A Bit More on Genre Conventions

Hey everyone! Sure to say I’m glad the research is wrapping up. It has been exhausting looking at all of these different components of film. I never realized how important each aspect was until I took the time to analyze the camera movements, angles, shots, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene of multiple movies. Despite gaining a better understanding of crime documentaries, the overload of information can cloud the reason I'm doing all of this research. 

Since the end goal is to make the opening sequence of my own, I believe it’s important to recall the key details of a well-executed opening sequence. More specifically about the images and titles that are prioritized. And of course, all of the elements I want to include in my film. So that leads me to finding a general summary of the films I examined (The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker (2023), The Worst Crime (2022), Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case (2023), American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020), Take Care of Maya (2023), Capturing the Killer Nurse (2022)) and the details I want to include. Let’s look at my findings! 

As far as images go, I want to combine B-roll and A-roll adequately. The combination allows for a balanced movie. Some of the B-roll clips could be of buildings of significance. This would include law enforcement offices, courthouse, house of main characters, etc. Some other ideas for B-roll I’ve gathered is clouds, the weapon that was used by the suspect (like showing cyanide in Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case (2023)), criminal evidence, tracking someone getting ready. In The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker (2023) I noticed that the timelapse of the sun rising and setting was used. This is something I would like to play with for my B-roll too. In some of the films I notice the reenactment of certain turning points in a crime were included. Most noticeably, the opening sequence of Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case (2023) was a full reenactment of an unnamed character making curry. I like this idea because it brings you into the mind of a criminal to add another level of sinister but it could be very difficult to actually go through with. I’m going to see if I can incorporate this idea even if it's on a minor level. One thing I want to focus on is the use of smooth continuous movement to make for a steady framework. The A-roll clips would be focused on being interview-style and follow the typical composition. 

My ground thoughts on editing, sound, and mise-en-scene align with that of those in the initial genre research. Despite that, there are a few things I would like to add on. Sound was clearly the drive in many of the opening sequences. The sound perfectly matched with the visuals which was amusing but from a cinematographer standpoint difficult to emulate. I have access to pre-recorded music which I would like to include but to make an immersive opening sequence is to match the actions with the pre-recorded music. This means I am shaping my movie around the music instead of shaping the music to fit the movie. That’s why I may not be able to include this element of film and instead will have to focus my use of sound on sound effects and elements instead. As far as editing goes, I want to refrain from excessive editing since I want a raw approach to provide a candid view of the subject, and to better replicate the genre. Considering this, some editing techniques I want to play with are tv static, twitching, newspaper/collage effect. One thing I am sure to include is a graphically designed web page or social media page. Another key detail is matching the color and lighting. Since I’ll be exploring dark themes, I want to use dark, muted colors, and vignette lighting to have a desolated aura. 

For the titles I want to have a clean-cut, easy-to-read font. Instead of the titles popping off the page I would like them to camouflage in the background. Part of this will be to match the color of the titles with the color scheme of the image being displayed. I plan on formatting the titles with a large title for the name and a smaller title for the position. I’ll go more into the title design in a later blog. 

After going through my findings I have better organized my thoughts. At this point I am properly equipped and ready for the next step of planning and outlining my Final Task. So, that makes an official wrap on research!