I was chosen to complete my questionnaire on the genre of comedy, which had turned out to be our final genre when we come to create our film opening.
We each asked three quite vague questions, this was done purposely, to see the extent of different answers we would gain. I then asked the participants for three answers for each:
- What do you expect in the first two minutes of a comedy film?
Two thirds of the people i interviewed, would expect to see opening credits amongst the first two minutes. Two out of the six people i asked expected to hear some sort of music, jazz music was mentioned. All apart from one person interviewed, expected to see something funny, suggestions included someone slipping over. The one remaining interviewee, who happened to be the eldest person i interviewed, didn't expect to be laughing straight away. Other answers included, general everyday occurances, such as a conversation. The two oldest people i asked expected to see the main star of the film.
- What sort of main characters will there be?
Whereas the two youngest people i interviewed answers included famous comedy actors such as Ricky Gervais and Rowan Atkinson, the two oldest people i interviewed replied with character personality types. People expect to see a clown character, a sensible/serious character and a stupid character. Other answers included stereotypes, such as a drunken Irish, overweight American and a camp homosexual male.
- What kind of event to you expect to occur/begin?
All the answers i got for this question were very different, but all along the lines of something silly, stupid and funny happening. It seems that the younger people i asked, answered what they would have in their own comedy movie, such as a fight in a doughnut factory and a shot out, whereas the elder people i asked thought about what they have seen in the past regarding comedy movies. Answers included someone drunk, a car crash, someone embarrassed, people undercover, people dressed up in funny costumes and people getting hurt for laughs.
Overall i have learnt that different people of different ages, expect completely different things in comedy films. Whereas younger people expect to see famous faces, older people expect to see the common comedy stereotypes. I have also learnt that a lot of people expect to see opening credits and most, if not all people expect to see something funny in the opening. In analysis, this draws me to the conclusion that our opening should include something funny amongst the credits.
-Amy Bowman
Romance Genre
-What do you expect in the first 2 minutes of a romance film?
The older of the people I asked this question to mentioned Sex and the City and said that the 'main middle-aged woman character' would be introduced. They also said there's usually a narrative overlay on the introduction, if not the whole way through.
Teenagers said a similar thing, however the main character(s) was also a teenager/young adult, as opposed to middle-aged, there would be a group of friends introduced at a school and that a male character may also be introduced. They also said that there may be more than one main character and that there can be multiple storylines within the film. Some teenagers referred to the film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.
The youngest of the people I interviewed suggested films such as Shrek, and spoke about princesses and princes.
-What sort of main characters will there be?
As I mentioned before, the older, more mature people I questioned envisaged a middle-aged, single, female main character within a group of friends - similar to Sex and the City.
The majority vote of the teenagers concluded the main characters would be a group of high-school friends and their love interests.
The younger people I interviewed mainly referred to Disney-type films, such as The Little Mermaid and Shrek, where there are the female (princess waiting to be found) and male protagonists (prince searching for princess) and an evil antagonist trying to deter the main characters from finding their 'true love'.
-What kind of event do you expect to occur/begin?
Strangely, all the age groups were referring to 'rom-com'-type films, rather than any other romance-hybrid film. Therefore, on a whole, they expected to see the main character/characters eventually end up with their love interest, after embarrassing themselves - maybe more than once - or making mistakes trying to make their love interest notice them or fall in love with them. They said that it would end happpily, or if not, it would be comedic in nature.
Overall, we have learnt that within a popular romance (rom-com) film, there is usually a female main character, mirrored by a male one and that the basic storyline is that somehow, whether it be through slaying the dragon, through embarrassing oneself at the school disco or through a work dilemma, they end up falling in love. A rom-com may or may not end happily, but it won't usually dwell on the fact it has ended badly and will turn it around into comedy.
-Lauren Tween
Horror genre
For my audience expectations task, I carried out a survey in which I asked several people the 3 same questions on my chosen genre. By asking several different poeple I was able to gather more data that could be used for my research that will go towards my groups film opening
What do you expect in the first two minutes of a horror film?
Most people said that they would expect to see a mysterious character that would be mentioned or talked about between other characters of the film. It would be introduced in the dark or at night and then a source of light appears from a person. They thought the main character would be introduced by the end of the opening, who could possibly be the innocent victim that gets killed.
What sort of main characters would there be?
They thought that females were more likely to be seen as the victims/innocent character in the film. Also, males would be seen as the 'macho' heroic man who would go help the girl. The thought, if there was a killer or something in control of the other two main characters, it would be a man as he is more strong willed than a woman.
What kind of event do you expect to occur/begin within the film?
From the research I gathered, most of them thought no major even would occur in the beginning of the film. However, the person who did think it would occur in the beginning of the film said it would probably be shown as a flashback. They thought that some sort of weapon would be introduced somehow, for example: an old man visiting a gun store.
-Leyla Cindil
Action Genre
As part of research into genre and expectations of genre, I interviewed various people on their opinions of the action genre, using the following questions:
- What do you expect to see in the first 2 minutes of the film?
- What sort of main characters would there be? (Male? Female? Age?)
- What kind of event do you expect to occur/begin within the film?
Here are the results:
16 year old:
- In the first two minutes I expect an introduction to the movie, setting the scene
- I think the main character is most likely to be a middle aged man
- There would be build up to an action sequence such as a car chase
- Titles, introducing characters
- Male, around 25
- A fight that results in someone dying, explosions, etc
- There should be titles and introduction of characters
- A young female character, in her 20s, and a male who is a little older
- There would be build up to a gun fight
- The scene would be set, introduces one or two main characters
- Two middle aged males
- An intense fight that would involve explosions
- Introduction of character and setting, probably an urban area such as a big city
- Main characters would mostly be middle-aged men, with a few female characters
- A dramatic fight scene betweens rivals- the 'bad guys' and the 'good guys'
- Shots of the setting- a city
- Female and male characters, middle aged, probably rich or powerful
- A fight, conflict
-Sian Hayler-Magenis
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