Fantasy Genre.

Films chosen

• Harry Potter sequels

• Avatar • Alice In Wonderland• The Hunger Games.

Jennifer Strand.

What is fantasy genre?Fantasy films are films that have elements of extra ordinary events, myths, magic, wonder and escapism. Films like this have no creative boundaries as they can be as bizarre and unrealistic as they like. The Sci-fi genre usually over laps with fantasy. Some of the most famous and well known films to date are of fantasy genre. Fantasy genre is a genre that explores the extra ordinary and plays and exaggerates it. These types of films can sometimes overlap into science fiction and horror genres also. Fantasy genres are most known for there being an ordinary superhero that deals with extraordinary situations. Many films uses magic and then have the setting in a “magic” place where it’s common. In some films both the magic and mythological world and the real world are connected in some way, like Harry Potter, it shows him in both the real world and the fantasy world and both of them are equally as important. I think by adding parts of the real world into films, it makes it easier for the audience to relate. For example, films such as Alice In Wonderland and Harry Potter. They provide an escapism and can be as unusual as the producers want it to be. Fantasy genre films can attract any age group as nothing is expected when it comes to these type of films. I think that’s the main attraction for people, anything could happen and it will work because of the unusual genre.

I think fantasy films are so popular and in demand because of escapism and making the unknown known. This is my favourite genre as nothing is restricted and genres like this create things that have never been done/seen before with the effects they add. While watching these types of films you completely forget that it’s not actually real and I find it really clever how that can be done. You’ll find fantasy genres always have quite peculiar outfits in comparison to other genre films. I think that’s one of the main appeals and what attracts certain types of audience. It’s different every time.

Why is Fantasy genre so popular?

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is an American sci-fi/fantasy film based on the book of the same name by Suzanne Collins. The film takes place in a post – apocalyptic future called Panem. Boys and girls between the ages of 12-18 are entered into a game called The Hunger Games, a televised annual event in which the so called “tributes” have to fight until their death and there will be one remaining victor. After Katniss’s (one of the main characters) younger sister is selected, Katniss volunteers herself instead. She is then joined by the male tribute Peeta, together Katniss and Peeta will have to fight the others and supposedly each other until there is a winner. However in a twist turn of events they become close after bonding and manage with each others help to survive until the end, both remaining they refuse to kill one another so the district have no choice but to name them both the winners. One of the last scenes we see is Peeta and Katniss standing on stage celebrating with a look of anguish on their faces at what’s to come next as they know the district won’t be at all happy. There is a sequel to this film which will be released in 2013, a follow up. The anticipation for everybody to see this was massive as due to people already the books and follow up books, they wanted to see it in picture. This film was extremely well received and even more respected I think due to it using actors that weren’t all ready well know.

Alice In WonderlandAlice In Wonderland is a film that is set in both the real world and an unknown magic land. The original Alice In Wonderland was brought out in 1951 after being adapted from a book. Then it was remade in 2010 starring famous actors Anne Hathaway and Johnny Depp. Tim Burton signed with Disney 3D to create this film. In previous interviews he said he never felt a real connection with Alice’s story in the book and wanted to change that. In this adaptation we see he’s interpreted both cartoon and real life into one. This happens often in fantasy. Personally I think it makes the audience feel more connected to it and like it could actually happen. Some of the production team involved said it was the most exhausting film they have ever had to work on due to their always having to be visual effects used to distort the actors physical appearances such as the queens abnormally shaped head. The film received mixed reviews with some saying it started off with moments of delight and humour however then went on to be quite predictive with a battle to win something like a lot of other fantasy films. The film did receive mixed reviews. In North America it was a lot more successful than anywhere else in the world, becoming number one in March for the most popular film in that time scale. However over all it’s the 25th highest grossing film. This film is full of out there outfits and extremely extravagant throughout, which immediately catches the viewers eye and just makes it more fun to look at in general.

• Use of star theory• 3D effects used throughout

Harry Potter

Harry Potter is an American-British film series based on the novels of the same name by J.K Rowling. The series consists of eight fantasy films. These are distributed by Warner Bros. These films are the highest grossing of all time and over all a critical success. Many ages have been won over by these films. Originally being for children, generations have grown up around Harry Potter. The main characters are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Grainger, played by Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. These actors are now some of the most well known successful actors of today due to these films. The eight film span over ten years, 2001-11. Because of how well received J.K Rowling’s books were, they soon adapted it into a sequel. I think the Harry Potters films are as famous as they are because of how closely they stuck to the details in the book. J.K Rowling made sure they didn’t change anything dramatically and that’s quite rare when books get adapted into films.

Although it’s a sequel, when a new film comes out they don’t start from where they left of, there’s always usually a passing of time and then there’s a new adventure.

As Harry Potter is a sequel, I’m only going to be looking at one of the trailers.

Avatar

Avatar is a 2009 science fiction/ fantasy film directed by James Cameron. The development of the film was first started in 1994. During the films theatrical run, it broke numerous box office records and is the highest grossing film of all time. This film is set in the future, mixing both real people and cartoon together. To me, this always adds an element of real for the audience, it’s like a sort of escapism. They can imagine it too. The main Character Jake is disabled and by him going into a machine which transfers him into the magical world, he has use of his legs. An extended version was later released with eight minutes of unseen footage, which was widely anticipated by fans as it was so successful. There’s definitely intertextuality in this film as it’s fantasy, action and a little bit of romance. I think it’s good they did this as it wasn’t necessarily expected. By doing this they would of made it more appealing to woman. Also I’ve noticed that the whole scenery and special effects put together is quite neutral, I think one of the reasons James Cameron did this is so that females wouldn’t just assume the film was purely for males. Once you’ve watched it, it’s quite clear to see that it’s just as much for females than males. To me, not many well known actors and actresses were in this film, but because of everybody’s interest in it, and the fact James Cameron was directing it, I didn’t care. James Cameron has directed films such as Terminator, Terminator 2 and Titanic so really he had a lot to live up to and I feel he did the film justice. The only actress I was already vaguely aware of was Zoë Saldana.

Avatar trailer.

The trailer for Avatar is three and a half minutes long. The film had been in production for over ten years and the hype around the film was massive so the trailer had to be just right. I really liked the trailer however it really did give the majority of the story away which I was surprised at as usually it keeps something under wraps as a surprise to the audience, the only thing that was kept under wraps was the relationship that two of the main characters developed but other than that the story was pretty much told in the trailer. This trailer was massively important and was expected to make a big impression from the start as the build up of the film was huge as it had took 10 years to make. After the success of this film, an extended version was released with an extra 8 minutes of unseen scenes. This was also massively popular.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. Harry Potter and the goblet of fires trailer is 2 and a half minutes long. As this is a sequel they

have to make the trailer as exciting as possible to debatably live up to the others. The trailer is the first thing fans see of the film. During the trailer they include the main events that take place in the film but do it in a subtle way as not to give away the ending/how things happen. I’ve noticed in the trailer that David Tennant is featured. By David Tennant being included in the trailer, by the fans not knowing what part he has in the film, they’ll be more intrigued to watch and because he’s obviously very well known from playing the Doctor in Doctor Who, this’ll attract a whole new type of fans to Harry Potter. From seeing all the trailers for the Harry Potter films, I like the techniques they use each time. They stick to a pattern of showing quite exciting scenes where people who will have seen a Harry Potter film before will know something could happen and they have no idea what the outcome will be. They never make it obvious until the end. It’s very unpredictable. Harry Potter relates to teenagers as we have grown up with the Harry Potter Franchise, as we’ve got older so have the characters in the film and I think that’s been a really important factor to the films. It gives the majority of the audience a much better connection to the films and you’ll notice film by film they have got darker and more in depth, which will happen because the target audience have gotten older and therefore can enjoy and understand it.

The Hunger Games trailer.The Hunger Games was originally a very successful book by Suzanne Collins. It was written in the voice of 16 year old Katniss Everdeen, the main character, who lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. As you can see in the print screens of the trailer, in big writing it has “from the best selling epic novels” this will automatically make the audience think the film is going to be good and they’ll already have high expectations for it. The Hunger Games is a golden globe nominated, Grammy award winning 2012 science fiction directed by Gary Ross. It was the first film to remain in first place at the North American box office for four consecutive weekends since Avatar.

Alice In Wonderland TrailerAlice in Wonderland has been remade many times before. However this is the first that has a mixture of real life and fantasy. With star theory due to Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway and the director being Tim Burton, everybody knew the film would be out of the ordinary. I think from all four trailers I’ve looked at, this is the best as it doesn’t give too much away about the storyline but as you can see from the print screens below, it features obviously the main character, Alice, but also Johnny Depp as the mad hatter and Anne Hathaway as the nice “white” queen. It also shows us small glimpses of the smaller role characters and the villains. It’s more than enough to get the audience excited to see the film. When watching the trailer I noticed the Disney shows up in the centre of the screen, by mentioning Disney in the trailer, it will attract all kinds of an audience, from children to adults who still love Disney. “From the no.1 best selling book” also appears on screen, this will automatically make people think it’ll be good.

Special Effects.

• You’ll find that every fantasy film you watch, special effects are used. This is because without special effects it’s extremely hard to create something of an unrealistic nature. A big example of this is Avatar. The entire film was special effects based and without the technology they wouldn’t of had a film. Special effects can be used slightly and just a tad unrealistically or full blown and the entire film. An example of when special effects are used subtly and almost realistically is in the Harry Potter movies. Although the entire franchise revolves around magic and magic is the main thing through out, it’s used an extremely subtle way in that because it’s real life and it’s quite realistic with Harry living with his aunt and uncle.

Reception Theory• Reception theory (Hall) is all about liking a specific film because of your social background and lifestyle. For

example if you’re a fan of a specific thing and a film includes that, then it’s likely you’ll want to go and see it. Everybody responds in different ways, they could go and see a film because they just like the actor/actress that’s in the film or in more depth they could like what the actor stands for. However a big reason people go to see the films is because of beauty appeal. If they like the look of the actor and are a fan of them then they can go and see the movie for that purpose alone. This is also case if somebody doesn’t like an actor that’s appearing in a film, if that’s the case then usually the person won’t go and see the movie. An example of this is James Bond films, we all know that James Bond films are more for males than females in regards of the action etc. yet women are still a big fan of the films because of star appeal – Daniel Craig, they like the look of him so will go and watch the film, regardless of what the film’s about. Depending on your personal background, you will go and see a film that is portraying your beliefs. You’ll also find that some people, more women, refuse to watch James Bond films as they disagree with the way women are portrayed and objectified through out all of the films. Some men heavily disagree with how the women are shown in the movies where as it doesn’t bother others. Personally it bothers me slightly as it doesn’t portray women how they actually are, it’s extremely unrealistic. For example if a film was brought out with a plot based around political happenings then say after watching a trailer and finding out more about it, if it was sending a political message that you agreed with then you would go see it because you support the message, just like if it was a political message that you disagreed with, you wouldn’t go and watch it as it’s against what you believe in. Reception theory places the viewer in context, taking into account all of the various factors that might influence how she or he will read and create meaning from the text.

• One of my favourite films is Edward Scissorhands. The main attraction to this film for me is how everybody is against Edward the main character apart from a few and how through out the film we see their perception change. Another main factor that drawn me to the film immediately was that Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder are the main characters and I’m a big fan of them both as to me, every film they’ve stared in has been of an amazing quality and I love how versatile they can both be in the different types of roles they play.