Genre?

Over the weekend I started brainstorming various genre’s for my film opening. I didn’t know at all what I wanted to do my film on, so I started by looking up genre’s in film. The ones that most resonated with me were Action/Adventure, Science Fiction, and Coming-of-Age. After narrowing down my choices a little bit, I started to research different conventions of the genres to see which ones would work the best for this project and which one’s I could come up with ideas for. 

Action films are often associated with some sort of quest or end result, typically with “combat, violence and pursuit”, as according to Encyclopedia.com’s article regarding Action and Adventure Films  (It’s linked, go check it out!). Films of this genre typically focus on character vs character conflict, which I thought was an interesting approach to this project. Some popular action films include John Wick (all four of them), any Fast and Furious Movie (there are so many), and The Matrix. However, after deeper consideration, I realized that action films typically depend on high special effects and a big budget, which is something I would not be able to achieve at this level. So I scrapped that idea.

My next idea was a film about science fiction. Action and science fiction are pretty similar, but science fiction focuses more on the mythical and more dystopian feel, rather than just guns and fast cars. Some examples of the science fiction genre in movies include ET, Avatar, and the Star Wars franchise. Science fiction seemed like a really interesting topic as it would let me explore various effects of technology and create a story from complete scratch  and build my own world. However, due to similar reasons as not choosing action, science fiction would require intense special effects and editing techniques that I would simply not be able to complete in a 9 week time period. So I scrapped this idea too. 

The final genre that I researched was the coming of age genre (P.S. this is the one I’m choosing!!). A coming of age film is characterized by the main character’s journey as they overcome adversity, typically due to the struggles of growing up. Some typical topics in these kinds of films include romantic relationships, going to middle or high school, or the struggles of growing up and wanting to fit in. Major characteristics of coming of age films include character growth, emotional dialogue, and focuses on social commentary, often to do with drugs, teen pregnancy, or bullying. Some notable films of this genre include The Breakfast Club, Boyhood, and Ladybird. I’m choosing this genre for my final portfolio project because I feel like I can create a story that people my age can relate to and coming up with an idea for my film shouldn’t be too difficult because I basically am living the teenage life. Filming won’t be as difficult either because there isn’t as much need for intense editing or special effects, and finding a cast wouldn’t be as hard because I can just recruit my friends to be in my film as the main characters will be people our age. 

Now that I know what genre I’m going to base my film off of, its time to research different films in the genre to get ideas of what my plot should be and what kinds of shots and techniques are often used in this genre. Research here I come!

References!!

“Coming-of-Age Movies: What Is the Coming-of-Age Genre? - 2024.” MasterClass, www.masterclass.com/articles/coming-of-age-movies. Accessed 13 Feb. 2024. 

.“." Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film. . Encyclopedia.Com. 7 Feb. 2024 .” Encyclopedia.Com, Encyclopedia.com, 13 Feb. 2024, www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/action-and-adventure-films.