Written Narrative and Genre Analysis
This essay focuses on the creation
of narrative and genre features in film trailers. Both narrative and genre
features are always present in the film format but are very background aspects
that are often not noticed. For example, people know what to expect from films
in a horror genre from the classic conventions they have picked up on in other
films in the same genre. Reasons such as how the narrative and
The Narrative provides a backbone to
the structure on the film. It’s a story type text describing the sequence of
situations and providing details of the characters. The narrative simply gives
the plan for the film creating the essential details of the world for the
characters and events. Genre on the other hand, describes and classifies the
text into groups (genres) and even more depth with sub-genres. To determine the
genre of a film, it needs to be analysed in depth, showing how it relates to
the established “classic conventions” of a certain genre. However, genres are
not closed systems, leaving debate open to what genre a film could be placed
into after analysing. From this sub-genres are born which branch from the root
genre. But, films do need to keep some of the essential aspects to be classed
into a certain genre.
2 trailers from different ends of
film that will be analysed are The Walking Dead Season 2 and Batman, The Dark
Knight Rises. The Walking Dead series are based in a current day world where an
infection is created, reaching all over the world, destroying the population.
The main character, Rick, awakes from a coma and discovers the zombie/un-dead
virus, finds his family and they continue in search of safety. After the first
season establishing characters and the story background, season 2 build on this,
with a change of setting, building in new characters and uncovering new details
of the virus outbreak. In contrast, Batman, The Dark Knight Rises, is the 3rd
in the series and conclusion of the recent Batman films, directed by
Christopher Nolan. It is set 8 years after the disappearance of Batman, with
organized crime at its lowest in Gotham. After villain Bane, threatens Gotham’s
safety with his nuclear plan, Bruce Wayne retrains himself and returns to his
duty of the Batman, fighting Bane and his many followers. Both trailers contain
quite obvious elements that make it easy to quickly classify them into genres.
For example, the use of blood, gore and suspense in the trailer to The Walking
Dead suggests it could come under a Horror genre, while in Batman, the
explosions, fighting and huge special effects of destruction, could suggest a
more Action based genre and the more newly established Superhero Genre.
The Walking Dead series comes under the
Horror genre mainly, shown by the themes created using blood, gore and fear.
However, the way camera shots, editing, sound and mise-en-scene also contribute
to classifying a film to a genre. From the very beginning of the trailer, panic
is created along with a sense of adrenaline from the handheld camera movement,
which is just shot on the character’s (Shane) face, with movement created by
him running. That opening shot is also very close up on his face and so are
many other shots in the trailer, showing the emotion and fear of the
characters. These handheld and close up shots make it very personal for the
audience. The use of this has become so common that some films just use this
type of shot, creating its own sub-genre, with examples such as [REC],
Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield. The camera shots also generate the sense
of being alone in the world contributing to the genre. For example, shots where
there is one character being chased by zombies (near the start), makes them
seem so small and outnumbered. When they are being chased, especially near the
start, the figures are dark, almost just silhouettes, creating a sense of the
unknown. The editing also contributes to the genre, with its quick cut shots,
showing a fast moving pace of the footage. In contrast, it can also be edited
to create suspense, adding little or no sound and then a quick shot to make the
audience jump. Also between some shots in the trailer, the frame may just say
black for a second, before quickly jumping to the next shot, perhaps creating
the suspense again. The expected sounds are included in the trailer, such as
screaming, heavy breathing and sounds of breaking bones/injuries, which tend to
be typical of the horror genre. There is little conversation in the trailer and
many scenes of arguing, reinforced by the quote of “the group’s broken” almost
suggesting that everyone is just simply caring for the survival of their own,
not those of the entire group. In the trailer, there is a typical use of blood,
sweat and dirt on the characters, which is often used in Horror. The Walking
Dead uses a strong sense of decay (buildings, settings etc.) and that the
characters are deserted in this baron setting to reinforce a sense of them
being very alone. Other elements in the trailer included are a running sense of
emotions, fear and violence. A major part of the series is the involvement of
the zombies, who are the main fear. In a Horror film there is always a villain,
whether it is zombies, vampire, madman etc. This involvement of zombies in
films has borne a new sub-genre of Zombie Horror. The actors/actresses used in
The Walking Dead aren't particularly famous from being in any major films. This
is very common in Horror because it makes it more personal to the audience and
it’s not as easy to expect what their character will be like. The voice over in
the trailer in a large part as it perhaps reinforces the sense of them being
alone but also shows that Rick is the dominant and main character of the
series.
Batman, The Dark Knight Rises, comes
more under the Action genre, but also the more recently established, popular
Superhero Genre. This famous stamp is reinforced by the DC Comics logo being
among the large company ones at the start like Warner Bros. In the trailer,
many of the shots are mid-shots, perhaps trying to include as much as possible
into the frame, creating an “action-packed”, adrenaline feel. Some of the
setting shots are large overview/establishing shots like the one over Gotham
city, showing the size and perhaps power of what the city holds. A lot of the
shots in the trailer and as quickly cut in comparison to The Walking Dead
trailer. The shots like to show the amount of action that’s happening in those
few seconds, while in The Walking Dead It’s more based on the characters
feelings and creation of fear, rather than settings, explosions and fighting.
However, towards the end of the trailer the cuts between shots quicken building
up with the sound of the chanting, into the recognisable Batman theme tune,
included in the other 2 films. The white font on the black background during
credits also reinforces the dark theme of the film but also is used to match
the colours of Batman. In Action films, large settings are often used, for
example the football stadium and the large city of Gotham. You also may find
that the settings are quite urbanized, being in modern cities. The villain in
the film is large and dominant, yet another typical characteristic of a “bad
guy” in an Action film. His face is also hidden and his voice of an evil,
mysterious tone, which makes him more feared. Explosions, heavy machinery,
weapons and violence are always in Action films which all occur in the trailer.
In quite a lot of films in the Action genre, there is often an attractive woman
as a main character either one in distress or as a helper. In Batman, Catwoman
plays this role but breaks away from this character type in points of the film
by double crossing Batman and being a dominant, physical character. The
conversation in the trailer never includes background noise, but just between a
few characters. There are parts where they whisper and it sounds quite sinister
combined with the suggested evil that is approaching. At the beginning of the
trailer, the voice over is a boy singing the American national anthem. This
suggests that the action created in the film affects the whole country.
Christian Bale has played the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in all 3 of the films;
his voice when he is Batman has been a famous aspect of his character, having a
deep, sort of croaky take on it. His body has also been an obvious part in the
choice of actor, needing him to have strong and large muscles to fill the
dominant role of Batman. Another essential actor in the films is Michael Caine,
playing a wise character in being Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred. The Batman
series are quite dark films and this is reinforced by how it is shot, scenes
often being in urban areas (alley ways, sewers etc.) and in dark areas. This
reinforces the evil and violence, overall contributing to the conventions of
the Action genre.
The Narrative of The Walking Dead is
introduced by Rick, the main character. His voice over introduces a brief over
view of the plot and establishes that he’s the main character. The behaviour of
the characters establishes the feelings and emotion between those in the group.
The family connections show the sense of combined effort in the series, working
together for survival. The music adds to the suspense created in the narrative
and the way some of it builds up alongside events in the trailer. The narrative
could be compared to some of the character types in Propp’s narrative theory,
Rick perhaps being the hero and the villain being the zombies. But it then gets
hard as you find some of the characters fit into the same roles and that often
the group can work as a team having all equal roles at some point. One that I
did think applied was how Shane becomes more the False Hero in the series. The
other theory that could be applied is the simple living humans against the
opposite, being the zombies/walking dead.
In Batman, the music at the beginning
is the American national anthem. And as said previously, it suggests that the
narrative is going to involve the whole of America and be a huge event. The
anthem then becomes sort of eerie and mysterious behind the speech layers,
adding to the dark feel of the film. Batman, being an established character,
famous from the original comic books and films in the past, is expected to be
in a narrative where he fights a villain, following the themes and typical
narrative structure of most superhero comic books. These narratives can closely
relate to Propp’s theory: Batman – Hero, Bane – Villain, Helper – James Gordon
or Catwoman (?), Donor – Alfred/Lucius Fox, False Hero – Catwoman (at one
stage), Princess – Catwoman (?), Rachel, Freedom, Dispatcher – Alfred. These
characters perhaps fit similar to the roles of Propp’s theory.
In The Walking Dead trailer, Andrea
is shown as quite a violent character, having to shoot both her sister and kill
a zombie. She plays quite a dominant, out speaking character while Rick’s wife
Lori and Carol are just shot either crying or arguing, showing they’re quite
weak to the group. In the series the women often do the washing up and the
cooking while the men do more of the physical jobs. On the other hand in
Batman, Catwoman is the main female character. She is witty, strong and
attractive. On one side it could be argued that it’s great to have a strong
female character that outsmarts Batman at one point and can fight as well as a
male character can. But then even her costume is still tight and “sexualized”
and she still comes across as quite a flirty character.
T-Dog and Glenn are from non-white
ethnic groups in The Walking Dead. T-Dog is represented quite negatively in the
trailer. Firstly, he slips and cuts his arm on a broken car door, suggesting
he’s quite weak and not particularly intelligent. Followed by him asking Dale
that they should pack up and desert the group when they are alone, suggesting
he’s a traitor to the group. Glenn plays a very little role in the trailer and
it’s not until the full series that you get to see his character develop. In
Batman, the main ethnic group character is Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who is
an intelligent inventor for Bruce Wayne’s company. He is very much a peaceful
character and is well respected throughout the series of films.
In both The Walking Dead and Batman,
the men are the main characters and are shown as dominant, strong
personalities. However, near the start of The Dark Knight Rises trailer, you
see Bruce Wayne with a walking stick, showing his physical weakness that has
grown with his age.
The Walking Dead would be mainly
aimed at Males aimed between teenagers to possibly mainly 40s. The younger
generation would show a preferred reading taking a liking to the blood, gore
and excitement of the series. While a negotiated reading may be from females or
slightly older audiences, feeling they may not like zombie related films, or
lots of blood and gore, but may enjoy the excitement and the way it’s set in a
modern time. A negative reading would simply not like the fact it’s detailed in
blood and violence, perhaps to an older audience and then to a younger audience
where it wouldn’t be suitable due to the gory scenes. Batman I think would be
similar but there’s a slightly larger audience range, with the new attraction
of strong character Catwoman and that Batman has been around since as early as
1939 bringing in audiences that could have seen the older Batman films from
1989 onwards.
In conclusion, The Walking Dead
gives a good insight in the trailer to the Horror genre, keeping many typical
Horror style conventions but at the same time incorporating new ideas with the
newly developed Zombie Horror sub-genre, the more use of action and violence
and a quite dominant use of female characterisation. I think it’s a great
trailer; the music fits really well and the use of shots create a lot of
emotion with the audience that connects with how the characters feel. The set
of shots in the opening 20 seconds are some of my favourites also. Batman, The
Dark Knight Rises, sticks very much to its expected elements but that would be
expected being based on the comic book and being similar to the past 2 films.
But this is essential as audiences clearly enjoy the Christopher Nolan series
and find them action packed with obvious modern elements added in comparison to
the older ones. They are very dark films and I personally think that’s what
gives them a great and unique feel giving Batman a different style to a typical
cheery, brighter looking super hero like Spiderman. The narratives are
established well in both, but it definitely leaves it with plenty to be
developed in the actual film/series.
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