Convention- Something you would expect in a certain genre.
Horror:
Conventions...
- Tension (mis-en-scene)
- Blood (mis-en-scene)
Screaming (sound)
- Silence (sound)
- Jumps (mis-en-scene)
- Point of view shot (camera)
- Over the shoulder (camera)
These are all codes because its the things we expect. We would expect to be scared and grossed out becuase that is what they target the auidence at. The screaming connotes someone being scared and building the tension and by doing this is makes us scared aswell. The blood shows that someone is being harmed which inflicks pain on not only them in the movie but the audience also. The jumps in a horror movie is to keep the audience watching and intrested but we expect it becuase it is something most people are scared of and it is an effective way of building tension. Another code for a horror is a point of view shot camera movement this is because it creates the feeling that you're trapped inside their body and you're actually there which makes someone feel scared and frightened.
Scifi movie:
Conventions...
- Aliens (mis-en-scene)
- Spaceship (mis-en-scene)
- lasers (mis-en-scene)
- Futureistic settings (mis-en-scene)
- War (mis-en-scene)
- Planets (mis-en-scene)
- Dutch shot (camera)
- Tracking shot (camera)
- Swords clashing (sound)
- Different langauges (sound)
The codes of these would be that the futuristic settings, spaceships and aliens because it shows a sign of difference and being unrealistic. Making something look unrealistic creates the feeling of being in a different world. The dutch shot is an angled shot this would help create am illusion of difference because its at a strange angle. The over exagrated sound effects makes everything feel alot more dramatic and strange. Other things such as different/strange languages connotes being somewhere we havnt been before where everything is new.
Action adventure:
Conventions...
- Damsell in distress (mis-en-scene)
- Hero & Villian (mis-en-scene)
- Treasure (mis-en-scene)
- Exotic location (mis-en-scene)
- Well built characters, usually male (mis-en-scene)
- Sound motif (sound)
- Sound tracks (sound)
- Tracking shots (camera)
- Worms eye view (camera)
- Fast movements (camera)
The codes of an action adventure would be how the hero and villian scene show the different opinions in a scene. The damsell in distress will intreeg us in the film and make us want to watch more. The exotic locations show us that it is desserted and no-one is around. The different sounds connotes us into watching more, this is like sound motifs as we know that the hero or villian is approaching and we can then breath a sigh of relief. Fast camera shots and movements connotes alot of movement within the characters to show alot of action and excitement to keep us interested.
Your material is well presented within the blog with good use made of graphics to visually identify genres. You might want to try using an online media tool such as Prezi to present an objective of this kind. This would allow you to annotate graphics and integrate video in your analysis.
ReplyDeleteYou focus on three genres, horror, sci-fi and action/adventure, successfully listing a number of conventions from each.
Turning to codes, your writing is sometimes a little confused. For example, introducing codes in the horror genre you say, “These are all codes because it’s the things we expect,” which would appear to be a description of what a convention is.
In each of your paragraphs exploring the use of codes in the three genres, you begin in a basic way to think about the effect a particular technical element is having. For example, you mention the fast camera movement in action/adventure films and correctly point out that the technique is often used to create a high energy atmosphere and keep the viewer engaged. But your exploration of what codes are and how they function is short lived.
This is an area for development. Using concrete examples in the form of scenes from films you have seen or ones that interest you, explore how technical elements such as CAMERA, SOUND, MISE-EN-SCÈNE, EDITING or SPECIAL EFFECTS (which may also be conventions of the genre) are used to: communicate with / manipulate / engage the audience; and lead the audience to understand / think / feel / expect certain things.
A good homework. D+