SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS

USUAL SETTINGS: • The future, an alternative time line, history that

contradicts historical records. • Space, Unexplored universes, Alien planets, Past and

present unknown worlds.

IMPACT OF SETTING • It gives a different setting to the present, allowing viewers to see the

narrative from a more neutral perspective. “It places the unfamiliar and alien in the context of the familiar”

• Sarris comments that a director has a signature style- evident in all their work. This is certainly clear in movies such as Alien in which the set was supposed to be part another character in the movie. The director asking for a set to be made entirely mysteriously which appeared to serve no purpose in pushing the plot forwards.

FILM TECHNIQUES: • Computer generated effects is a recent dominant feature of

science fiction. However prior to this physical effects were used to create the same look and image.

Model work was used to create the famous X-wing

CGI used to create the USS enterprise.

IMPACT OF FILM TECHNIQUES • The use of CGI enables a director to create a universe not

accessible in the real world. Green and blue screen can be used to transport actors to places inaccessible to film on location- like space. • This is clearly evident in the blockbuster hit: AVATAR

which was entirely created using CGI.

PROPS/SET DESIGN• Futuristic technologies, weapons, clothing, equipment.• Scientific undertone to a lot of these. • Cockpits of spaceships are featured in many science fiction movies, or the

interior of a spaceship.

IMPACT OF PROPS/SET DESIGN• Sets allow actors to act as if they are really in the event the movie

depicts, creating more convincing movie making. Furthermore sets in movies such as Alien become more than just a place for actors and a character themselves. The set for the Millennium Falcon as a much a loved part of the star wars universe as the characters.

NARRATIVE ELEMENTS• Battles of good and evil. • Battle against technology. • Battle against human kind.• New discoveries.• Interactions with alien races. • The impact of space travel. • Impact of new technology.

IMPACT OF NARRATIVE• This is a technique that is often used to comment on conflicts within society,

in particular to comment on the relationships either between different countries or cultures within a nation.

• We can gain a unique perspective on human nature.• To act as a warning- E.g. Terminator. • Struass talks about the importance of a opposite conflict in his theories. This

is seen in movies such as Star Wars- the trailer it’s highlighting this fact. • Deborah Knight comments: ‘Satisfaction is guaranteed with genre; the

deferral of the inevitable provides the additional pleasure of prolonged anticipation’. However in science fiction this is not always the case- in the movie Ex Machina the expected ending is entirely contradicted. Science fiction as a genre is perhaps the most mouldable in terms of endings and story build.