Batman Begins (2005) - Genre Conventions

Batman Begins fits into the Superhero genre very well
    Firstly, possibly the main convention of the film is Batman's signature Bat costume. He wears a black armoured suit, with a black cape and a black helmet, with Bat Ears. This is a very signature and recognizable costume that most people would be able to recognize.
    Secondly, Batman Begins features an iconic origin story. As a small child, Bruce Wayne fell down an old well and was attacked by Bats, which developed his fear of bats. This fits into the genre well as most, if not all, feature iconic origin stories.
    Another convention that Batman Begins satisfies is the double-identity/alter ego convention. Bruce Wayne is a billionaire playboy, who has created the idea of Batman, and works as hard as he can to keep these identities separate.
    Finally, another convention that fits into Batman Begins is the love interest. Rachel Dawes is the childhood best friend of Bruce Wayne, who becomes the potential love interest of Bruce Wayne, however Bruce rejects her; leading to him eventually wanting to get back with her, only for her to rebuff him. This fits into the superhero genre as many other films, for example; Spiderman, have love interests that are integral to the plot of the film.

Spiderman (2002) - Superhero Genre Conventions

Spiderman (2002) includes many different types of genre conventions that relate to the superhero genre, and inform the audience of what genre the film is;

    Firstly, the film contains over-the-top, stylized costumes. Spiderman wears a sleek, red and blue tight suit with a logo of a spider on the front, while the Green Goblin wears a bright green set of armor with a menacing, green goblin helmet, with yellow eyes, and an open mouth. The costume is an important part of the superhero genre as it both shows what the character represents, but also conceals the characters actual identity. With these costumes, it is also easier to identify who is the hero and who is the villain; Spiderman is sleek with a blue and red costume, while the Green Goblin wear green military armor and looks threatening.
    Another convention it uses is secret identities. Peter Parker keeps his identity secret, for fear of someone close to him getting hurt, and when the Green Goblin, who is Norman Osbourne, picks up on a clue and realizes that Peter Parker is Spiderman, he attacks and terrorizes Aunt May, which greatly affects Peter and makes him realize that being a superhero could cause collateral damage.
    Also included in Spiderman is the convention of super powers. Peter Parker is bitten on a science filed trip by a radioactive, genetically-modified super spider, which alters Peter's DNA to make him be able to have super strength, be able to climb up walls, and be able to fire webs out of his wrists. Norman Osbourne uses a special performance enhancing chemical gas which gives him super strength, but at the cost of him losing his sanity.
    All of these genre conventions, aswell as others which are present in the film, clearly fit into the Superhero genre, and give the audience a clear idea of what genre the film is that they are about to watch.

Marvel and DC Comics

Marvel Studios

Marvel  Comics was founded in 1939, as Timely Comics, however Marvel Studios was founded in 1993, by Avi Arad. It is based in Burbank, California at Walt Disney Studios. Marvel Studios is also owned by the Disney corporation. Marvel Studios has produced many famous comic book film properties, including the Iron Man and Captain America films, but perhaps their most famous properties are the two Avengers movies; 'The Avengers' (Known as Avengers Assemble in Great Britain), and 'Avengers: Age Of Ultron'. 'The Avengers' made $1,519,557,910 internationally, and 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' made $1,405,035,767 internationally, for a combined international gross of $2,924,593,677. Since 2008, Marvel Studios has produced 12 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is a series of films which all take place within the same cinematic universe; meaning they all happen at roughly the same time in the same world. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grossed over $9 billion internationally, making it the highest grossing film franchise of all time.


DC Comics

DC Comics was first established around late 1934, to early 1935, as National Allied Publications. It was founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. The film productions of DC Comics are produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment, which is itself owned by Time Warner. They are well known for their heroic comic-book characters such as Batman, and Green Lantern. The character of Batman has been portrayed in numerous different film and television adaptations; the most famous of which is the Christopher Nolan film series, known as The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012) starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The Dark Knight character has also been portrayed by Adam West in the campy 60's television and film adaptations, and Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney in the 90's Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman film series. As well as DC Comics famous hero characters, the studio has also produced films based on works unrelated to that universe, such as Watchmen and V For Vendetta. DC Comics films are generally much darker than Marvel films, and contain less humor.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Non/Diegetic Sound

Diegetic Sound

Diegetic sound is sound made by a source which is visible on the screen. For example, the voices of characters, or sounds coming from objects on screen, such as a car engine, or a gunshot. An example of diegetic sound in the Star Wars trailer is the blasters. This sound is a sharp, energetic sound which attracts the viewers attention and immerses them in the science fiction setting.

Non-Diegetic Sound

Non-diegetic sound is sound made from a source which is not part of what is being filmed, and has been added on afterwards. An example of non-diegetic sound in the Star Wars trailer is the Star Wars theme song. The effect of this is that it tells the audience exactly what the trailer is for and accurately portrays the atmosphere of the trailer.

Scott Pilgrim - Mise en Scene

This scene has been split down the middle into two. The effect of this is that it shows the audience both the reaction of Scott with a close-up shot, and it also shows what Scott is seeing with a Point of View shot. It also shows the contrast between the two characters - Scott is awkward, with mousy hair and a plain shirt, while Ramona looks more outgoing, wears a pink shirt, drinks beer and has bright purple hair. We also get to see Ramona's reaction to Scott staring at her.

In this scene, the objects have been positioned to show how Scott and Wallace live. Their walls are beige and plain, with an equally plain carpet floor. There is one bookshelf that is filled, and there are multiple articles of clothing strewn on the floor. This shows that they live simply according to how they want to and do not care about being up-to-date, and only care about living how they want. They are simple people who do not need expensive or fashionable things, but only what they need.

This scene shows how eager Scott is to meet Ramona. The visual style of this film has comical stylized subtitles when there are notable sound effects, and this is featured in this scene. We can see how keen Scott is as he has already opened the door to meet Ramona, while the doorbell is still ringing. This shows that he wants to meet Ramona as fast as he can.

The Walking Dead Season 6 Trailer - Screenshot Analysis

This is an long shot that is zooming in. The effect of this is to show and emphasize the immense threat that the huge horde of zombies is posing.

This is a close up as you can only see the characters head and shoulders, as well as his forearm. In this scene, the character is being threatening, and having a close up on him focuses the audiences attention on him and on how he is feeling.

This is an extreme long shot. The director has utilized this shot to show off the characters surroundings. In the show, it takes place in a post apocalyptic zombie-infested world, so this shot shows the audience a rare, relatively Utopian place that the character has found.

This is a two shot. This shot is used to show these two characters as they are the two characters who are speaking at the time. It also shows their relationship, as they are sitting quite close to each other, and seem at ease, which the audience can use to infer they are probably friends.

This is a mid shot. In this particular scene it is used so that we are following the character, and then when he points his gun upwards, it is an unexpected move as we could not see any of his arms or hands so we couldn't assume or predict what he might do.

Drive - Propp's Theory

Hero- The Driver (Ryan Gosling). A hollywood 
stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver 
for the Los Angeles criminal underworld. He is 
also a wannabe race car driver.

Villain/False Hero - Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks).
An entrepreneur who agree's to sponsor The Drivers
racing team who is also a mafia boss. After a job
organized by Bernie goes wrong for The Driver,
Bernie attempts to have him killed. 

Helper - Shannon (Bryan Cranston). A mechanic who is friends with The Driver, and manages his racing, stunt jobs and getaway jobs.





Princess/Prize - Irene (Carey Mulligan). The Driver's neighbour who becomes his love interest when he begins to help out looking after her son Benicio, while his father is in Jail.

Donor - Nino (Ron Perlman). The owner of Nino's pizzeria who is also in association with the mafia. Arranges and provides support for the jobs Bernie hires The Driver for.

Taxi Driver - Todorov's Theory

Taxi Driver

Equilibrium
Travis Bickle is a lonely man in New York, who works as a Taxi Driver.







Disruption
The Taxi Driver picks up a young girl named Iris in his taxi. However he discovers she is a child
prostitute and thinks she may be in trouble.






Recognition
Travis discovers that Iris has gone missing, which upsets him as
he had struck up a friendship with her. He goes to her pimp and 
gets the location of where she has been taken.











Repair
Travis becomes a vigilante - buys a gun and sets off to rescue Iris from her captors.




New Equilibrium
Travis finds and kills her kidnappers. He enters the building where she is being kept and after he kills the guards in the building, he finds Iris locked up. The police find Travis and he is taken to hospital. When he returns he is hailed as a hero and Iris is returned to her family.

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