Genre Blog: Overview- A Matter Of Maybes

Well hello there! Haven't spoken to you in quick a bit, have I? Nevertheless, I think it's best we just jump right back into the (lights, camera,) action and get back on track! Now that we have selected our pitch and had some time to think, my teammates and I are very excited to finally start conceptualizing our short film! The first step in that process is none other than selecting a genre. The genre of a film determines its entire tone and essentially the direction in which the story progresses. Based off of our pitch, my partners and I have concluded that our film could plausibly go in one of three directions, a cathartic comedy, a dreadful thriller, or maybe even a terrifying horror piece. If one were to consider the comedic route on its own, they would find that it is quite an interesting avenue to take. Comedy has been a source of entertainment for over a millennia, causing audiences to crack up even in the days of ancient Greece within traditional theater. As such, it is always fascinating to see the various ways in which one can build off of the established art form and make an innovation of their own, perhaps one that could shift the course of cinematic history forever. If we were to discuss comedy in terms of our short film, I would say that it would definitely be an amusing take on our pitch, which ended on the very ominous tone of things taking "a turn for the worst. Perhaps we might turn the concept on its head entirely, making our short about an individual who continues to purchase so many of the same type object because they forgot they "had some at home" already, that their entire house becomes filled with it to the point they can longer leave their home. Maybe we might even frame our film around someone who keeps forgetting special events with their significant other and show how they scramble to right their relationship before it all comes crashing down. Moving on to the thriller genre, my partners and I find it to be a latent source of untapped creative ideas that we could possibly cash out on. The term, "thriller," is actually rather new, being used to describe works of media that create feelings of suspense and apprehension within its viewers. Thrillers are probably one of the most versatile genres of film, given that they can be utilized as a subgenre in nearly any film type, combining science fiction, action, and psychological aspects (to name a few), to not only flesh out the subjects, but also further develop the plot. Regarding the genre's relation to our short film, my groupmates and I feel as though it may be a valuable option to explore seeing as there are so many different directions to guide ourselves in, thereby providing us with the creative freedom that we so desperately crave. Maybe using the thriller genre will lead us towards a short about someone whose days seem to be never-ending because it all seems the same due to their amnesia, driving them to search for an escape from their mundane reality. Perhaps we might make it about a criminal on the run who forgets they are a criminal entirely and narrowly evades escape each time they are unknowingly pursued on screen. The last genre that my team and I are considering building our film around is the tried and true horror genre. All of my teammates are horror fanatics and for good reason, horror is the culmination of the primal and sometimes unrealistic fears that society harbors deep within them, nicely tucked away behind the safety of a screen for audiences to enjoy, as they watch helplessly as the subjects on screen succumb to their inevitable doom. The horror genre first emerged in theaters in the late nineteenth century and since then has made nothing but waves in the filmmaking community as cinematographers each try to redefine horror and amp up the level of fear they can drill into their viewers. For our purposes, we might create a short film based around the idea of an amnesiac being in a (not-so) long-term relationship with someone who they cannot remember (and for good reason), since their partner is revealed to secretly be an individual with malicious intent who wants nothing more than to harm the primary subject. Perhaps we might even center our short around a subject whose amnesia hides a dark and violent past that will soon come back to haunt them; the possibilities are endless. As we begin to contemplate what our film could potentially shape up to be, we must not lose sight of our current goal, to select a genre that we can work said film around. Now that we have introduced each of our potential genres fairly well, "Let's get down to business(!)" (Tiësto 2020).