Genre & Narrative

Coursework Assignment 1

In this piece of coursework I will be comparing the opening sequences of two different films. This is so I can show how the genre and narrative are recognized and established. The first five minutes of a film are crucial. Although they may not seem that important, they are the moments when the viewer learns all about the genre and narrative. The first few minutes tells a viewer a lot about the film, they can then decide whether it’s worth watching or not. You can also predict a lot about the film from these first few minutes. The two films that I will be studying are Gladiator, which is and hybrid action/epic, and Sweet Home Alabama, which is a romantic comedy.

Genre simply means type. It is a way of classifying a film to help audiences identify it. It can help the audience choose what they want to watch and help them understand. Genre can be established by using codes and conventions. Convention is when something is repeated so often in media & texts that it becomes common and expected. Codes are either symbolic or technical; they are used to link signs to their meanings. For instance, posture is a symbolic code. Standing with your arms crossed could mean feeling defensive, unsocial or even uncomfortable. Shoulders and head drooping could mean sadness or low self esteem. What clothes you wear can say a lot about you. A ragged coat worn by a character may mean that they are poor and possibly hungry. Clothes can also say a lot about your cultural background. For instance, if you were wearing a sari it might suggest you are Asian, and wearing a bright colourful patterned piece of clothing could suggest one is African, and a kilt could suggest that one is Scottish. Another symbolic code is colour. The colour grey could mean misery, dull or boring, whereas, the colour yellow would mean happy, excited, bright & sunshine. The colour red implies anger, danger or passion.

Technical codes are to do with how a film is constructed. They relate to film techniques such as camera angles, shutter speed and lighting. A high camera angle symbolizes that someone or something is small or unimportant; it makes them seem less significant. In contrast, a low camera angle indicates that something is overpowering, large and rather important. The bird’s eye view can be used to put the audience in a god-like position as they are looking down on the action. A hand-held camera is usually used to film from a character’s point of view; this is where the audience can see through the characters eyes. Point Of View shot is when the camera is used to make the audience feel as if they are in the room.

Narrative is the way in which a story is put together, and presented in a film. A narrative can be established using codes and conventions of a specific genre. For example, a comedy will always include silly situations, jokes, stupid people and happy endings. Comedies are created to arouse laughter from the audience. An action/adventure movie will always include a hero and a villain as well as fighting, weapons, fire, explosions and possibly car chases. A musical will include random outbursts of singing, dancing, music and bright costumes. A chick flick is likely to have blonde people, romance, unlikely couples, dates, music and laughter. Horror films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, and cause dread and alarm. They include the dark, unsettling music, fake scares, death and blood. A western movie will have guns, horses fighting, shootouts, villains, hero(s), the desert, dramatic music and western clothing.

Gladiator

The film Gladiator is about a successful Roman General known as Maximus, who only wishes for the battle in Germany to be over and return home to his family and farm. However things aren’t that simple for Maximus, the Emperor of Rome is about to die and tells Maximus that he wants him to become the next emperor as he does not trust his own son. At first Maximus refuses, but then he eventually agrees to take power when the emperor dies.

When the Emperor tells his son how he wishes his empire to be run, and by ...

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Gladiator

When the Emperor tells his son how he wishes his empire to be run, and by whom, his son, Commodus, talks about how he has strength and ambition, then strangles his own father and declares himself Emperor. He orders for Maximus as well as his family to be killed. Maximus manages to escape by defeating the guards sent to kill him but when he arrives home he finds it’s to late to prevent the death of his family; his wife and son have been murdered.

Maximus is then enslaved and trained to fight as a Gladiator, at first he refuses to, but then he learns he must. Over time Maximus became popular and he was known as “The Spaniard” by the crowds. He fights his way to fame, that even Emperor Commodus even wishes to meet him, that’s when they meet again.

The greatest champion of Rome is brought out of retirement to battle with Maximus, in attempt to kill him. Tigers are held in position with ropes as Maximus battles this great fighter. Once again Maximus is the one who is left alive.

He wants to fulfill the quest the previous Emperor had asked of him and avenge the death of his family. The film ends with taking a new name, ‘General’. Everyone loves Maximus and the Emperor feels threatened by him so he challenges Maximus in the arena. The Emperor is defeated and killed by Maximus. Maximus dies from injuries on the arena floor, and is re-united with his family in the after life. However before he dies he speaks of all the things that should be done in command of the previous Emperor. Maximus dies as a hero and a well respected man.

Sweet Home Alabama

Melanie Carmichael is an up-and-coming New York City fashion designer who has just been proposed to by Andrew, the mayor's son. There's only one problem, she's still legally married to Jake, who she married as a teenager, back home in Alabama. Melanie drives back to her hometown and nags Jake to sign the divorce papers. He drags his feet while Melanie gets some time to get reacquainted with her family and friends, whom she had not seen for seven years. She desperately wants to believe that she's a whole new person and ends up hurting the ones who love her. Finally, Jake gives up and signs the divorce papers. What Melanie doesn’t realize is that the reason Jake kept returning the papers unsigned was because he had been coming up to New York all those years, and trying to make something of himself, so he would be good enough for her. The more time she spends at home, the more she realizes that she had good times there, and the more she starts to see her friends and family in a new light. Jake has never stopped loving her, and it is clear that she still feels something for him too, but the situation becomes even more complicated when Andrew arrives from the city for a surprise visit and finds out the truth. Melanie will have to decide is she's really a big city businesswoman or an old-fashioned Southern girl. At the wedding, while she is about to get married to Andrew, her lawyer turns up and they realize that though Jake signed the papers, she, however did not. When they eventually find a pen, she finds that she cannot sign the papers. She has to turn her fiancé down. This does not go down well with his mother. However, in the end like a typical romance film, she and Jake get back to together.

In Gladiator there are many codes and conventions which lead us to say that it is an action/adventure epic. It is a hybrid; this is where two different genres are combined. At the beginning of the movie, when Maximus is running his hand through the wheat, a close up of his hand is shown. This tells us a lot about him, firstly that he is a married man; the ring on his finger indicates this. We instantly know that he is a roman because of the wrist band he is wearing. Another thing we realize is that he has children; this is because of the laughter in the background. We can also tell that he is a farmer because of the wheat, and what his hands are like. We soon find out that he is the hero of the movie, the technical code used to show this is the low camera angle, because it makes him seem larger and mightier. The conventions of an action/adventure epic are things like fighting, fire, heroes, villains and battles. Gladiator has all of those elements, which proves it is that genre. In the battle scene there is fire, fighting, the heroes and the villains and weapons (which is a very good symbolic code). All of this tells the audience what genre the film will be. The opening sequence tells us a lot about Maximus and the narrative follows Maximus’ journey as a gladiator. The weapons in gladiator are a convention. They tell us that there will be fighting in the film. The costumes worn are a symbolic code which helps us identify the type of film it is and where it was set. During the battle, explosions, and killings are shown in slow motion. This technical code is used so the audience can see exactly what is going on because if it weren’t slow motion, it would be too fast to see who killed whom, and what else happened during the battle, without this technical code the audience would miss a lot. The opening sequence establishes the main characters; we learn to like Maximus because he is a good man. He is married, has children, fair, sympathetic and is well respected. However we dislike Commodus because he is a slimy character, he’s evil, treacherous and is in love with his own sister. Within the first few minutes we already like Maximus because of the way he is presented.

In Sweet Home Alabama genre and narrative are established by specific codes and conventions. In the first five minutes of this film we get a lot of information. When Melanie goes home and finds the rose petals spread out on the floor leading to the roses in living room, we immediately know that this is a romance and that someone left them there for her. The technical code used to show this is the Point Of View shot, this is when the camera becomes the 'eyes' of one particular character, and we see what they see. At the beginning of the film, she is having a dream about her childhood. This tells us that the boy in her dream will probably be in this movie. In the dream they shared a kiss, which is another thing that tells us this is a romance. The dream was shown in black and white, which makes it seem as if it was a long time ago. She wakes up to a completely different reality. The dream could have meant how much she misses her childhood. The boy in the dream then turns out to be a younger version a Jake, which adds another romantic element to the narrative. The fact that Melanie is a young pretty blonde fashion designer hints that this could be a chick flick/romance. She wakes up from her dream, to a completely different reality: this is another technical code. It is set in the more sophisticated parts of the city & also where Melanie grew up in Alabama. The music is upbeat for the most part, but slow at the romantic & sad parts. In this film, you find yourself rooting for Melanie and Jake instead of Melanie and Andrew. This is because of the way their relationship is presented, and you know that Jake is a good guy no matter what happened in the past. Andrew is also a good guy but you know he’s not the one for her.

The two films I am studying are both very different in both genre and narrative; however there are some similar things about them. They both have a challenge; the main characters in both films have to go on some kind of ‘journey’ and resolve something before they can finally move on. In gladiator it is the case of having to fight and defeat the emperor and in Sweet Home Alabama she has to get divorced before she can remarry, she has a lot of decisions to make along the way. They both have some kind of romantic storyline going on, although this is more in Sweet Home Alabama than in Gladiator. Both films have a happy ending, in Gladiator Maximums is reunited with his family after death and Melanie finally gets together with her true love. They also both use the same codes, but in different ways. Such as clothing, the types of clothing in both films is used so audiences can easily identify the time & place of the film. The amour worn by the gladiators, the gowns worn by royalty tell us that this is set in Roman past. The costumes worn in Sweet Home Alabama are trendy, modern stylish, and some country clothing too, showing us that this is 21st century. However, the two films are very different. You immediately know that when you find out their genres. In gladiator, you get a lot of fighting, ruthlessness and blood. In Sweet Home Alabama you are more likely to see cities, bars, laughter, and romance. There is a lot of violence in Gladiator, and the most violence in sweet Home Alabama is a mere slap. Another reason they are so different is because they are set in a different time and place. Gladiator set in the roman times, and Sweet home Alabama set in the 21st century, USA. As a result the settings are different, the language they use and the costumes they wear are different.

In conclusion I think that the first few minutes of a film tell you a lot, they almost lay out the rest of the film for you. The genre and narrative are useful both for producers, who can apply a genre's conventions, and audiences, who can profit by knowing their expectations of the genre. Genre helps to sell the film, give the audience what they expect, give the film an identity and to avoid disappointment. Conventions and Codes (Symbolic & Technical) establish genre. Once the genre is established then the audience has an idea about the narrative. The opening sequence establishes the hero and villain as well as the genre. Knowing this the audience will understand the basic narrative. In Gladiator something bad is done to our hero and the film then follows our hero’s quest for justice and revenge. The hero will face several challenges but in the end he will win and deflect the villain.

Sweet Home Alabama also has a basic narrative, girl & boy in love but girl moves on and leaves. Girl meets someone new who is well off and intends to marry him. However they come from completely different backgrounds and it’s obvious they are not right for each other, also his snobby mother disapproves. However something happen and the girl realizes she loves boy and return to her true love. The audience is made to like the boy and have to wait and see who the girl chooses. It has a happy ending.

I enjoyed both films despite how different the genre and narratives were.