Research And Planning: Genre

The first thing that I am going to look at are four different genres of films. I will look at Horror films, Romance films, Comedy films and Animated Films. Each one will have a different target audience and be edited/set in a specific way to give the best effect.

Horror Films

Horror films are stereotypically known to be very dark and create fear to the audience watching. Some directors base them on real events to make a bigger impression and make them feel more involved. This generally results in a bigger buzz around the film and more people going to see it, resulting in a larger budget. Low key lighting is considered often during mise on scene and during teaser trailers, more captions are added instead of talking to make it look more effective and not give too much away. Editing consists of a lot of jump cuts to keep the tension existent. In addition to this, horror films generally have a higher certificate rating of 18.

Romance Films

These are also known as chick flicks which are generally watched by females rather than males. Generally these are set in high key lighting and in sunny locations to keep the atmosphere a positive one and this usually leads to a happy 'fairytale' ending which is why its so popular with teenage girls specifically. They can stereo typically be known for always including a guy/girl relationship and the story later on is easy to guess. The editing usually consists of dissolves and straight cuts to keep the reality consistent so that we as a audience can easily follow. Unlike horror films, Romance film ratings can vary from being a PG to a 15 because of specific scenes.

Comedy Films

With comedy films, the same actors crop up again and again. For example Eddie Murphy, Ryan Reynolds and Adam Sandler have appeared in a lot of comedy family films. High key lighting is used to keep the family atmosphere and generally comedy films are for both male/female and all ages to get a wider and larger audience. The rating for these films will also vary depending on the use of strong language involved by the actors/actresses. No particular transitions are used for these kind of films as their main aim is to humor the audience, resulting in straight cuts being the most common which allows each scene to flow. The lead character is generally very distinctive and make a strong impression on us right from the beginning, making us remember them.

Animated Films

Animated films are usually categorized as being the ones for a younger audience and are therefore very popular and get a lot of publicity. As a result of this, they are rated as a U or PG usually. A lot of the animated films that come out nowadays are highly successful. With this being the case sequels of the them are being made. For example Toy Story, Lady And The Tramp, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda etc. By doing this, it creates a larger viral marketing campaign. To spread the word about the specific film, there's a lot of thought put in about advertising. Shops such as the 'Disney Store' sell lots of merchandise to promote and these usually consist of being anything from clothes, plush toys, mugs, stationary etc. In addition, animated films are usually very bright and colourful to attract their target audience.