Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Comparing Genres
Comparing Genres
sequences
Conventions of a
crime/drama genre
This film is labeled to be a crime film, yet also possesses the
sub genre of a drama. The conventions of this genre are
normally identified through the use of:
Questioning of morality
In this scene we are watching the ordeal between Red and the hierarchy of their
prison concerning the location of Andy Dufrense. He has appeared to have
escaped yet the prison is inescapable; until Andy Dufrense came along.
The scene opens with an establishing shot to show the setting of the scene, it
also shows the isolated place of which the prisoners live. It appear to be a very
barren place therefore resembling a realistic prison.
To show the significance of Red within this scene we are given a long shot of him
with the remainder of the shoot blurred.
Corresponding to the idea hierarchy we are introduced to a
stern man all dressed in uniform; this is presented through a
mid shot at 0:29 seconds. This emphasizes how broad this
man his therefore exemplifying physical largeness as well as
possessing dominance.
At 0:42 seconds, there is a track to follow the officers
movement as he gets closer to Dufrenses cell. Within this
long shot we can also the faces of the many other prisoners,
this highlights the emotional affliction of which they posses
as as this point they dont know he has escaped but only
defying his orders. This shows companionship between the
cell mates despite the usually conflict that does happen
between the prisoners
Following the idea of dominance, at 0:51 seconds, the officer
is shown on the screen once again from a low angle shot,
making him seem a lot larger asserting authority onto him.
Within the next few seconds of the scene Red and the rock are in
the same side of the lense, this helps to not divert the focus from
the audience concerning the rock and the part of which Red
played within Dufrense plot without him realizing it.
As the male throws the rock, at 3:12 we are met with some
ambient noises of the rock carrying on falling into the wall;
rather than bouncing off the wall, much shown the reaction
of Red flinching.
The poster is then shown in a wide shot but the
camera is now within the hole in the wall,, is
slowly zooms out but establishes the 2 officers
faces and Red; showing how innocent Red truly is
within the scheme despite the offences. As it
carries on zooming out it makes them look smaller
to make the hole look deeper and on going; this
shows the epiphany of that Dufrense has escaped.
Non diegetic music then fades in to make the
epiphany more of a relevance.
Conventions of a Romantic
Comedy genre
This film is known for the blossoming relationship between the two
protagonists yet also for its comedic elements. Within a typical romantic
comedy there are many conventions that are easily identifiable, these include:
Inevitability of the two ending up together despite the boundaries the have
to face and a grand gesture from someone to prove a realization of love
for the other character.
Shots often include a two shot, shot reverse shots, close ups and extreme
long shots.
Then at 1:38, a wide shot is shown behind the police
officers and the male protagonist as he is being pulled
away. The intention of this is so show the comedic
gesture of what he is doing. This also includes the police
falling over as he escapes.
An extreme long shot near the end of the scene
highlights again how he is dancing across the entire
stand in front of everyone.
At the end of the it jump cuts to another place inside of
the school with a sign saying Detention on the door
and a sign up sheet next to. The camera slowly pans
over it and zooms in, this signifies the end of the scene
as well has presenting the consequences for his actions.
.
At 0:46 we are officially introduced to the girl he is
directing his singing at; this is shown through a close up.
Yet, there are still people blurred in the background
showing that she is the focal point of this piece but there
are other spectators around; this also represents the
urban background of which this film is set.
Comedy is incorporated within this scene through a wide
shot to show every party of his body and how he is
dancing. This is a still movement, therefore the camera
would be stood on a tripod as due to the amount of
moving he is doing the shot would be uneasy and difficult
to catch with a track. A steadiscope may have worked
better as we can focus in on the action.
Editing wise, which may have not been seen in either of the
clips, there would typically be more editing used in a crime and
drama genre film to capture action and to enhance the
injustices of what is happening within the narrative.