Dogme 95

Okay, this may seem the most foreign of all genres you have ever heard in your life! It's true that it is quiet unconventional but believe or not it was initially created to be this way. This genre was first established by a couple of Danish film makers including : Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg , (later on some other film makers joined the force ), to bring back the essence of film making. Dogma 95 was breaking the boundaries in terms of making a statement that film making can be done and accomplished without millions of dollars of big Hollywood budgets and the support of numerous corporations. This genre was criticized and accused of wanting to 'only ' gain the attention of media.

This type of genre was made to be more accessible for film makers without recognition and high budget funds, however Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinnterberg set up some other rules and regulations for this type of genre which made it more difficult to stick to .
A long list that can actually cause the result of the production more similar to an amateur job, Such as:
1. No back ground music
2. The whole production must be placed in one location.
3. Sound can be incorporated if it is happening while filming but no music edited on scenes.
4. Artificial lights and framings are prohibited.
5. The film also must not contain artificial scenes, such as action scenes and weapons and etc.

This way the list goes on to so many other regulations. as you can see this genre could not have lasted so long and even the creators of this genre themselves broke some of the rules themselves , (Von Trier used some symphonies as pieces of music in his films ) ,and caused this genre to end in 2005. Here is some footage from the movie 'Dogville' (2003) directed by Lars Von Trier himself , Now maybe u can get an idea what type of rules was used in this type of genre and how it visually appeared. Unfortunately i could not embed the video of 'Dogville' due to the privacy policy rules on youtube, but here is the address if you are interested

:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLu-m0tohKs


Jazgol xx

Documentry Genre

The documentary genre is the genre that can be considered ‘the non-fiction’ genre. When the objective behind all media texts are always coming from a subjective point of view or better say a ‘theme’, here the same structure exists. We still witness the ‘theme’ which represents a specific mindset, but in this case the images, the location represents a non- narrative story , that is tiring to exhibit a version of reality that is lesser dependent on fictional characters and plots.

The level though, may vary. Some of the documentary texts exist to simply record an event or record a specific period in the history, but even this attempt may seem like a platform or a medium to endorse a ideological perspective . Moreover, these actual images and this scenes which are taken to be assuming ‘non- biased' and less artificial, can always be edited and artificially framed in the editing room. Therefore cannot be ‘just a way of recording the history’.

Here we can briefly examine and mention some of the important documentaries, in terms of the story and the style making they offered in film industry. 'Nanook of the North'' (1922), directed by Robert Flaherty's was the first official documentary about the harsh lives of Canadian Inuit Eskimos in arctic, although some of the images were staged, it was perhaps the first time this genre was produced and labeled in the manner that it was .

Flaherty , continued his work and his documentary style later on with his 1926’s Moana about Samoan Pacific islanders, and in 1934 his first sound documentary Man of Aran was about the rugged Aran islanders/fishermen located west of Ireland's Galway Bay. His final and most controversial feature documentary was , 'Louisiana Story' (1948).

Here is some of the footage's of his first official movie ever produced ‘Nanook of the North’ It only lasts for 8 minutes ,but it might be a good reference of understanding how cinematic documentary elements worked and functioned in that period of time.




Jazgol xx

Horror Genre

Horror movies in general are movies that explicitly provoke emotions of fear and panic, at the same time entertain you while you are seated and eventually create a cathartic experience for the audience. Throughout the history Horror genre has changed and evolved. Each generation has had its own style of horror and themes and fear. For instance, in 1922, 'Nosferatu' directed by F.W. Murnau echoes the circumstances of Great War; therefore it is no just simple a theme of a town with random deaths all over the town.

The history of horror films goes back to 100 years ago and when it is well done and less reliant to visual effects and over the top disturbing images can actually provoke the true hidden fear of a man from ‘ the other‘ factor.

Not only that, it has been proved that the more subtle portrayal of fear in this genre can be even more scary and probably the scariest form of all horror movies. A good example of that is 'The shining' (1980) directed by Stanley Kubrick, one of the greatest film makers of all time, significantly draws the attention on the abuse of alcohol and turning a domestic abuse, to a two hour fearful experience of ‘psychic photograph’. ‘The Shining' is ground braking in a lot of terms since it does not follow a lot of horror movie conventions. Most of the terrifying scenes has been filmed in absolute day light or brightly scenes ,however, manages to create a paranormal, frightening and unforgettable portrayal of what a horror movie genre can be capable of.

'Iconography 'is also a very common trait in some Horror genre films. For instance 'The Others' (2001) and 'The Hunting' (2007) the old lurky house were everyone is imprisoned was depicted and was most recently appropriated as a sign of creating fear in the audience.






Jazgol xx

The musical

The musical genre of film may be considered the least unrealistic style of film due to the obvious fact that during musical films the characters will burst into song and dance regularly throughout the film often when an obstacle or problem arises. Due to this unbelievably many individuals are unlikely to accept the musical and therefore in contemporary film the majority of musicals are targeted towards the children audiences as well as the ‘tween’ market.

While the musical may not be everyone’s style of film, including my own, the musical style of genre is extremely popular with children and 'Grease' (1978) was defiantly replayed over and over at my house when I was young like my mother did when she was young. Many Disney films also incorporate an element of the musical genre in their films with many of the classic cartoons such as 'The Lion King' (1994), 'The Little Mermaid' (1989) and 'Aladdin' (1992) characters bursting into a huge theatrical performance capturing the imagination and attention of its young viewers.

The music which is a part of the musical genre depends on the trends of the time, with obviously more child friendly songs in 'The Lion King' then rather the smash hit of 1977 'Saturday Night Fever'. The music featured in the film as well as dance is crucial to the musical genre, as musicals can be very theatrical and the orchestration of music enhances the film immensely.




Jazgol xx

The Gangster and Crime genre

The crime and gangster genre of film includes films which depicts the sinister actions of the underworld figures of criminals who function outside the law. Crime and gangster films usually follow a narrative storyline, or also may roughly follow true events which focus on the life of a lead figure or the downfall of a group of criminals and usually involve the police detectives responsible for the criminals capture.

The crime and gangster film genre themes usually include illicit drug addiction, drug dealing and importation as well as violence and sexuality. The issues which are depicted in crime and gangster films are usually crude and shady issues which considered taboo. Due to this, audience’s fascination with these taboo topics contributes to the popularity of the crime and gangster genre.

Typically the Hollywood gangster film portrays the gangster group as a group of individuals who may be likeable and relatable to the audience as their background is explored. Although many of the actions of the criminals can be somewhat forgotten by the audience such as drug dealing, murder and dark and cynical actions. However in the majority of crime and gangster films, the villains are usually caught and held accountable for their actions, this can be noted in the American crime and gangster/ drama film 'Blow' (2001) starring Johnny Depp. 'Blow' is one of my personal favourite gangster films which follows the up rise and downfall of an American drug dealer of the 1970s.

Jazgol xx

Drama Genre

The drama genre categories films which are serious in nature and follow a narrative storyline which focus on character conflict dealing with serious issues which affect individuals in their everyday lives. Drama films depict their characters in an honest manner portraying all kinds of personalities from good to downright evil.

Drama films in general include themes and subject matter such as sexism, drug addiction, mental illness, political issues, inequality of social classes, violence in many forms such as domestic, family related concerns and problems, poverty and many more. These ‘social message films’ can be extremely powerful and by addressing these social issues draw attention to many issues and create public awareness.

Many drama films claim to be based on either true events or based on a true story. These ‘true stories’ can involve chilling historical events such as war which may include the true historical events with a made up love story or such. However dramatic films which claim to be based on true stories can also be completely false such as the famous 'Blair Witch Project' (1999).

Like the comedy genre, dramatic films are extremely popular and are usually the most nominated genre of film for awards such as the Academy Awards. The film critically-acclaimed 'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008) is a exceptional example of a dramatic film which in 2008 was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won eight including Best Picture. If you have not already seen this film, defiantly watch it if you enjoy good drama.

Jazgol xx

Comedy Genre

The film genre comedy is one of the oldest styles of film and originates back to the beginning of film itself as being the leading forms of silent films in the 1920s. Comedy films main focus obviously is to create a humors film which is very enjoyable for the audience and provokes laughter and amusement. Evolving over time, the comedy now has several sub forms such as the romantic comedy, slap stick and the black comedy which will be reviewed in this post.

During the 1920s, the beginning of the film era, films relied on the use of popular comedians, very easy to follow narratives, cartoons such as Betty Boop, and in particular slap stick comedy which was easy to follow without the use of sound. The Slap stick comedy does not require sound to be effective as it relies on the most basic forms of comedy, people hurting themselves or silly behavour. The use of pies in the face and over exgaddergated visual action made slap stick comedy very popular with children as well as non English speaking people. Although in contemporary film, slap stick ceomdy has evloved into characters such as Mr. Bean.

The comedy genre has continued to be extremely popular since the beginning of film making, and continues to create new froms of entertaining its audience, the romantic comedy may be one of the oldest sub forms of comedy but continues to be one of the most popluar. The romantic comedy usually follows a narrative storyline centring around two protagonists who may argue or overcome an obsticle which has stopped the two from uniting and ultamitely come together as a romantic couple. The ‘happy ending’ is usually present within romantic comedies which affirms the belief of love concuring all. Of course each film has variations of this basic plotline but it seems the majority of romantic films follow this style.

The black comedy differs from the slap stick and romantic comedies in that generally the black humor takes on taboo or serious issues in a serious tone. Unlike the other forms of comedy, black comedy deals with issues such as racism, sexism, drug addiction, insanity etc. Black comedies usually have deeper meaning then the simpler comedy, although are just as humorous. The film 'The Royal Tenenbaums' (2001) is a perfect exmaple of black comedy starring Gene Hackman, Bill Murary and Ben stiller.




Jazgol xx