How is genre conveyed through the technical features in your film opening?

The film that I watched was called ‘Beastly’ and from the opening sequence the conventions of the film tell me that it’s based around an iconic character and is very rich and holds a high status in the film; not only does the opening sequence tell us this by the fact he’s working out but also other things such as body language, the camera shots and the editing. The film is a hybrid of romance, drama and fantasy although from the opening sequence it is made very clear that the film is a romance and may contain some drama from the establishing shots during the opening sequence, this part of the film is edited at a fast pace with loads of shots of the city and the lifestyle. 

At the beginning of the opening sequence it contains shots of the city life and how everything moves at a very fast pace, from this we can already see that the film is based around the lifestyle that is slightly hectic and fast. The film then goes on the show the main character working out in a hotel like room, this could either be a penthouse suit or his home telling us the character is wealthy or his family is. The connotations of a wealthy young adult living in a big city are that he may be slightly stuck up and consider himself to be better than other people his age. Also that his lifestyle is something that certain people cannot live and he sees himself as the person with the highest status which we see when the shot of himself with his t-shirt off and a shot reverse shot of the highest point in the city with just above it. This connotes that he considers himself a very important and powerful figure and as the film progresses we’ll learn more about his lifestyle. Another convention of a romance film shown in ‘Beastly’ is the fact there are loads of shots showing his body, the film has a mid-shot of him working out in his room, this tells the audience that he takes pride in his appearance and feels it’s important to take care of his body. This is also made more significant because the final shot of the main character is a close up of his body and then his face, this denotes very clearly that he keeps fit and maintains a healthy body; in addition this also shows a hint of vanity from the character as if he knows that he’s attractive. The film then shows an establishing shot of his college which is also an academy, already from the fact his school is an academy it tells the audience that he specializes in something and believes enough in it to study it at an academy, furthermore these adds to the fact we know he’s rich. The scene then goes to a shot of the main character standing in front of a large group of people, from a low angle shot it connotes that he has some type of power or status over the crowd of people watching him; this part of the opening sequence tells the audience that the film may contain some type of drama in school. Whilst he’s speaking the camera cuts from himself to the audience and there is a clear difference in facial expressions as he seems very calm, relaxed and slightly happy and some of the audience are the opposite as if he’s mocking them.

The sound in the opening sequence is another convention that shows the film is mainly drama and romance, whilst the film is showing shots of the city the lyrics to the song played are, ‘..Look at me now..’ this is also played whilst the shots of the main character working out is being showed. Having both these combinations show this could be a representation of his personality because we already understand that the character has an aspect of vanity inside of him by the fact he his looking at himself in the mirror as if he’s admiring his body. These also tells the audience that during the film the characters body is very significant in some way, although we don’t understand much about the character due to the fact this is when we are first introduced to him and don’t know much details about him.

During the opening sequence the editing is cut quickly and we only get to see quick shots of the main character working out in his room, from this we try to learn as much about the character as possible. The camera also cuts from the fast pace city life back to his room and from this we interpret the character lives a very fast lifestyle that’s lavish and extravagant.  The opening sequence gives the audience a big chance to clearly see where the film is based and the type of people that are going to be in the film, when the camera cuts into the school we understand the film is somehow linked to an academy where young adults go. Form this we can already get an idea of the type of romance that the film may involved which could range from teen love, to a love affair between staff as we don’t yet know what role he plays. All these came from the establishing shot of the school showing the audience where the film was based.

Other details that we learn about the film and the generic conventions are that the main character maintains a fit and healthy body showing the audience he’s somebody who cares about their appearance and maybe what people think. This also indicates he may have a small aspect of vanity in his personality which is an attribute that is linked to other negative things. Although the first few frames show him working out it is not yet clear what genre the film could be as it could be range of different things. Towards the end of the scene where the main character is working out there is a shot reverse shot which shows the main character looking out the window onto a very tall building which connotes he considers himself a very powerful and tall figure in society; this almost means he sees himself as the above everyone else in the city which also justifies the idea of him being vain. The next scene goes his academy which has certain connotations of class difference are generally means his family has money and a wealthy background, this would link to the fact in the first scene he was working out in a nice apartment building in the city. The scene then continues into the main character at an election at his academy, this also connotes that he may also have a very high status at his school and people look up to him for some reason. This scene then develops and we learn although he’s an iconic figure at his school he may have some controversy as he insults one of the students and makes a minority of the audience quiet and the other part laugh. From this we could interpret that he may have a love affair with someone that maybe he first thought he wouldn’t like or didn’t like him. From the fact he’s an iconic figure we can guess that the film is going to have some sort of love problem involving a contrast in characters and statuses although we don’t fully know yet.

Altogether the generic conventions in the opening sequence suggest the film could have certain romantic aspects although doesn’t clearly state how much or what else the film is going to include. From the title ‘Beastly’ we can interpret that something not liked by the public or not eye friendly is going to have a significant impact of the film.