Genres and their openings

 What is a genre?

a film genre is a style of category of film which is a way of classifying its content. Genres have convections which are the small elements of films such as music character types lighting etc. which allow us to identify different types of films from one another. these conventions evolve overtime as film makers aim to create new and exciting storylines and sub genres.

There are many different types of genres however these are the 8 basic ones:

• Action
• Comedy
• Drama
• Fantasy
• Horror
• Mystery
• Romance
• Thriller

we can differentiate the film openings of different genres by taking an example of a HORROR film opening vs a ACTION film opening

lets look at these two movies as an example:

• IT (2017)

right from the film poster it can be identified that the genre is infact horror, the dark lighting, the title text and the eerie appearance of the antagonists arm with the red balloon showing danger. 

however it could also easily be identified by the opening scene of the movie. horror film openings usually start off calm and normal and often turn into chaos after a short buildup of suspense, an establishing shot used to set the time and location for the scene (usually with low lighting or darker color palette), in this opening the characters are introduced as well as possible foreshadowing of the rest of the plot of them film by just the few opening minutes.

 

 

The same layout is followed by the movie IT in its opening scene, The scene starts with rain and a dull color palette, the first two characters introduced. the music is misleading as it starts bubbly with the kid laughing following the boat. however after the boy meets the man under the drain the music changes, the lighting on the antagonist is lower to add more fear and the scene cuts to it attacking the kid thus making the genre obvious.

• BABY DRIVER (2017)

the same case the genre can be identified easily from the movie poster itself that includes explosions guns and cars which are elements of an action movie.

the same is done with the opening scene as action movie openings usually start off with a bang setting the characters and showing them in some sort of action. it is either started with the action itself or in this movies case delayed a few minutes in.

in contrast the color palette of the whole scene is way different from that of the movie IT. there is more variety of colors and are more vibrant, the background music used is upbeat and exciting and the characters are shown in an open lighter setting with guns and other gear. the tempo and camera cuts during the car chase are also faster to show the quick pace and gives a rush off excitement to the viewers

this establishes the genre itself thus props lighting sound and camera skills itself add a lot to the genre of a film opening making it different from eachother.