0% Complete
Minds on

MINDS ON

 Vocabulary 304

Genre: A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.
 
This is an image of a single, barren tree almost completely surrounded by a dense, hazy brownish fog.
GPS can't always help you find your way; sometimes, you need knowledge.

Have you ever been reading, listening to or viewing a story and felt completely lost (and not in a mystery-thriller sort of way)?  Well, one reason for that might be that you were unfamiliar with the story's genre.  Genres are story subcategories that contain their own individualized elements.  For example, as Wikipedia notes, horror, "is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle its readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.  Literary historian J. A. Cuddon has defined the horror story as 'a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing.'  It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere.  Horror is frequently supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society."  Of course, genres themselves can be changed and combined into new, often unexpected, forms (such as Shaun of the Dead's rom-com-zom which combines elements of romance, comedy and zombie stories all into one).  Another method is to edit an existing story so that only parts that appear to fit the new genre are used.  As an example of this, compare the original Elf movie trailer with the hilarious Elf Recut as a Thriller video.  

 
 

Knowing a genre is like having a roadmap to a story.  A genre provides the reader, listener or viewer with a pathway to approach the story, even if the story's core elements are commonplace. 

This is the Portfolio icon. Literary Genres

There are many different genres. Do some research to identify 5 different genres. For each genre, identify one element and explain how that element is used to create the genre.

For example: Horror is one genre and an element is character. The author might use a demonic clown as the main character.  The interactive below reviews the different elements of fiction.

ElementsofFiction

 

This is the discussion icon. What's Your Favourite Genre?

With so many different genres and sub-genres out there, it may be hard to choose, but if you had to narrow it down to just one, what would be your favourite genre?  Provide a brief summary of that genre's requirements.  Also, provide a few examples of that genre in different media.  

Action.

ACTION

This is the discussion icon. Presto Change-o!

To help you understand how a genre can change a story, choose a genre. You'll need to research it so you are familiar with its narrative elements. Then, you'll read the 2017 CBC Short Story Prize winner, "Witching," by Alix Hawley and adapt it to fit the genre you chose. To do this, you'll need to write a brief treatment for the story, as well as list and explain ten specific changes you would make to adapt it.

Write your adapted treatment along with a short summary of your genre's essential components. Explain how you modified the story so that it met these requirements.

Read "Witching" by Alix Hawley from the CBC website. (Original article)

If you want to view any links in this pdf, right click and select "Open Link in New Tab" to avoid leaving this page. (View the original article.)

 

 Sidequest: CBC Literary Prize

Did you enjoy reading "Witching?" Then you might be interested in learning more about how Alix Hawley wrote the story that won the CBC Short Story Prize by reading this article, "How Alix Hawley wrote the story that won the CBC Short Story Prize" from the CBC website. (Original article)

If you want to view any links in this pdf, right click and select "Open Link in New Tab" to avoid leaving this page. (View the original article.)

 
This is an image of seven closed white doors set in a wall covered in blue wallpaper.
The genre you select will take you to an incredibly different place...

In the last activity, you examined how performing can change the way a written story is both perceived and received.  And while writers will often know their genre before they begin, it is often up to the editors to help make sure that the genre not only fits, but also transitions smoothly.  Even when a genre is very obvious, such as in a superhero cartoon movie like The Incredibles, it's amazing how some simple and complex edits can completely change the way the story is portrayed and presented.  For example, view the original trailer for The Incredibles, followed by The Incredibles in 7 Different Genres, followed by the satirical review Honest Trailers - The Incredibles.

 
 
 

This is the dropbox icon. Incredible Editing

After watching all three videos, answer the following questions.

  1. What was each video's purpose?  What was it trying to achieve?
  2. How was music used in each of the videos to achieve its purpose?
  3. How were scene selections used in each of the videos to achieve its purpose?
  4. How was movie dialogue used in each of the videos to achieve its purpose?
  5. How were transitions used in each of the videos to achieve its purpose?
  6. How was narration used in each of the videos to achieve its purpose?
  7. Of the seven different genres in The Incredibles in 7 Different Genres video, which did you find fit best?  Why?  Which one did you find fit least?  Why?
  8. If you were to create an eighth genre edit, what would it be and how would you achieve it?
This is an image of a wall of books with a metal door in the middle.
The more you know, the more easily doors open for you...

Editing films in order to make movie trailers is an essential marketing tool for most movie makers and production companies.  Effective trailers take enormous dedication and expertise to design, and are often made by industry professionals whose sole job is to create them.  After all, as a trailer editor you're taking a movie with an average running time of two hours, condensing it into a trailer runtime of two minutes, all the while making sure that you reveal enough plot, settings, characterization and themes to entice the audience without spoiling it!  In fact, movie trailer makers have their own awards ceremony called the Golden Trailer Awards.  However, while it's reasonable to appreciate and applaud movie trailers for their own aesthetic value, at their heart they are still advertisements meant to sway their audience.  This may not be a shock to you, but you might be surprised by the subtle techniques trailers utilize as a means to manipulate you into seeing the full film.

This is the Portfolio icon. Movie Trailers

To understand how movie trailers achieve this, view How Movie Trailers Manipulate You and record these techniques in your Notebook.

 
>
 

This is the dropbox icon. Active Listening and Viewing Skills Self-Assessment

It's time to find out how much you learned.  Use your active listening and viewing skills to record key information, as well as specific techniques of manipulation used by the trailer industry; you will use your Notebook and memory to answer the following questions.  If all your answers were correct, congratulations!  If you did not, ask yourself whether this was because you didn't remember or record the information, and make a plan for how you can improve your active viewing skills.  

This is the question/answer icon. Questions

  1. What happened to the movie industry in 2017?
    Answer

    Movie attendance hit its lowest point in 25 years.

 
  1. Why are movie trailers called trailers?
    Answer

    About a century ago, movie promotions were screened at the end of films.

 
  1. How many companies produced movie trailers in the early 2000s?  How many companies exist today?
    Answer

    In the early 2000s, there were only 12 companies.  Now there are over 100.

 
  1. What do people trust the most when deciding to see a movie?  Which demographic trusts them the most?
    Answer

    People trust movie trailers more than Rotten Tomatoes or their own friends' social media posts.  People aged 12 to 17 trust movie trailers the most.

 
  1. What are some of the names of different audio techniques movie trailers use?
    Answer

    60 voices rising, power downs and bass drops and combining different sounds (such as an explosion and an eagle).

 
  1. Why do movie trailers show different emotional reactions and responses?  Why is this effective?
    Answer

    Shown emotions tell the audience how they are meant to feel.  It's effective because dialogue may not translate well in international markets but emotions almost always do.

 
  1. What is a trope? 
    Answer

    A trope is a technique that becomes over-used and formulaic in movie trailers so that it distracts the audience rather than entices them.  

 
  1. What organization decides who can watch movie trailers?  What is a technique trailer editors use to avoid mature ratings?
    Answer

    The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) rates trailers like they would movies.  One technique editors use to avoid mature ratings is changing the colour of blood from red to brown or black.

 

 Sidequest: Movie Trailers

If you want to learn more about how to design and develop movie trailers, read this article, "The Art of First Impressions: How to Cut a Movie Trailer" from Filmmaker Magazine. (Original article)

If you want to view any links in this pdf, right click and select "Open Link in New Tab" to avoid leaving this page. (View the original article.)

 
Consolidation

CONSOLIDATION

This is the dropbox icon. Trailer Treatment

Now that you've learned more about how genres can influence stories and the role that trailers play in making them marketable, it's time to combine and apply both of those skills.  To do so, you will take your previously written treatment and adapt it so that it fits with a new genre.  Make sure you note and explain ten of your key changes that will affect the plot, theme, style, character(s) and setting(s).  Next, you will develop your newly adapted treatment into a trailer.  To do this, you can either:

  • create your movie trailer.  Some programs you might want to consider are iMovie, Windows Movie Maker or Adobe Spark; or, 
  • storyboard your movie trailer.

Regardless of which option you choose, include a detailed explanation indicating what movie trailer techniques you used and why you feel they make the trailer more effective.

test text.