GENRE/BARTHES CODES

GENERIC CONVENTIONS OF YOUR FILMWhich Genre(s) does your film belong to ?The Ghost Writer is a hybrid of comedy (subgenres are improvisation and deadpan) and mystery. The comedy conventions are use of two shots and shot-reverse-shots to reinforce the use of dialogue and relationship between the two main protagonists. Fast pace and snappy cuts further demonstrate this. Comedic improvisational and witty dialogue play to the audience’s expectations. The mystery genre is downplayed but is enforced by the narrative themes and characters

Which conventions did you NOT follow?(How did you vary the generic conventions)We subverted the mystery genre by having the ghost writer’s identity be an extremely obvious twist – to follow the comedy genre, there is a flashback of a scene the audience has seen literally a minute ago. Some conventions were used tongue in cheek, Alphonse, the counterpart to Steve’s determined personality, creates a film so bad it’s hyperbole.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST YOUR FILMCompare and contrast your film to 3 examples(YOUR INFLUENTIAL FILMS).

Narrative structure

Plot• Zoolander - Comedy with a satirical look on a niche industry. Definitely had an influence on the plot as the Writing and Short film industry is parodied throughout the film.

• Dumb and Dumber – Buddy comedy with similar style of humour and characters

• The Pink Panther - detective comedy with similar style that we borrowed the conventions of a mystery from

Themes• Amateurish versus Professional – Steve and Alphonse are amateurish film producers and the antagonist Basil has written every single Hollywood blockbuster.

• New versus Old - Again, the protagonists are young inspiring film makers while the antagonist is significantly older than them

• Exposure versus Secrets – Basil Jägermeister is Hollywood's best kept secret and hides in the shadows. Steve and Alphonse’s task is to uncover his mystery to get their money back.

Characters• Flight of the Concords - Steve and Alphonse

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Basil

• Kung Fury – Crazy Terry

• The World’s End – Crazy Terry

Setting/mise-en-scene• Harry Potter – Basil’s manor

• Flight of the Concords – Basil’s office. Crazy Terry’s Tech Corner

• Grand Budapest Hotel – The Film Festival

Cinematography/Editing (for example, types of shot, pace, transitions, music)• Grand Budapest Hotel – close tightly framed yet fast paced shots with jazzy music.

BARTHES CODESApply Barthes Codes to your filmFor example, how did you create expectation (enigma)As a comedy, subverting expectation is the key to making a successful film. A good example of subverting expectation would be when The Ghost Writer has a massive monologue, talking about his past and greatness; Steve and Alphonse, who have spent all of the movie dedicated to tracking him down, don’t care at all about who he is, they just want their money back. This is reinforced by the cuts to Steve and Alphonse playing scrabble and a buzzer during the monologue.

How did you build suspense (action enigma etc.)The primary enigma would be the mystery of the Ghost Writer’s identity, and as a comedy, his feats and accomplishments are exaggerated to the point of him being the biggest conspiracy in Hollywood. When Steve and Alphonse enter the Ghost Writer’s manor, the normally fast paced film moves a lot more slowly and there are close up shots of weird paintings, reinforcing the mystery and weirdness of the character.

How did you use symbolism?As a comedy, symbolism was downplayed but there are subtle indications. For example, both Steve and Alphonse wear hats and similar style of clothing, this was intentional because it references the fact that they have “made” the exact same movie. The two shots reinforce this. In every scene with The Ghost Writer himself, he is never in the same shot as Steve and Alphonse, exaggerating his mysterious and ghostly nature to the point of hyperbole

Did you create any intertextual references? (referential)Terry has the green data wall from the Matrix as his desktop background, reinforcing the “hacker” character clichés.

GENRE AS A CONCEPTDo you think genre is a useful concept to apply to your short film?I am of the belief that genre can be used as a guideline but not a rulebook. In my opinion the best films are ones which subvert the genre expectations. Genre is good for pinning down the audience and constructing, but you will be limited creatively if you follow every single convention – horrors films are the worst offenders. For example, every slasher film’s antagonist is interchangeable.

Commercial (audiences depend on recognition but is this as important for a short film?)To an extent, no. I would say that genre conventions in blockbusters are especially important as they need to appeal to a wide an audience as possible. But with short films, I think genre is used to be subverted rather than followed. For example, I’m Here is a romance with conventions from a sci-fi movie.