Research: What sub-genre will my film be?

Having had a look at the different sci-fi films which branch out into a wide variety of different sub-genres, I have come to the decision that I will be making a short film which will come under the theme, post-apocalyptic/apocalyptic future. For several logical reasons I chose this. For one, I do not have the technology to create CGI characters or to implement highly realistic special effects into my work. Secondly, I do not have the budget to develop my film into something that creates new landscapes which take the audience to different worlds in space and time. Thirdly, I do not have the budget to afford costumes that are built to withstand force and to look professional and exciting.Therefore, with going for an apocalyptic future I do not have to use special effects or CGI characters to make it look realistic and therefore I can retain it's value as being a film, part of the sci-fi genre.

Research: Short Film Analysis: (Sci-Fi) Hybrids

At the wake of an alien invasion, an ex-special forces soldier is the main character in this short, intent on revenge for her daughter's death. Manned by other forces, she leads attacks at the centre of alien territory, featuring lots of action and violence.

Film Analysis: Hybrids (Short Film)

Research: Short Film Analysis: (Sci-Fi) Freeborn

Set in the future, where the human race has spread to Mars, prosperity and peace flourishes. This is short lived as we see the tension and civil unrest rise as a result of Earth taxing imported goods and services on Martian colonies. This leads to an interplanetary revolution.  This film focuses on a DC government agent who is left torn between her allegiance to Earth and helping her friend, a Martian freeborn, before an impending Mars invasion.

*N.B. it's quite significant to note that in this film we find it set in America, a place where many sci-fi, large-budget movies are set. As one of the biggest countries in the world, it's no wonder revolutions begin and end there.

Film Analysis: Freeborn (Short Film)

Research: Short Film Analysis: (Sci-Fi) Beyond

In this extremely well-thought-out film we follow the protagonist, Arya, as she describes how she is the last survivor with a genetic code, which grants her the ability to teleport to different universes. Her family are all dead, having been lost in action while exploring new planets, something Arya has been tasked to. In this short a conventional storyline whereby the main character will usually 'go on a journey' learning about themselves is something that happens in this short (or at least it can be implied). The ending is confounding and puzzling since we don't exactly know what happens to the main character.

Film Analysis: Beyond (Short Film)

Research: Short Film Analysis: (Sci-Fi) R'ha

This short is quite a lot different to my intentions for a short film primarily because this is an animation. Secondly, it's based on aliens which is a subject matter/ theme which I will not be recreating. In this science-fantasy film we are introduced to two characters: an alien and a machine/ robot. The alien has been captured by the robot who interrogates him in the hope of getting vital information (a very cliché plot line). As we might expect, particularly in the form of a short film, the protagonist (alien) escapes from the robot and is finally able to save the secret he hides with an unrelenting determination.  Or does he? Right before the credits roll in, the robot triggers the tracking device attached to the alien's ship which leaves us questioning what will happen next. This is very conventional of Sci-Fi films that typically leave the story on a cliffhanger- to grab the audiences' attention and entice them to want to watch the full feature length film (which is said to be in the works).

Film Analysis: R'ha (Short Film)

Research: Sound

There are many types of sound, used in film to establish narrative and impact the audience by stirring their thoughts and emotions in different directions. I have mentioned before that you have diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Some other simple sound techniques include dialogue, voice-over, score, and sound bridge. However there are also many more complex ways of describing how sound is edited in a film.

Non-simultaneous Sound: Sound which takes place earlier in the story, prior to the current images. In the film 'Rent' we see the main character, Roger, running around New York although instead of hearing the bustle of the streets all we hear is the earlier answering machine messages based on previous events.

Direct Sound: Sound recorded at the time of filming. In the scene from 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby' no post-synchronous sound or non-diegetic music is used so the main sound in this scene is the dialogue which is therefore emphasised by the absence of other sounds. 

Synchronous Sound: Sound that matches the action and movement being viewed. As an example, in 'The Pianist' the main character is playing the piano which as an audience, we can hear simultaneously, at the same time he plays.

Post-synchronisation Dubbing: Sound which has been added after a scene has been filmed (added during post-production). In one of the scenes from 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope', there is hardly any sound within it, and in retrospect most of the movie, which we can say is synchronous. In fact a lot of the sound is very clearly edited in post-production because of the nature of the sounds e.g. droids, futuristic gun sounds, explosions and sirens- all of which are dubbed post-synchronously. Together with non-diegetic sounds, suspense is built in this sequence.

Off-screen Sound: Sound which is implied to be audible within a scene but which remains off -screen while the action takes place. In 'The Boondock Saints' the detectives dialogue acts as background noise to introduce the FBI agent to the case whilst non-diegetic (off-screen) sound is used when the detective speaks to undermine the claims he makes.

Sound Perspective: The distance of a sound source, variant in pitch and volume. If you look at some clips from 'Moulin Rouge!'they shows a lack of sound perspective. What we see is that the further the camera moves away from the character, the way we hear the character singing doesn't change (which would be the case in a realistic situation). However, in 'Touch of Evil' sound perspective is used a lot more realistically where we find the closer the camera is to the characters, the more audible the sound of cars and footsteps becomes.

Sonic Flashback: The technique of using sound from earlier in the film during a later scene. At the end of the film 'The Sixth Sense' the main character, Malcolm, begins to realise he is dead. During this, he hears an earlier conversation he had with a young boy (in his head). A sonic flashback can be used to show a characters' thought process, either emotional or psychological.

Research: Non-Diegetic Case Study (Once Upon a Time in the West)

The clip I analysed in class was the final duel towards the end of the film. Just before we have the sound of incidental, dramatic music, there is a more uplifting tune. Through switching from the 'cheerful' track to the foreboding sound of the incidental music we immediately infer that something important will happen in the plot. Just as we have a shallow focus long shot when the protagonist steps into shot, the music intensifies. The sound of the harmonica is salient because as it raises volume, it signifies the scene is getting more and more tense, both for the characters and the audience. The way the harmonica is also played along with several instruments, to create a very stereotypically 'Western' sound. The score therefore gives the audience the reading that this is a western movie, which means we can immediately assume that the two men will be in a fight to the death-with guns (considering they are typical iconography of a western film). The harmonica is also important because we find out at the end that the protagonist's brother was hung and that the guy who tried to support him, had a harmonica pressed into his mouth. 

As a majority of extra long shots and close up shots are used along with eye-line-match/ shot-reverse-shot, the music becomes slightly glorious and it swells with pride. This does eventually become slightly sad. This suggests that something to do with this scene must relate to the death/ loss of another protagonist/ good man. 

Although it's not related to non-diegetic sound, halfway through the stand-off the music dissipates and we are left to listen to the diegetic sound of the wind. The camera cuts to a close up shot of the protagonist, which zooms into an extreme close up. The music cuts back in within the flashback. The non-diegetic music here is a lot more mysterious, tense, and ultimately haunting. This music is then used to prepare us for what we're about to see and that's the protagonist's brother being killed. As it becomes clear the brother will die the music dramatically changes to something very sad, which makes the scene even more intense. Just when the man falls to the floor, there is the sound of bells, symbolising death, as a church does at a funeral. Crucially this has been used to impact the audience.

Therefore from looking at this film, I can see that non-diegetic sounds are important not just for making an audience feel how you want them to feel but because it can help form a reading of the narrative and thus non-diegetic sound introduces characters and lead the narrative. This goes the same for diegetic sound which, as said in my previous posts, can build characterisation (such as through the exchange of dialogue) and can impact people (e.g. the sound of the footsteps and the wind when there is no music in this clip makes the scene more dramatic and tense, causing audiences to feel on-edge when watching the film).