Short Film Genres

In this blog post I will be writing about the genres in a short film and how they are portrayed to the audience.

What is a Genre?

A genre is a specific type of music, film, or writing. For example genres from a short film include Animation, Comedy, Drama, Documentaries, Experimental, Gay & Lesbian, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thriller, and War.

Clear genre

Definition: A dominant, important category-it should be relatively obvious and easy to define/or spot.

  For example the short film Lights out depicts a clear genre of horror.This is shown through the use of mise-en-scene.

Lights off-Genre-horror

 This image (0.10-0.13) denotes a night image of an isolated hostel with a women who is all alone in her house. This connotes a typical settings for a horror film as they are usually isolated and abandoned locations. This creates a build-up of tension and enigma for the audience as they do not expect what will come up during the 3 minutes of the short film. In addition the characters are usually placed in a setting which they are alone in and typically it’s set at night time. This short film is a clear example of that as the location is isolated and also it set at night. But on the other hand some setting in a horror genre can be diverse as they might film in the day or in a busy location.

The image here denotes (0.31-0.37) a female switching the lights on and off and seeing the body of the demon. This connotes that the female here is the protagonist and the demon is the antagonist. The Protagonist is usually played as a female in horror films. In Addition the antagonists face is revealed very briefly when she turns on the light at the beginning and also at the end. In some length horror films, the antagonist is never revealed, such as  devil inside the audience will never  know who did the sinister acts and violence towards the protagonist  in the film. Therefore this creates enigma and suspense towards the audience as to when are they going to reveal the antagonists face.

This image (0.57-1.01) here denotes non- sounds of creaking floorboards and creaking doors. The use of the sounds are emphasized throughout the short film which is typical in the genre of horror.Having these sounds creates a lot of mixed emotions towards the viewers/audiences as the sounds are fast paced. This will create a chilling atmosphere because the use of fast pace sound predicts that something scary will occur or jump out.

Below is the short film example which I used to analysis the genre horror,"lights out"

Sub-Genres

Definition: A sub-genre is a more specific categories that allows the audiences to identify them specifically by familiar and what becomes recognizable.

The black hole-Genre-comedy/crime

This images denotes a zoom in of a workplace with an isolated man looking depressed. The use of dark blue lighting within the images is giving away the genre of crime as the use of the dark colors such as blue grey and black symbolizes death and violence which therefore links to the genre crime as crime is associated to negativity. In addition the use of the naturalistic lighting reflects the realism within the film as they are hinting out how boring the workplace is and also the use of the blue tinted lighting is reflecting his mood of being depressed and bored.

At 1.02-1.07 the image denotes a static still image of a man. In the short film the hole they did use a sub-genre however they did not portray it as much in the short film. For example in crime films such as seven they used a lot of camera work such as pans, tilts zoom in and a variety of closes-ups. In the short film they used static screen shots therefore not that much movement occurred in the shot and this is therefore deviating from the conventions of the genre of crime/comedy as they usually use a lot of movement in those types of movies. In addition the comedy was not that clear at time as I believed that they mainly focused on the black hole more than the comedy and the crime.

Below is the short film example which I used to analysis the genre comedy/crime,"the black hole".

Hybrid Genre

Definition: A hybrid is a combination of major genres that sometimes creates another type of film.

I'm here-Genre-Drama and Romance,science fiction

The film is mainly based around romance however there is a lot of element of science fiction. The main focus of the short film is the examination of Sheldon and Francesca’s relationship and how it grows throughout the short film. The reason why they did this is to display the isolation of both characters and how love can pop-out in any situation and fix there life’s.This is demonstrated well in the picture above as it conveys The science fiction in the short film compliments the romance as it’s quite strange to see the relationship in both characters but it’s suitable for this type situation. The romantic conventions of a short film is very clear as there is a clear narrative of two characters who have different personalities and looks, they both get closer and form a relationship however their relationship is in danger so therefore they had to sacrifice certain element in their life. During the end they saved their relationship and they have become closer. This has a clear genre as to what the short film is trying to portray across the audience.

Below is the short film example which I used to analysis the genre,"I'm Here"

Generic Conventions/ Genres Themes

Mise-en-scene/visual style/Recurring camera language	The mise-en-scene is demonstrated well for example the use of the camera language. This image denotes the woman eye balls portraying the facial expression shocked. This connotes to the audience the tension and the sense of surprise of the women. In addition this is the only close-up in the short film which therefore stands out compared to the other shots.
Typical narratives 0.42-0.45	The genre of this short film is romantic/comedy. This is portrayed throughout the narrative of this short film. The story is about two shy workers working in their office. They both start to express and highlight their love for each other by posting notes and images to the walls and surfaces and trying to create a message for each other. The women and the man take turns to create these messages and creating it in a better way. Towards the end of the storyline they both notice each other and got caught and both share a cheeky embarrassed smile symbolizing the love between them. This is a typical narrative a the genre romance is usually between to working people who are bored of their life’s and they start to talk to each other and then their love/passion starts to increase. This is denoted 0.42-0.45 when they both catch each other starting at each other. This connotes the sign of love as they starting to notice each other.
Typical representation (1.00-1.05)	The representation is very executed in this short film. The main two protagonists in this short film is a young male and female aged between 20-30s. They are represented as to shy people as the previous picture shows them looking at each other and being shy and giving a slight cheeky smile conveying the love between the two. The representation stands out in this image. The image denotes the women and man both looking at each other and smiling at each other. This connotes and proves that the women and man have an interest in each other but then the shyness overtakes this situation as she leaves a piece of blue paper with a sign of a smiling face made out of loads of sticky notes. This is a typical representation in a romantic/comedy films.
Typical sound Design	The use of non-diegetic sound was present throughout the short film. The music only played instrumental music for example the recorder and the flute and a triangle. The use of the instrumental music was effect throughout the short film as it helped to denote the narrative and the genre of love as the music was light-hearted and lovey. In addition the piano is also introduced mid-way of the track. This could symbolize that their love is coming closer and it’s not too far when they actually know that they love each other. At the beginning the tempo of the music is slow as they first meet each other and around about 1.19 the pitch becomes a bit lower to show that they caught each other. Towards the end we are introduced by a trumpet and drums to build the tension between each other as they finally meet.
Typical editing style/Recurring camera language	The image denotes a constant panning movement towards the right as this connotes the office work and demonstrates the same action of both characters which therefore highlights the fact that something is going to happen between them. The use of the pan helps to emphasise the use of props and action within the narrative. They would always use a pan when both characters are copying/mirroring each other to demonstrate the fact that they are the same kind of person.

Below is the short film example which I used to analysis the genre,"Post-it love"

The three mains themes in this short film is love, friendship and romance.

The love is connoted in the image of them creating an image with sticky notes. They both start to express and highlight their love for each other by posting notes and images to the walls and surfaces and trying to create a message for each other. This is a typical narrative as the genre of romance and the theme of love is usually between two isolated working people who repeats their lives by doing the same thing .As they start to approach each there their love/passion starts to increase highlighting the theme of love