Genre Debate

     Hi blog! My partners and I are still having a debate over what genre to do. Callie and I both have good ideas for the plot of the movie, but can't choose what genre to focus on! I think we should do a horror suspenseful scene, because it is fun to film and easy to create a unique story. When I watch movies, I always remember the horror genre openings more than I remember other genres. I think if pulled off properly, we could create a memorable film opening with this topic. One horror movie in which I find the opening scene memorable is "When A Stranger Calls." The opening film link is attached below. The reason why I find this memorable is a combination of factors. With the repetitive phone calls combined with the music, even in the first ten minutes I have chills. The director was able to draw the audience in within the first scene, due to the appeal to find out what happens next. With no down time, the film jumps right in, developing a memorable plot in the movie. In an earlier blog post, I attached genre research for a horror movie. I think the director uses all the factors discussed to effectively make a suspenseful movie. Although it is old, it still gives me chills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrtDLbbUDKE


     On the other hand, Callie wants to do a dramatic film opening. She does not know if she wants it to be more of a drama within teenagers (sort of a coming to age type of movie), or a dramatic movie with a suspenseful buildup in the plot. We do not have any research gathered on this movie type, so I have began looking into characteristic of a dramatic movie. Dramatic movies do not provide as much of a mysterious feel, which in my opinion does not draw in the audience. I looked into watching some film openings for dramatic movies, such as "The Help." (link attached below) Through my research, I found that these movies tend to establish context or introduce characters and events in the opening. In the case of "The Help" the film opening establishes context about slavery and a woman's daily life. It develops her character and explains what she must go through every day in this time period. Another example is "Lady Bird." This film opening also develops context, but a dramatic scene is in the first few minutes as the daughter jumps out of a car. The main purpose of a film opening in the genre of drama is to set the story, in comparison to developing suspense in a horror genre. The drama genre is supposed to be relatable to the audience, showing everyday challenges that people go through but on a bigger scale. While some take on social issues like civil rights, others combine with humor in order to show a soft side to people's problems. Drama is broken up into two main categories, being comedy and tragedy. Both move the audience emotionally, just some movies are more easygoing than others. There are not many factors seen in all dramatic movies, because the categories vary greatly. However, they focus on a main topic of a struggle and issue, and create a relatable plot for the audience. I just personally think the hardest part will be creating an entire plot in only two minutes. However, we have some good ideas for both genres that would work!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5oJFP82uto


   With whatever genre is chosen, I think my group will put together an amazing opening to a film. We need to develop soon, because this week we have to start the story board for our project. I don't want us to fall behind, because we all have busy schedules. We plan on working on a story board at the start of next week, and altering it in by the end. We also want to develop a few plots for back up in case the one we try doesn't work. I know it will be hard for me to get it all done because I have multiple lacrosse games this week, but we are going to work diligently in order to make sure our tasks are accomplished.