another day another episode hmm genre lighting
welcome back everyone it's Robert Macfarlane here and today we're going to be talking about
genre and how it can improve your next film
when i started making short films telling stories i was obsessed with this idea of telling a story
that could move an audience that could connect with them in a way i picked up my father's old
mini DV camera and started writing moments and events on A4 sheets of paper and then grabbing
some friends and running around the little village that i lived in and thankfully none of those short
films have survived to today and if any of you have access to any of them please don't let
anyone know oh dear lord but what i didn't realize from the very beginning of my filmmaking career
coming up with those concepts to shoot with my friends around the place with no formal education
whatsoever not even youtube to teach you i was already considering genre a lot of the times
i was looking at drama and horror i already understood what i expected from genre however
i didn't realize at the time i was making one of the biggest genre mistakes any filmmaker can make
i was merely fulfilling what i had seen previously from films of that genre so with that in mind
we're going to go through how to utilize genre to make sure your film is unique and surprises your
audience throughout so first things first what is genre and why should we care now for those of
you out there who maybe haven't really dabbled in the idea or haven't learned about the concept of
genre you may feel like the genre is essentially kind of pushing you to make a film in a particular
way and it stops you from being creatively free i would argue however that genre actually is
probably one of the most important creative tools that you have to utilize throughout the process of
making a film and there's a reason for that genre is essentially a set of promises that you make
your audience these promises are things that they are expecting you to come through on such as
if you make a movie that promises itself to be a horror film and then it ends up with gags all
the way through it and no scares then your genre is wrong you've promised the audience something
they've paid for it and then you've given them something else it's like going into a mobile
phone store and coming out with a mattress so genre is an incredibly powerful tool in selling
your film to your audience now does this mean that we all have to make cookie cutter movies
no because there is such a thing as a hybrid genre what it means is we can put different genres
together to create a totally unique film based on the concept what this means is you don't have to
go out and create a horror film that's purely a horror film or a comedy that is only comedy you
could create a horror comedy such as Cabin in the Woods what is that thing we have to stay together
this isn't right we should split up yeah a good idea really which didn't just use
horror and comedy but it also used coming of age it also used lots of different genre tropes
and it then turned it on its head by using the genre it actually was able to be more creative
because of it if you haven't seen Cabin in the Woods i thoroughly thoroughly recommend it it's
a brilliant movie spoiler alert for Cabin in the Woods if you haven't watched it and you intend to
stop now go watch it actually no don't stop now continue watching this get excited by the movie
and then go watch the movie in Cabin in the Woods we're given a cliched horror situation a group of
horny teenagers go out to a cabin a secluded cabin in the woods and then are attacked by vicious
monsters from the deep however in an ironic twist these monsters weren't actually sent by some
evil demon or anything they were actually sent by other humans trying to save the world and
by using these monsters to eradicate the teenagers unfortunately they prevent an apocalypse on a much
larger scale the humor that is brought to the film every time we're led down a path that we recognize
from previous films tropes and cliches such as standing by a window and something smashing
through and pulling you out or having the good looking male and female characters the leads
survive until the end and instead twisting it on us it's absolutely brilliant use of genre
to keep us on our toes throughout the story and by being aware of the genre and what people
expect to get from the genre we as directors and writers are able to stay one step ahead of the
audience instead of one step behind and believe me it's basically cinematic suicide if we allow
our audience to get ahead of the story and then they've already guessed the ending
it sucks for both us and the audience now you'll always get someone who will guess it i know quite
a few people who are incredibly good at seeing through a plot and guessing the end of the film
but for the majority of the time your audience wants to be there they want to be surprised
they are expecting it they're looking for it they're hoping that you're going to show them
something they have never seen before which is why genre is so incredibly important and especially
in short films so short films can absolutely be multiple genres two three and even four genres
there will almost always be a dominant genre and then there'll be sub genres within that so
if you're creating a horror comedy your initial genre is horror and then comedy but if you're
making a comedy horror then it's the other way around examples of this could be a horror comedy
which is Cabin in the Woods but a comedy horror would be more like Sean of the Dead
do you ever think that modern life is not for you the scare to comedy ratio is slightly different
and they therefore approach their horror and their comedy in totally unique ways it's not just
coming up with fantastic characters and concepts that can bring unique value to people's screens
it is your ability to look at the film as a genre and utilize your concept in a unique way
within that so what are some other hybrid genres that you could take a look at well there's also
sci-fi comedy we're not thieves but we are thieves point is we're not taking what's his
it doesn't matter where you go or how far you fly and the last thing you see will be my blade
darn now this is all the money gave us in advance good let's see for everyone
i'm right there with you or sci-fi horror or sci-fi drama
whatever that probe is picking up it's reading a life form what do you mean a life form oh the
head people changing changing into what moving these things moving what about a thriller suspense drama
do i want the celtics to cover i want the celtics halftime i want garnet points and rebounds
what do you know i don't know i just know what about a thriller mystery drama
anthony claire 3650 rathburn road hello uh good afternoon hey um i'm calling to
speak to you where are you calling from i'm sorry i think there's been a misunderstanding who is this Anthony okay
i'll call back later or a western noir horror are you out here alone
no no longer a god-fearing woman i don't suspect god has much business out here
what's great here is that there are so many genres out there that you can come up with really
interesting and unique combinations of your genres to piece together to help guide you on your next
project now most of you will probably have got a script or be thinking of a script and you will
already know its genre it's absolutely incredible we already categorize it in our mind can you add
more depth by adding in a sub-genre into your film if your film is a really gritty noir mystery
well is there elements of thriller in there and if there is then start to think about
well hang on if i'm if i got thriller moments where we are hanging off the edge of our seats
then how do i ensure that i am not only giving what i promise in those thriller moments
but i'm also able to subvert those tropes in my film and make my film even more interesting to
watch it really is so incredibly powerful and i thoroughly recommend you sit down pen and paper
and start writing out different genres and then at random picking two three four genres and putting
them together and starting to think oh what type of film would fit into a sci-fi western comedy
or a period suspense horror why do you open the curtains it was Victor
you told your brother that there was someone else in the room there was that'll do Anne i've
seen them too the human brain is an incredible storytelling machine and is able to instantly
categorize any story genre trope character because it always wants to make sense of what it's seeing
so if that's the case always think about what's the audience seeing what have you
promised the audience and how can you surprise them without taking them out of the genre that
you have promised them at the beginning of the film i cannot understate how important genre
is in not only enabling you to promise the right film to your audience which actually increases its
saleability but also ensuring that you can keep your audience on its toes because you already
know what they're expecting so you can show them the unexpected thank you for watching today if you
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you very much and check out below some more links to help you up your game on your next project