Considering our possibilities

Flying cars, space commanders, and evil tentacle faced aliens trying to blast peoples heads off with their powerful laser guns of death? Yep, sounds like a sci-fi film to me.  From researching conventions within sci-fi films, I have noticed that most themes include futuristic technology, time travel, aliens, and space exploration (Genre and Genre Conventions). According to Filmstudies.uncc.edu, sci-fi film settings are usually futuristic, utopian/dystopian societies, or combinations of themes alike. These fantastical communities are usually also restricted by laws and regulations. It is also very common for science fiction movies to portray underlying socio-political themes. My group found this characteristic very interesting so we plan to embrace this convention and include underlying themes in our film's intro if we do end up going with this genre.

My group has been rethinking our initial idea of going with the science fiction genre. We have also realized that it may be hard to make our visions possible being that we don't have fancy makeup or any way to create alien universes without making it look as cheesy as Santa Clause Conquers the Martians (1964). We do realize that we can introduce alien life forms by implying their existence and not actually showing them on screen, but whats the fun in that? There is also the question of how do we then make the intro intriguing and exciting while implying a good chunk of the plot?

Santa Clause Conquers the Martians (1964)

If we do choose to go the sci-fi route, our intro would be targeting younger audiences because of usual trends in this specific genre's following. According to Marketing Land, "Between January 1, 2013, and September 8, 2015, people aged 17 and under and between 18 and 24 accounted for 37 percent and 30 percent, respectively, of social discussion related to sci-fi movies." In order to do this, we could use trendy costuming and attractive younger looking characters to grab their attention. Successful films like the Star Wars movies have also gone with adding a love story for a little bit of spice as well. But pairing a handsome white male with a pretty white female has been the norm for years. It is 2017 my friends. If we add a love story, you bet your nuggets people of color in the LGBTQ+ community will be paired together.

Princess Leia & Hans

Although, if we can't come up with an interesting way to portray a simple yet exciting science fiction story we plan to move towards the thriller genre. We think thriller may be another good option as well because this genre is typically exciting and suspenseful which can help capture the audiences' attention and interest. We also think it has a broader range of story possibilities. While one can probably name all the usual themes in sci-fi movies, thrillers have more possibilities to throw something crazy in the viewer's face. We could also arrange the narrative similarly to films like Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003) where the beginning shows the plots end so the viewer will be trying to piece the plot together throughout the film. 

Kill Bill: Vol 1

We will consider the options and decide our genre soon. Our journey continues...



Aldersley, Steve. Kill Bill: Vol 1. Digital image. In the Frame Film Reviews. Blogger, 1 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2017. <http://intheframefilmreviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/kill-bill-vol-1-not-best-movie-ever.html>.

Dercksen, Daniel. "Genre and Genre Conventions." The Writing Studio. The Writing Studio & Daniel Derckson, 11 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 Mar. 2017. <https://writingstudio.co.za/what-type-of-story-are-you-writing/>.

Donnelly III, John. "Sci-fi Film and Video Game Studios Find the Way into the Mainstream via Social Media." Marketing Land. Third Door Media Inc, 12 Apr. 2016. Web. 11 Mar. 2017. <http://marketingland.com/social-media-shows-sci-fi-video-game-studios-way-mainstream-168509>.

"Film Genre." (n.d.): 1-20. Web. 11 Mar. 2017. <http://filmstudies.uncc.edu/sites/filmstudies.uncc.edu/files/media/film_genre.pdf>.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1966). Digital image. Not This Time, Nayland Smith. Awesome Inc., 20 Dec. 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2017. <http://notthistimenaylandsmith.blogspot.com/2014/12/santa-claus-conquers-martians-1966.html>.

Young, Sage. Princess Leia and Hans Solo. Digital image. Bustle. Lucasfilm, 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 11 Mar. 2017. <https://www.bustle.com/articles/130750-are-han-leia-still-together-in-the-force-awakens-the-star-wars-couple-hit-a>.