

This is the trailer for the action film Skyfall.

This trailer depicts a classic example of an action film. This is shown when the trailer includes car chases, explosions and guns. The main character played by Daniel Craig helps the audience to identify that this is an action film.


Sci-fi




Here is the trailer of the popular science fiction film Star Trek Into Darkness.

This is a typical science fiction  movie trailer.The audience can tell that this is science fiction movie with the futuristic technology, futuristic setting and paranormal abilities.

Horror




This is the trailer for the horror movie The Conjuring. The inclusions of the eerie sounds of a child laughing, unknown darkness and inexpiable things happenings. The main character Patrick Wilson helps the audience to recognize this is a movie from the horror genre as he has featured in many horror films.