Hello everyone, we are back with another blog! Today we will explore three different genres of a film media. I chose three of the genres I like the most, such as Action, Science Fiction, and I will learn and take notes on these genres to gain the best knowledge for my film opening. In this blog, I wil gain the best knowledge on their conventions, purpose, and meaning.
Action
The action genre is a very cool and interesting genre. Since I was a kid, I have enjoyed movies that involve thriller, suspense, action, and adventure because they add excitement to the plot. Action films often include scenarios where the main character becomes the target and must solve major problems. The plot usually unfolds piece by piece as the character faces challenges and works toward a solution. As I research this genre, I’m hoping to gain the best understanding possible.
Action films are an extremely successful and influential mode of popular cinema that foregrounds spectacular aspects of bodies, vehicles, and violence involving weapons and state-of-the-art filmmaking. The highly dynamic elements elevate the actor’s performance, which becomes the central attraction.
By the 1980s, Action films have evolved to be the most dminant genres worldwide. As researchers such as Lichtenfeld (2007) and Tasker (2002) explain, the action film organizes elements like plot, dialogue, and casting in ways that evoke movement and violence. Action films also reflect social issues such as gender, race, and justice. The post-2000 period saw new directions, including action-oriented science fiction and superhero adaptations that redefined the genre for global audiences.
Action film scenes are usually structured with a fast-paced, pared-down, goal-oriented narrative. This means each sequence directs the story forward through clear objectives and increasing conflict, keeping the audience consistently engaged with dynamic movement and upgrading the tension and suspense.. Modern filmmakers use this structure so every scene has stakes, whether it’s a chase, a rescue, or a fight, making the pace feel urgent and unrelenting.
Cinematography plays a major role in shaping how audiences experience action. Rapid cuts, handheld camera movement, and wide shots of explosions all heighten intensity. Editing rhythms, lighting, and music working together help control the emotional tempo. I decided to rewatch Spider-Man: No Way Home to get ideas about what technical elements I could use for my film opening. In the Doctor Strange chase scene, the film uses sweeping wide shots and shifting perspectives to sell the scale of the Mirror Dimension. The camera moves in circular, flowing patterns to capture the illusion-like environment as Spider-Man tries to escape. When Peter Parker got punched, the movie had a special effect where Doctor Strange knocks Peter back and forces his arsral form out of his body which left his body moving on reflex while his spirit is seperated. As the city folds and gravity breaks, rhythmic cuts help track Spider-Man’s acrobatic movement, while smoother, more controlled moments emphasize Strange’s dominance and precision. Seeing these editing and effects choices inspired me to make my film more interactive through creative editing that heightens audience engagement
Exploring Science Fiction
After researching action films and how they use movement, danger, and spectacle to drive a story, I’m now moving on to Science Fiction, one of the most imaginative and thought-provoking genres in cinema. Sci-fi is more than just space or moving technology. It uses speculative ideas to ask big questions about the world we live in, the technology we create, and what the future might demand from the environment. Film scholars often emphasize that science fiction reflects cultural attitudes toward science and technology, not just entertainment trends.
For example, the Avatar franchise, including the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash aims to feel as realistic as possible through advanced CGI. The films build believable alien life by designing creatures and environments with real-world animal features and movement patterns, thenbringing these creative concepts to life through detailed visual effects. This level of CGI helps audiences feel amazed and surprised in Pandora because the organisms feel realistic in our environment, even though they are fiction with the use of CGI. Overall, Avatar’s CGI shows how science fiction can use visual realism to strengthen world-building and help viewers emotionally connect to an imaginary world.
What Defines the Science Fiction Genre?
Science fiction films focus on speculation: advanced technology, outer space, time travel, artificial intelligence, dystopian societies, and alternate realities. Instead of centering purely on physical conflict, sci-fi often centers on ideas ethical dilemmas, human identity, power, survival, and the consequences of innovation. J. P. Telotte describes science fiction as a genre that reflects evolving attitudes toward science, technology, and reason across American culture.
A Brief History of Science Fiction Cinema
Science fiction has roots in the earliest days of film. Georges Méliès’s Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon) (1902) is widely regarded as a foundational early sci-fi film because it imagines space travel through visual invention and fantasy storytelling.
As the genre developed, sci-fi repeatedly has been responsive to real-world anxieties and social change. Vivian Sobchack connects American science fiction cinema to the culture and “social preconceptions” of its time, showing how these films evolve with what society fears or hopes about the future.
Structure, Style, and the Role of CGI
Science fiction relies heavily on world-building, meaning the film must convince audiences that an unfamiliar world has rules, scale, and realism. This is where CGI and visual effects become a main point, because sci-fi often has to utilize what scenes can not be applied in filming for the real life. Stephen Prince argues that digital visual effects operate as an expanded set of tools that can strengthen both realism and fantasy, which is exactly what sci-fi needs to make the futuristic world to be realistc. Historically, sci-fi has even helped push effects technology forward: the BFI notes Westworld (1973) as an early landmark for using 2D CGI/digital imaging, showing how the genre has long correlation towards technical experiments.
Modern Examples and Trends
Recent sci-fi blockbusters continue balancing spectacle and meaning, often blending practical filmmaking with heavy CGI/VFX to build massive worlds. For example, Dune: Part Two has been widely discussed for its visual effects work and the behind-the-scenes process of constructing scale and realism. Similarly, The Creator drew attention for how its VFX workflow helped achieve a large-scale sci-fi look, showing how modern sci-fi relies on both cinematic craft and digital tools.
Modern sci-fi encourages both wonder and empathy. Instead of detaching the audience, advanced visuals can connect them more deeply to characters’ internal struggles, making the futuristic feel human and relatable.
Horror Genres
Horror is another genre I would like to consider for my film opening. This genre focuses on evoking fear, suspense, and emotional unease for the audience. Rather than being focused on science fiction or action, horror stories are built around the feeling of being threatened by monsters, spirits, or even the human mind itself. Common elements include dark lighting, eerie sound design, jump scares, and psychological tension. These elements work together to make viewers experience real fear in a safe, controlled environment.
Most horror films revolve around a central conflict between safety and danger. The story often begins in a normal setting that slowly becomes corrupted by an evil or terrifying force. For example, in The Conjuring or Paranormal Activity, everyday life is gradually replaced by dread. The threat might be a haunted house, a cursed object, or a dangerous killer. Sometimes the danger comes from a cursed object, such as the videotape in The Ring or the doll in Annabelle, which brings terror into what once felt safe. Other horror films use human threats, like the killers in Halloween or Scream, where familiar neighborhoods become hunting grounds. In each case, the main characters must face their fears or fight to survive, giving the film its tension and emotional pull. The fear of the unknown and the battle to restore safety drive the entire plot.
The history of horror began almost as soon as filmmaking began. Early filmmakers like Georges Méliès experimented with supernatural themes in the late 1890s, directly influencing what would become horror cinema. Méliès’s short films included ghosts, skeletons, and magical transformations that played on early audiences’ interests and thought provking aspects with the unknown scenes having an uncanny aesthetic. For example, he created the double dissolve effect, where he would film an actor performing a scene and then overlay the same film roll so another actor could appear reacting to someone who “wasn’t there.” This amazed early audiences by making ghosts and magical transformations appear real on screen, creating wonder and eerie suspense.
A similar illusion-based effect appears in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), during scenes where Harry and Hermione travel back in time to save Buckbeak.
In the modern era, horror continues to evolve by exploring moral and psychological themes such as guilt, punishment, and the darkness within human nature. Some films rely on supernatural elements, while others use realism to make the horror feel possible in everyday life. Modern horror films like The Nun and Five Nights at Freddy’s combine religion, mystery, and jump scares to create tension and suspense. These movies are successful because they keep audiences curious and never let viewers know exactly when the next scare will happen.
Reflection
Researching Action, Science Fiction, and Horror helped me understand that genres are not just labels they are built from conventions that control how the audience feels, and that directly shapes how I want my film opening to work. After researching these three genres I decided to lean towards blending my film opening with the horror genre, since it gives me the best tools to create suspense and make the audience feel more curious of what scares will be involved and increase suspense and tension. . I am going to utilize techniques as inspiration such as Five Nights of Freddy's and early filmmaking initiatives by Georges Méliès, such as illusion-based editing and the double dissolve effect, to enhance my Media Studies project and make my opening more immersive. I will do more research on the subgenres and the conventions for my genre.
Finally, here are some notes I have took:
Sources:Hobson, M. (2025, December 19). How the Avatar team created the fantastic world of Fire and Ash. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/avatar-fire-and-ash-production-design-science
Reuters. (2025, July 5). Studios bet horror films will reanimate cinemas. Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/studios-bet-horror-films-reanimate-cinemas-2025-07-05
Peberdy, D. (2005, October 20). Lethal weapons, Die Hards and Terminators: Exploring Action-Adventure Cinema in Action Speaks Louder… and Action and Adventure Cinema. Senses of Cinema. https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/book-reviews/action_adventure_cinema/
Harvard Film Archive. (2025, February 1). The optical tricks of a cinemagician: Georges Méliès and early cinema special effects. Harvard Film Archive.
https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/the-optical-tricks-of-a-cinemagician-2025-02
e Bont, J. (Director). (1994). Speed [Film]. 20th Century Fox.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111257
Miller, G. (Director). (2024). Furiosa: A Mad Max saga [Film]. Warner Bros.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190
Watts, J. (Director). (2021). Spider-Man: No Way Home [Film]. Sony Pictures.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10872600
Curtiz, M., & Keighley, W. (Directors). (1938). The Adventures of Robin Hood [Film]. Warner Bros.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029843
Jones, F. R. (Director). (1927). The Gaucho [Film]. United Artists.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017727
Cameron, J. (Director). (2009). Avatar [Film]. 20th Century Fox.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549
Cameron, J. (Director). (2022). Avatar: The Way of Water [Film]. 20th Century Studios.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1630029
Villeneuve, D. (Director). (2024). Dune: Part Two [Film]. Warner Bros.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18554316
Edwards, G. (Director). (2023). The Creator [Film]. 20th Century Studios.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2654620
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