GENERIC CONVENTIONSAnthony Hanson.

Contents• My genre.• Characters.• Mise-en-scene.• Iconography.• Narrative.• Themes.• Sound.

My genre• Our chosen genre is the crime genre. We believe this is a

good idea as we are all interested in the crime genre. We believe we will be able to make a successful crime oreintated film opening genre.

Characters• In a crime film there are usually three main types of

characters. These characters consist of;• A detective or someone who is trying to solve a crime

such as a police officer.• A criminal who commits the crime.• A victim or victims who the crime is acted upon. For

example getting murdered, robbed and mugged. • For example in ‘Se7en’ these are the 3 key characters.

Detectives Criminal Victim

Mise-en-scene• Costume – In crime films the characters usually wear dark clothing as

this is a convention and can be associated with crime. Also hoodies and very casual clothes like joggers can be associated with crime as these clothes are likely to be worn by the working class. For example in Kidulthood the youths wear clothing such as:

• However, in a different type of crime film, such as public enemy, where the criminals are more white collar crime orientated they are more likely to wear more classy, upper class clothing such as in Oceans 11 and Public Enemy.

•Lighting – To establish a crime genre, crime films usually have dark lighting and maybe street lights to set the scene in an urban setting, where most crime occurs such as in Adulthood.

Mise-en-scene (1)

Working class crime orientated film.

White collar crime orientated film.

Mise-en-scene (2)• Actors – The type of actors may also help to show the

genre of a certain film as most actors are associated with certain genres such as Danny Dyer is usually associated with crime films.

• Make up – can help to establish a genre as such things as cuts, gashes, bruises and blood is usually associated with film genres such as crime films and also horror films. For example in the crime film Greenstreet:

Mise-en-scene (3)• Props – Props are also used in crime films as it is a key feature

throughout the whole of crime films. For example the props used can be from drugs to weaponry e.g. Props used in films like Harry Brown help to show the audience it is a crime film.

• Setting - The setting in a crime film is usually an urban setting set in the streets as this is stereotypically were the majority of crime happens, in big cities, for example in Trainspotting.

Iconography• Iconography in a crime film is also a key feature. For

example in practically every crime film graffiti can be seen in the setting as iconography as this is associated with crime worldwide. For example in a typical crime film like Harry Brown.

Narrative• Todorov – in Todorov’s theory he believes there is 5 steps

almost every single film has. The stages are as followed;• 1) A stable beginning to a film.• 2) Disruption by a certain event, something happening.• 3) Recognising the disruption.• 4) An attempt to fix the problem/disruption.• 5) The restoration of stability at the end of a film.

Narrative (2)• Propp – Believed that in every film there is 8 key/main

characters in every film. These are as followed;• 1) The Hero (protagonist)• 2) The Villain (antagonist)• 3) The Donor• 4) The Dispatcher• 5) The False Hero• 6) The Helper• 7) The Princess• 8) Her Father• These Narrative theories are used throughout almost every

single film making Propp and Todorov massive known figures in the media industry.

Themes• A typical theme of a crime film would stereotypically have

an antagonist and a protagonist. This can vary from a group of protagonists and antagonists. For example in Greenstreet you will see the West Ham fans as the hero’s (protagonists) and the millwall fans as the opposite, villains (antagonists.) Or you can have a detective character playing the protagonist and a criminal or murder as the antagonist for example in Se7en film. Protagonists (detectives) – Se7en.

Antagonist (villain) - Se7en

Sound• Within crime films sound is used to help establish the

genre and help promote what type of genre it is towards the audience watching it.

• Non diegetic – Music in the background of a crime film is usually slow and tense music. This is because the film is trying to create a setting in which the audience are going to expect something to happen, such as a fight, or shooting in a crime film.

• Diegetic – could be the way the actors are speaking, for example if the actors were portraying a leader of a gang they will want to speak with authority. This will help the audience recognise who and what kind of characters the actors are playing.

Conclusion• In conclusion, I have found that all crime films are

relatively similar to each other. They all use non diegetic sound in the same way in the film opening. Also, they all follow the same sort of themes and use the same mise-en-scene to help connotate and signify the type of genre the film is, crime. Also the iconography is similar in each film i have looked at for my generic conventions research. The characters in the majority of crime films do consist of the 3 characters stated in slide four.