Contrasting Genres

Zombieland (2009) Genre :Adventure/Comedy/Horror

This combination of genres is generally seen as a spoof of a horror film. It's packed with action, as the light-hearted comedy view but then the strong element of gore. In contrast to thriller, the opening scene has bright, saturated colour. The bright colour reflects the light-hearted, not too intense theme, thrillers typically create an intense atmosphere using de-saturated colouring. Straight away there is action which shows the action element of the genre; tension is not built but questions are still evoked. There is also gore in the opening, reflecting the horror element, but it is from a comedic angle - the lighting and saturated colouring helps this.

There are titles over the opening sequence which is common of high budget films with recognisable actors, this helps entice the viewer by showing actors that may appeal to them - people may be more inclined to carry on wtaching if they see an actors' that they like. This is also true of thriller films but is not a necessity.

The opening is in slow motion which adds to the comedic effect, that clearly spoofs the typical use of slow moption to highlight action scenes. After the frames shown, there is narration from the main character who also adds humour instead of the typical fear you'd see from a serious angle of this situation. During the frames shown there is non-diegetic sound. Metallic plays which adds to the action element but it also compliments the comedic element. Non-diegetic sound can be used in thrillers but it would be more tense, less energetic music. Slow motion is unlikely to be used in the opening of a thriller.

Wide shots are used in all of the frames to show the full scene. The purpose of the opening of this film is to show the whole picture and give the audience the full background information.



Scary Movie is another example of the horror/comedy genre. It is a spoof of horror films.

It begins with an establishing shot which shows the location before it goes into the scene. It is very dark but the colour of the grass is saturated which reflects the comedy element. The darkness adds a sense of mystery and suspence.

It then shoots to a close-up of an important feature but to add the humour, it is popcorn being cooked.

It then introduces a character. She looks very happy which shows how its light-hearted. The dialogue used is also humorous, however it includes bad language so I cannot embed it.
Unlike thriller films, comedy films tend to go straight in with the scene, there is no build up or atmosphere made.

Other Genres: Juno



Juno is a comedy-drama film based mainly on teenagers but also marriage and responsibilities. The opening sequence is light-hearted and jolly especially in comparison to the thriller Alien films. The animation adds a less mature approach, possibly introducing the audience to the character's behaviour; it's also very different from the majority of film openings which is a reflection of the film overall, as well as the character themself. The colour scheme isn't the usual primary, child related colours that people associate with animation and cartoons, it is more of a mixture of duller tones giving it an older, maturer approach which is quite unique.

The main title appears next to a long shot of the character 'Juno', which lets the audience establish who Juno is and who the film is focused on. This is a clever technique that could transferred to a thriller film and in our main task, bearing in mind that the film is named after the character or something specific. We have many long shots of Juno where we are able to view their casual clothing and overall appearance, including the Sunny D bottle which is seen as quite comical due to it's large size. The audience also view close ups of Juno's facial expression which is cheery and relaxed. This again reflects the character's overall perspective throughout the film.
It uses both non-diagetic sound and diagetic sound, with the 'county' style music played over the top along with diagetic sound of runners within the setting. The audience are given a animated view of the setting but still continues to use real sound to confirm that the setting is real. As the setting is animated, the producers are able to emphasise different objects which stand out within the film, for examble the guitar is shown next to the actor Michael Cera's name to make an obvious link to his character.

Overall the opening sequence emphasises the unique factors of the film and character, it combines animated drawings with the main character who is pixalised. As the character isn't animated into the setting the audience don't misjudge the film to be completely animated.

Other Genres: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium



Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a family comedy, somewhat an opposite to a thriller however thrillers sometimes involve comedy to lighten the viewing but it would this would be difficult as it risks taking the 'thrill' away. The demographics for this film is children, the use of bright colours and animated drawings instantly encourages children to watch it. The film is clearly appropirate for a child based audience therefore making it very different to a thriller.
The title of the film doesn't appear until clip four, giving a slight build up of scenes from the plot. Not until you've watched the film do you realise that these clips are animations of different scenes, nor do you realise that the film isn't animated through out. The text that the title and names are written in shows how the theme of the film is quite unusual, there isn't any sustainability and multiple fonts are used with multiple colours. The muliti colours isn't something that we could use in our thriller film as multi colours generally represent cheerful scenearios, although we could use brights colours for example if we decided to have blood we could emphasise red. The opening has many close ups of certain objects like the paper-aeroplane which lets the audience focus and pick up that this is something that might occur again in the film.
I don't think an animated opening would be suitable for a thriller film as it is important for thriller films to be realistic enough for the audience to believe that the plot is genuine. However it is a good contrast to compare a family based film as we now know certain factors that we will not use.