Noir
Debatably even a genre, film noirs have been around since the early 1940s. Being popularised by the masses after the second world war, when the fears of the audience were given life in the post apocalyptic setting that was that of noir.
Noir not being recognised in it's early stages caused it to be confused with other genres, such as; crime, mystery, romantic melodrama etc., by the directors.
We can see the recurrent use of:
Taverns, casinos, diners, apartment buildings, newspapers, cigarette smoke, telephones, voice recorders, dark alleys, wet sidewalks, neon signs, nightclubs, rain, street lamps, hats, veils, etc.
Low-key lighting, stark high-contrast lighting, tilted cameras, deep focus all help create this ominous atmosphere
Story:
Our protagonist, a private investigator, is troubled by his past. A femme fatale seeks, and seduces him, in hopes he can help her. In his search he is interrogated, attacked and persecuted. He knows not who to trust, he travels alone. Nothing is ever as it seems.
---
Horror
Iconography/Setting:
Haunted houses, masks, weapons, dolls, Ouija boards, woods, pentagrams, demonic objects, religious objects, clowns, blood, children, cemeteries, death, basements, attics, derelict asylums, schools
Usual camera angles used: Low and high angles, close ups, tilted angles,
Everything is normal until...
In terms of environment, these movies normally focus on a location that makes the audience and characters feel isolated.
Many horror films tend to incorporate teenagers or young adults as the central characters. These characters tend to facilitate the general high school archetypes such as the sporty jock, the nerd and the everyday person who the audience normally gravitates and relates to. Other characters could be categorised as the “non-believer” to whatever situation is occurring – doubtful any killer or ghost exists. These films also generally include “immoral” teenagers who end up inevitably dying. A great example of the character archetypes can be seen in A Cabin in the Woods which plays off this and uses it as a narrative point throughout the film.
https://prezi.com/rxbz4zugrwaq/iconography-of-horror/?frame=c2f5ad1331089ea9b37768c569310fec13dcf235
---
Experimental
"IN THE BEGINNING...all film was experimental."
Experimental is not an easily describable genre, as it doesn't use the same framework of other genres.
Narrative vs. Art
They break the mold.
Anything out of the norm.
Experimental film, experimental cinema, or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working.
While some experimental films have been distributed through mainstream channels or even made within commercial studios, the vast majority have been produced on very low budgets with a minimal crew or a single person and are either self-financed or supported through small grants.
The term describes a range of filmmaking styles that are generally quite different from, and often opposed to, the practices of mainstream commercial and documentary filmmaking
Some critics have argued that much experimental film is no longer in fact "experimental" but has in fact become a mainstream film genre
most narrative films these days are all strikingly similar to one another in terms of their style and what they offer the audience in an artistic sense. Most of us grow up watching and studying the same films, and when it comes time to make our own, we draw from the same cinematic vocabulary that most other filmmakers are using. The result is relative conformity.
McQueen has forged a unique style and perspective that has allowed him to take the narrative filmmaking world by storm with his three features. No one is making films like McQueen, and that can be at least partly attributed to his early career as an experimental filmmaker and artist.
In the world of narrative and documentary cinema, there are definite guidelines as to what constitutes a good or a bad film. Whether or not a film is good or not all depends on the writing, the directing, the acting, the cinematography, the editing, the sound, and so on. With experimental cinema, however, these "restraints" can be tossed out the window because expression is the primary purpose, not technical perfection.
This might sound like a cop-out, and to a certain extent, it is. With that said, just because the primary goal of this type of expression doesn't mean that we should be sloppy in the technical aspects of making these films. However, technical knowledge isn't a prerequisite for experimental filmmaking. There are no major barriers to speak of. You don't necessarily need a camera or an in-depth knowledge of After Effects. The only thing you really need to get started is an inherent desire to create and express yourself.
Experimental filmmaking is a world all its own, and it's one that is often overlooked by the majority of filmmakers these days. It certainly shouldn't be, though. It's a unique and powerful art form that provides countless benefits beyond the fact that it allows us to be artists in the truest sense of the word.
Many experimental films use the physical properties of the medium: photosensitivity, grain, color saturation -but this often manifests itself in very different ways. In the reference books about film history, the genre of experimental film often gets a rather cursory treatment. This is in part due to its very diverse scope; it is not a genre that can easily be described in terms of its formal characteristics. Likewise, experimental films are sometimes made in disciplines outside of film, such as science, visual art, or music. When interpreting these films, the usual film-theoretical framework comes up short.
These films are more likely to be screened in museums, galleries, cinema clubs, and special festivals, and it has its own distribution channels.
Since the Second World War, there has really only been one period when experimental film became visible to a wider audience. That was at the end of the 1960s and the early 1970s, an era that was dominated by revolution, and a yearning for freedom and experimentation. In that period, experimental film briefly won a regular place in the Dutch film circuit.
This heyday is where the roots of experimental film’s traditions can be found: an international orientation and national activities; a formal approach and intuitive expression; the academy and the independent studio.
Experimental Films:-willfully nonconformist-many experimental films challenge orthodox notions of what a movie can show and how it can show it.-sometimes the filmmakers express personal experiences or viewpoints in ways that would seem eccentric in a mainstream context-Types of form in experimental films:-Abstract form: sheer pictoral qualities of shots, colors, shapes, sizes, and movements are central…abstract pattern is sometimes a means to an end.-Ballet Mécanique, which we watched in class, is an example of abstract form..it is an example of how mundane objects can be transformed when their abstract qualities are used as the basis for a film’s form.-Associational form: Many experimental films draw on a poetic series of transitions that create what we may term associational forms….they suggest ideas and expressive qualities by grouping images and sounds that may not have immediate logical connections
Epic
Epic films cant be classed as one easily explainable genre as its subgenres completely differ from one another in terms
In epic films we are expecting to see icons that make sense in the context of the story, per example
Narrative: In epics we often see a hero with superhuman qualities, they can achieve what no one else could
Setting: Geographical locations, usually battlefields be it on land or sea, they often also explore mythological locations, one of them being the underworld.
4) Involves supernatural and-or otherworldly forces. Gods, demons, angels, time/space travel, cheating death etc.
5) Sustained elevation of style. Overwritten. Overly formal, highly stylized (poetry, lyricism (singing), exaggeration)
6) Poet remains objective and omniscient. The narrator sees and knows all and presents all perspectives.
Epic films utilize symbolic language to convey a constant unconscious awareness of recurring themes in the films. This unconscious awareness is a subtle way of using recurring themes to pass on a secondary motif to the audience in a discreet way, without coming straight out and saying it. This discreet way of passing on a motif actually makes the motif stronger because the audience is not aware that they are being told it. Motifs such as destruction, untamed violence, purity, spiritual cleansing, rebirth and returning home are all explored in the toga film genre through the use of symbolic language.
---
Animation
Animation is a broad genre that is parallel with other genres such as; horror, adventure, mystery, comedy, etc.
The use of art, most specifically moving pictures, is ever present in the animation genre be it digital or traditional.
Sometimes even being mixed with live action we can
