Genre portrayal: Hot Fuzz (2007)

Genre Portrayal In 'Hot Fuzz' (2007) 

Director: Edgar Wright

In the trailer for Hot Fuzz, the genre is communicated in a variety of different ways. Hot Fuzz, does not clearly fit into one genre- meaning it is a Hybrid genre, combining: action, comedy, horror and thriller. The genre of action is reflected almost immediately in the trailer. The stern, serious, voiceover states that ‘Sergeant Nicholas Angel’ is an expert in: hand-to-hand combat, armed response and high-speed pursuit. All of these qualities are important aspects of an action film- therefore we know that there is going to be an aspect of activity and violence in the film. For this first twenty seconds, the audience would genuinely believe that Hot Fuzz is a complete action filled movie- not only from the use of booming and tense background music but also the visual images of guns, cars and explosions- which are genre signifiers for an action movie. Up to this point, the audience could assume that Hot Fuzz is a ‘Classic’- although this idea is quickly dismissed at the next voiceover line of: “He was so good, they reassigned him”.

This is where the film is shown to break out of its typical expectation and pushes the boundaries of genre by incorporating another category of film. This stark contrast is followed by the background music cutting out- reflecting the audience’s confusion at their generalisation of what genre this film is. The comedy aspect is highlighted Nicholas stating “There is one thing you haven’t taken into account, and that’s what the team are going to make of this…” the camera then shows the entire police force as being pleased and delighted to see him go, with a ‘Good Luck’ banner above them. Again, at this point the background music becomes silence again to enhance the humour of the scene. Later in the trailer there are also many other aspects of the comedy genre, most of which the backing music pauses for the main part of the gag. There are many subtle jokes and funny lines that reflect the main purpose of the film being to entertain and make the audience laugh. Another example of this is when Danny asks “Is it true that there is a place in a man’s head that if you shoot it, it will blow up?” This idiotically childish question is so unexpected to come from a trained police officer that it makes the scene very humourous. Also, the recurring image about the swan on the loose further reflects its comedic category.

The trailer also evokes some aspects of a horror film. The light heartening comedy aspect is then broken with the serious voiceover “A whole lot is about to go down” which is followed by a piercing female scream and a slightly gory image of an axe being used as a weapon in an attempt to kill a couple by an unknown hooded person. The horror aspect is not reflected as much in the trailer as the previous two genres discussed, however the trailer may not give an accurate view of how much horror is incorporated into the movie. Furthermore we later see: a man collapsing to his knees with a huge rock on top of him and blood splattering everywhere and the same hooded person attack Nicholas by throwing him against a wall. These frightening and slightly gory images imply that the film could potentially have an opposite side to the comedy aspect.

The idea that Hot Fuzz is a thriller is not necessarily reflected in specific parts of the trailer- but through the message. From the trailer we learn that the town is suffering with a low crime rate but a high accident rate, making the audience feel suspicious and curious. With many unexplained deaths, the thriller aspect is wanting to know who is the murderer and why. Thriller is a genre typically involving crime or espionage. In this case, the film features crime.

Steve Neale’s theory that genre goes through a cycle and changes throughout it’s lifespan, is reflected in this film. Neale’s theory also stated that genre changes its signs, orientation or expectations in order to move to the next stage of the cycle. However, I believe that this film is a combination of a few of these stages. Hot Fuzz can be seen as homage to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s previous film ‘Shaun of the Dead’. A homage is to pay respect or honour another media type by re-creating part of it. In the clip, Nicholas wants to chase a shoplifter by jumping over garden fences; but, Danny is reluctant to do so. Nicholas says: "What's the matter, Danny? Have you never taken a shortcut before?" Then, smiling arrogantly jumps over four garden fences. However, when Danny attempts this, he trips and falls through the fence. This scene is very similar to a clip from ‘Shaun of the Dead’, where this crashing through the fence happens to Shaun’s character.Also, the film could be argued that it fits into the 'Parody' category of Neale's theory too. This is because of its humour element. It could be argued that the thriller, action and horror element is just 'taking the mick' of typical films in that genre by combining them in a comedy based film.

Thriller Film Poster's: Research

Thriller Film Poster’s

The film posters shown all tend to follow the conventional colour schemes of the thriller genre. With black, white and grey being the basis of most of the posters. However, In Seven and The sixth sense another prominent colour is red/orange. This colour connotes fire, rage and blood-which may emphasise that the films are of hybrid-genre combining horror and thriller. This is because horror films tend to include more blood and gore scenes than thriller’s. For the poster of seven, both characters faces appear to be edited with a red filter and blend into the dark black background. This enhances the suspicion due to the slightly faded faces and emphasises the connotations of the colour red even further. Whereas, the sixth sense includes a minimal amount of red and orange colours. The use of a completely black background may intrigue the audience and helps them to focus on the one area in which colour stands out the most- the number six. The number features a shadow, which from my previous research, I have learnt tends to be a common element of thriller films. Gone girl, Inception and Zero Dark Thirty also include some form of shadow on their film posters.

Black Swan and Lucy have a clear colour scheme of black and white. Black Swan uses these colours to emphasise the title as swan’s are predominately white- not black as the title states. The use of the contrasting white background and pale face with the heavy, dark black eye makeup and lipstick emphasises the good versus evil binary opposite. This could link to Vladimir Propp’s common character theory involving a protagonist and antagonist. Also, in the Black Swan Poster the use of the metallic, grey headpiece may symbolise the combination of the black and white colours thus a good versus evil compromise perhaps. The Lucy poster uses a close up shot in order for the audience to focus entirely on the girl’s facial expression. However, with the image being entirely black and white coloured except the eyes being yellow and green coloured- it could be argued that the audience are drawn to her eyes. Eye contact allows the audience to understand the story from her perspective. Black swan also focuses on eye contact with the audience in order to grab their attention and draw them in- making them want to see the film.

Gone Girl and Inception as well as using the dark colour of black, use a slightly more neutral colour of blue. The colour blue connotes sadness, knowledge and depression, which could evoke the idea that the characters have lost someone very dear to them in the film. Both have very picturesque scenes behind them and include a shadow of the back of their body. This may make the audience question whether the character shown on the poster is the villain trying to disguise himself or the hero on an undercover investigation.

The typography used for Black Swan, The Sixth Sense and Seven are almost handwritten looking. This may imply that the audience has a more direct and personal link to the character or plot. Also, it may be symbolic in that at some point in the plot a handwritten letter or something similar is used as a dramatic device to engage the audience further. On the other hand, Inception, Gone Girl and Lucy use much bolder, thicker fonts. This could remind the audience of a stamp used for police paperwork- therefore there could be a connection between the plots and the police. Also, the bold fonts stand out much more on the film posters, this could emphasise that the title is of importance to the film itself.

Editing: Shutter Island (2010) & A Most Wanted Man (2014)

Walter Murch's rule of editing states that there are six key points that editor's must focus on when working, these were:

1) Emotion (51%)

2) Story (23%)

3) Rhythm (10%)
4) Eye-trace: directing the audience's attention to the scene (7%)
5) Two-Dimensional plane of screen: relation of objects to each other (5%)

6) Three-Dimensional space of action: how the actors/objects relate to each other in the space (4%)

I analysed how each element of Walter Murch's rule was used in the trailers for Shutter Island and A Most Wanted Man.

SHUTTER ISLAND (2010)

DIRECTOR= MARTIN SCORSESE

A MOST WANTED MAN

DIRECTOR= ANTON CORBIJN

Media Codes: The Dark Knight (2008)

Media Codes
I analysed the use of the three media codes: Audio, Visual and Camera in an scene from Batman: The Dark Knight (2008). (Director: Christopher Nolan)

The Dark Knight- Media Codes

Analysis of Opening Sequence: Inception (2010)

Inception (2010) is a Sci-Fi Psychological Thriller directed by Christopher Nolan. It focuses on a thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of 'dream-sharing' technology and is given an inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO.

*since completing this task- the video used has been removed from YouTube*
 I had screenshotted some images beforehand and put them within my powerpoint to illustrate certain points discussed.

Analysing Opening Sequences: Se7en (1995)

Se7en was filmed in 1995 and directed by David Fincher. It is a mystery based thriller in which two detectives, a rookie and a veteran hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi.

Analysing Opening Sequences: Trainspotting (1996)

Analysing Opening Sequences - Trainspotting

Audience Reaction:
Running from something/someone- an element of suspicion that he has done something that he shouldn’t have, most likely breaking the law.Audience feel suspense and due to the POV shots makes the audience connect with the character and to some extent can understand the situation they are in to a better extent.

o   At the start, items are dropping out of their arms- stolen goods? Could intrigue the reader by making them question what has been stolen and why?

o   Dives over the car- careless attitude.

o   Football- violent tackles, intimidating group.

What conventional elements of an opening sequence have they included?

Opening credits- although are not typical as they involve characters names rather than actors and directors.

Soundtrack- it is typical for most opening sequences to use some element of background/sound effects at the start of a film. The use of a relatively upbeat track could contrast with the negative topics discussed in the voiceover.

Introduction of characters- within the first ten seconds we immediately see the main character and can make a few judgements about the characteristics he may have. As the opening continues, other characters are also introduced, however we still can clearly tell who the main focus of the film is going to be.

Narrative enigma- Many enigma codes within the opening allows the audience to question why things are happening.

Genre of film and how is this signified in he sequence though the embedding of codes?

o   Drama film

-Relies on the emotional and relational development of realistic characters

-Often are taken from intense, real life issues and tell honest stories of human struggles

- Heroes tend to face a conflict from the outside or conflict within themselves.

-Struggles mentioned in voiceover: drugs, smoking, crime, lack of money, poor health conditions, lack of housing, unbalanced diet,

Location- inside of house- poor conditions, hole in the wall, stained walls, empty- no embellishments.