2. Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure
• Date of production - February 17, 1989
• Director – Stephen Herek
• The film takes place in an American town where two high school
teenagers are on the verge of failing a class that would get them kicked
out of school, resulting in their separation and the break up of their band.
The only problem is that there is no way they can pass the test and don’t
have enough time to learn enough not to fail. Luckily for them, Just when
they need it most a strange man named Rufus followed by themselves
come back in time with promises of a ‘Most Excellent’ journey for them to
go on where they will learn all that is needed for the test the next day.
3. Dodgeball
• Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber
• Date of production - June 18, 2004
• Peter La Fleur is the owner of Average Joes Gym, a gym that takes pride in
being perfectly average and fair with both prices and service. White
Goodman is the owner of Globo Gym and intends to take over the
Average Joes in the interest of competition; unfortunately for him Peter
has no intentions of selling. Peter has a short time limit to raise $50,000
dollars if he wants to keep his gym. His only chance to get this money
looks like winning a dodgeball tournament with his friends and a little help
from ADAA champion Patches O'Houlihan although White Goodman
decides he cant let this happen.
4. Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
• Date of production - July 30, 2004
• Directed by Danny Leiner
• Harold And Kumar is a light hearted comedy about Harold Lee and Kumar
Patel who get the munchies and decide to get something to eat. After
seeing an advert on TV for White castle they agree that they will stop at
nothing until finding a white castle to eat at. They embark on an epic
overnight journey filled with freaks, wild animals, Neil Patrick Harris, hang
gliding away from the police and even riding a cheetah.
5. What attracts me to the comedy genre?
• I have chosen comedy as the genre of choice for this project because it is one of
my personal favourite genres. I enjoy the comedy genre because it is consistent
and can involve so many different kinds of stories that as well as providing humour
can also be a powerful and compelling story. For me watching films is about
enjoying myself and being able to enjoy the film no matter what the situation I am
watching the film in for example, with friends and with most comedy films one
hundred percent concentration is not needed.
• Another benefit of comedy is that in film people can often be picky about which
genres they do and don’t like; whereas there is a comedy film for almost everyone
out there whether it be an overly dramatic film such as tropic thunder, a sketch
comedy such as Borat or just a stereotypical comedy for example something like
40 year old virgin.
• An extremely popular theme of comedy is the parody style. This involves
intertextual references to other usually very popular films, this is a main reason
why people want to see certain comedy films because they enjoy the original. An
example of this comedy style would be the film ‘Vampires Suck’ which imitates
twilight, another very popular film of recent times.
6. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Trailer Analysis
Area of Analysis Example Technical feature (Camera/sound/mise en
scene/ editing)
Conforms to genre? Y/N Breaks conformity? Y/N
If yes, how?
Codes and conventions
High school setting matched
with unrealistic plot. Characters
and dialogue style match the
comedy conventions
Everything from the Props and clothing to the
music and setting Conforms to the codes and
conventions of the genre.
Yes No
Setting
High school & many different
time zones Creates an
unrealistic humour and almost
mocks films like back to the
future.
Overly dramatic music and a hilarious obsession
with rock creates comedy.
Yes No
Character
Two stupid high school
students
Their style is comical because of how they look
and act in serious situations
Yes No
Themes
Time travel The idea of time travel is comical because of
how surreal and serious the concept is as
opposed to the main characters of the film
Yes The theme is slightly different
to that of a normal Comedy but
it still conforms to the genre
codes and conventions
Narrative
Going back through time to
complete a history assignment
The story is comical because it is a very serious
idea but the characters are only using it to not
fail a test, The camera work and editing works
well with this.
Yes No
Iconography
Many different specific time
zones
The trailer shows many different historical
locations signifying to the audience that the film
is a huge adventure
Yes No
Ideological message
7. Dodgeball Trailer Analysis
Area of Analysis Example Technical feature (Camera/sound/mise en
scene/ editing)
Conforms to genre? Y/N Breaks conformity? Y/N
If yes, how?
Codes and conventions
Over the top serious
competition at a ridiculous
sport. Along with a typical
expert vs. underdog story
Epic Voice overs and music as seen in most
comedy films
Yes No
Setting
The setting of moving from a
rundown gym in a nowhere
town to LA
The location at the beginning is made out to look
terrible and then the dodge ball tournament is
made out to be packed and professional
Yes No
Character
The good guys are the average
people against the over the top
rich bad guys
The enemy look over the top with comical hair
and mannerisms
Yes No
Themes
Love, friendship and rivalry Sound effects are added to exaggerate the
rivalry between good and bad. The two
characters are also featured in shots that
emphasize the hatred between them.
Yes No
Narrative
A group of grown up men have
to compete in a professional
Dodgeball tournament with
their gym at stake
The music clearly supports the underdogs and
emphasizes the good and the bad moments
along with over the top failed romance scenes.
The Camera angles are in the style of action films
which creates comedy because of how the
narrative is so much different to a generic action
film.
Yes No
Iconography
Las Vegas In Las Vegas there are shots of the city and
certain well known locations are shown.
Yes No
8. Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
Trailer Analysis
Area of Analysis Example Technical feature (Camera/sound/mise en
scene/ editing)
Conforms to genre? Y/N Breaks conformity? Y/N
If yes, how?
Codes and conventions
Two typical characters go on a
crazy trip for no good reason
and encounter lots of strange
things on the way
The soundtrack to the film conforms to the genre
with typical American party music and camera
shots and edits that conform to add comic value.
Yes No
Setting
On a road trip and at high
school parties
The setting is typical for an American comedy
film both a road trip and high school parties
conform to the comedy genre.
Yes No
Character
Two typical characters, one
careful and scared, the other
reckless and dopey along with
countless other typical
characters along the way.
Every group of people they meet are
stereotypical in some way, whether it’s the crazy,
ugly person or the young group of jocks.
Yes No
Themes
Going on a road trip for a
pointless reason
Comical music is played and the characters sing
along when they should be embarrassed to know
the words.
Yes No
Narrative
A road trip for a whole night
just to get some food.
The film drags out the night to make it feel like
the audience was really with the character the
whole time throughout their adventure
Yes No
Iconography
White Castle White castle is not only mentioned throughout
the film but shown at the end which is a well-
known fast food restaurant in America.
Yes No
9. What makes me want to watch a film?
• When I hear about a new film that has recently come out, I instantly decide in my mind
whether I think it looks good enough to go and watch or not. The initial stages of my
decision are based on the obvious facts about the film, such as the genre, the narrative
and the content of the film itself. The trailer is a big part in my understanding of what
the film will be like and sometimes it would be possible for me to make up my mind on
the film based on the content of the trailer alone.
• These things aside there are a lot of sub factors that make me subconsciously change
my mind on a film over a period of time. These include things such as star theory. Star
theory basically suggests that if there is one really well known star in a film this will
instantly gain the film popularity. For example if I see a comedy film with actors such as
James Franco, Seth Rogen and Steve Carrel I will instantly be tempted to watch the film
because of the actors credibility. This gives less popular actors a good chance to
become famous because they are in a film that is guaranteed to be popular. The
marketing is also a big factor when it comes to how good a film looks. If I see a film
being advertised a lot everywhere I go, I will assume the film is a high budget and a
popular, must see film and therefore will be more likely to see it at the cinema.
• Finally one other thing that would definitely make me want to watch a film is if it was
part of an already established and popular franchise such as iron man 3, a recent film
that was released as a sequel to iron man 1 and 2. After having already seen and
enjoyed one and two i was determined to see iron man 3 without having even checked
to see what it was like first.
10. How do I find out about films?
• When a new film is released, the company puts a lot of effort into the marketing of that
film, this is crucial to the company because the marketing is the main reason people
know that the film has been released and therefore go to the cinema to watch it.
However there are many different ways of film marketing and these are just the few of
them that affect me.
• The most common ways for me to hear about upcoming films is through trailers and
other film advertisements such as billboards, posters and internet
web banners. For me probably the easiest and best way for me to
hear about upcoming films and receive opinions is by word of
mouth between friends.
• The more popular of upcoming films can be found everywhere such as social networking
sites, YouTube, TV adverts, film posters, Magazine covers and many more. However the
films that arent being publicised quite so much still have to have advertisements an can
always be seen in trailers whilst watching other films, and only a small bit of effort has to
be put in to find out every film coming out at any given time so for a real film fan staying
on top of what is coming out and when can be a simple and rewarding task.
11. Reception Theory
• Reception theory is a theory developed by Stuart Hall that essentially
suggests that a persons taste in films can be judged just by how that person
is in every other way for example cultural backgrounds, hobbies, interests,
appearance, dress sense and many, many other things.
• For example somebody age 18, who frequently goes to parties and cares
about their image would most likely be interested in most teen comedy films,
and someone has been in the army or lived a similar lifestyle they will most
likely be interested in war or action films.
• This theory works because people enjoy films that they can relate to. For
example somebody who has never experienced the feeling of love wouldn’t
usually enjoy a heartfelt film that tells a story about romance because they
wouldn’t be able to empathise with the characters and put themselves in
their position.
• Personally I am interested in a range of films mainly focusing on the genres of
teen comedy and gangster. Reception theory tells others around me that I am
interested in these genres because of everything including my age, looks,
lifestyle and perhaps more obviously the way I talk and what I talk about.
12. Active Spectatorship
• Active spectatorship is simply the practice of looking at the codes and
conventions of a certain genre and understanding what elements of films
make people interested in watching the film.
• This means that, for example gangster films attract people to watch the films
because they are seen as cool and lots of people can look up to them and
admire the characters because they live, what an audience consider a great
life and do what they want. The films also tend to include good looking
women that attract people to watch that genre of film.
• As well as this there are also the opposite kinds of films that appeal to a great
deal of people such as comedy films that appeal to the audience by showing
the life that many teenagers and other people admire involving constant
parties and a crazy lifestyle.
• The genres that I am interested in, for example gangster and teen comedy,
appeal to me because I can both relate and look up to them. Being able to
look up to the characters and storyline of a film makes it a lot more interesting
for the audience.
