How our film relates to the concept of genre

Here I am going to discuss how the concept of genre was used to define the features of my specific film. My group and I decided to base the characteristics of our film to a genre, probably biographical and a gritty crime drama, similar to the film Monster which we looked at especially whilst deciding our title sequence. However our film is a fictional version of this genre, as our central character Veronica has been made up. However our film storyline follows that of a biography genre. Veronica is almost a portrait of the central character in Monster (Aileen) as her life goes off the rails and we follow her life story. At an ideological level, our film offers comforting reassurance when it begins to come to an end. The fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium; Veronica is living a normal family life at home. It then suffers some disruption (disequilibrium), where Veronica is kicked out of her home and left to live on the streets, prostituting herself to get around and finally becoming actually part of a prostituting business, now being owned by her pimp Ronnie. However a resolution reflecting the comforting reassurance takes place when Veronica runs away from her pimp, and begins a new life with her new identity. Us as an audience may feel we do not necessarily have to go through what she went through to become better, however we can try to relate to the story, which involves us. The new equilibrium is finally produced at this point. There are certain timeless themes that have been dealt with in the story. Our film repeats the following: power/control/ownership, money, drugs and has quite an enduring appeal. The power and control comes from the pimp having authority and ownership over Veronica. We see this especially through an opening shot of Veronica, where she is in the middle between her pimp and his friend. This shows her in a position of vulnerability, under the control of others, who control her finances, her social circle, and her body.  Drugs are involved throughout the film, involved mainly in Veronica's lifestyle, maybe a factor adding to the complications of Veronica’s life. These themes are combined and create our 'genre'. I can imagine that our film would work well in a box office, attracting audiences who are drawn to social issue and real life drama films. Other films that could play a long side it could be Monster, Let Him Have It, and Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer etc. These films show the harsher more realistic view of the world, and what actually happens rather than black and white (straightforward binary good versus evil) view of the world. Audiences that appeal to these sorts of genres could be anyone, ranging from teenagers to old adults. So the audience could be a range. I would say our film would satisfy the audiences’ expectations, seeing as it is really mainly biographical, we are following Veronica's interesting but of course rocky life, trying to relate to ourselves what she has been through and experienced. It’s intense, and shocking, which add to the expectations of a biography.

A short analysis of the representation of gender in 'Land of the Free'

In our film opening of ‘Land of the Free' there are many ways in which gender is represented. To begin with the camera work and shots are a main factor in how gender is portrayed. Throughout the opening the we can identify that the girl is the main focus, having the camera track her however with a stedicam so it is more of a ‘tracking dolly shot’. By doing this we can clearly identify that the girl is the centre of attention and the main focus within the opening, which contrasts well with the other male characters. Now with the camera shots, there is a group shot of the girl between two ‘henchmen’. By doing this, we can clearly establish that the men at this point have authority over her, giving men the power and status visa versa to the girl.

Mise-en-scene is another factor that plays into representing gender. In our opening, the girl is seen to be wearing shabby and dirty clothes. This is not what you would usually sterotype a girl to be wearing, nearly the opposite. By having her wear these clothes it makes her seem cheap, portraying her lower status again in contrast to the other male characters, which correlates to her gender.

Adding onto this editing also plays a role. Throughout our opening we use quick camerawork regularly, helping to add to the build up of tension and danger that the girl is in. Through this we can identify what kind of situation the girl is in, creating a sympathetic reaction from us the audience as we can see at times she is weak and there is nothing she can do.

Finally sound. Sound is also a key factor in representing gender in our opening. The gunshot sounds that are played a couple of times  adds to the tenseness and dangerousness of the atmosphere that the girl has put herself in. This creates excitement for us the audience however we feel the girls fear. Throughout our opening we identify how the girl doesn’t speak. Doing this, it reflects her lack of voice, and suggests  her feebleness and also reflects her victim role of the opening. In contrast with the men, who are loud and aggressive, it shows their superiority and authority over the girl, putting her in a lower status.