Friday, January 30, 2026

Research - Editing Software

Hello again, readers! Now that I have gathered a fair share of information regarding the genre of my brief, I now look towards answering what editing software I would want to use in the post-production stage. There are two that I have in mind, those being either I-Movie or Premiere Pro, and today I plan on stating the pro's and con's of each, as well as using some personal experience to guide me to my final decision (accessibility (price) and personal experience).
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 I-Movie is a video editing application developed by Apple. Some pros regarding the app include an intuitive and user-friendly interface which includes basic editing techniques like trimming and speed adjustments. This allows for entry-level video editing that may seem less overwhelming than professional software like Premier Pro. I-Movie also comes movie templates with shot guidance to further guide people new to movie-editing. One of the biggest pros for me would have to be its support for iPhone videos, which is what I will most likely be filming my brief with since I lack professional equipment.

                    Source: PCMag

While I-Movie is intended for an editing novice, that does mean that it is missing some features, these include multicam and motion-tracking capabilities; additionally, it only allows for two video tracks on a timeline. It also only allows for two video tracks on a timeline, which could be tricky when editing my film. In terms of accessibility, it is free on only apple devices, which means I can only edit on my phone and not on the computer.

As for Premier Pro, it is a much more complex software intended for those already familiar with editing. Despite this, the two most important pros for this software would be its clear interface alongside its responsive performance and quick rendering. Premier Pro also carries over the editing features from I-Movie and then some, such as having unlimited video tracks, and audio mixing.

                    Source: PCMag


Most of the cons for Premier Pro have to do with the time it takes to get used to it. For many online, they say that getting the hang of this software's features is quite difficult. One person online who made the jump from I-Movie to Premier Pro noted that that although there are some similar features, it takes a bit of time to actually find them. The price tag is a whole other issue for me, at least. Since I don't own Adobe Creative Cloud or Premier Pro itself, I would have to pay $30.

In terms of personal experience, I used to edit a lot of videos for fun when I was much younger using I-Movie, and for me figuring out the basics like transitions and text did not take long for me. Last time I used it was for a project much similar to this, and having an editing software on the go made it much easier for me to work on it whenever I could. Despite this, I was able to work on a project using Premiere just a few months ago for this class (I even made a post on the process) and getting into the swing of things was much easier than I thought, thanks to having tutorial videos guide me around some of the more important features. I had a great experience using it, and if I can go back to it for this project I definitely would, as it still sits relatively fresh in my mind.
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Though today's post was a bit shorter than the rest of my recent ones, I still got to look into the two prime candidates in terms of editing for my brief. Looking at this from a common sense perspective, although Premier Pro has a lot more features that I was not aware about until researching, I feel as though I would not utilize for this project. Furthermore, the price tag is way too much for something that I would most likely only use once. I feel as though the more basic and compact setup of I-Movie would be best for me, as I can consistently work on my brief wherever I go, and its support for videos recorded on an iPhone will help make the finished product look much better than what would result if I have to convert onto my computer. One thing I have to play around with is I-Movie's text features, as in the last post I stated that I would be including the project's title somewhere in the opening.
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Sources used for information:

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/apple-imovie?
test_uuid=04IpBmWGZleS0I0J3epvMrC&test_variant=B


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Over the past three weeks, I have gathered insightful information regarding the genre of my brief and more. With this I now understand typical features and practices in real films under this genre, giving me a good idea of what I can do for my brief and giving me options on how I want to make it unique in regards to subgenres/genres similar to noir and mystery as a whole. I think I am ready to move on to the next step in making this brief, which would be the actual planning process.

I hope my research has taught you a little bit about this genre yourselves, thanks for reading!
at No comments:

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Research - Production Title Design

I am back at it again, readers! 

Since last post, where I set my sights on making specifically a film noir opening. I have noticed that the subgenre has become quite obscure in recent times, with most seemingly noir films from 20 years ago not even falling into the category itself. So now my research is limited to mostly noir films from the mid-to-late 20th century.

Anyways, last time you saw from me I said that I would be looking at specific titles of a film, and no, I am not referring to a movie itself, as I have done many times before. Today, I want to look at typical features of a production title (a.k.a. working title) of film noir, including key words, fonts, and color!
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Occasionally, the genre of a film can be easily identified by the naming of the film. In film noir, typical elements of murder, urban settings, and mystery are usually expressed in the film's titles. Take words like "street" and "night" for example. The plot of many noir films take place at night in an urban area, when most are asleep, and danger is out and about, take a title like Night Without Sleep (1952) for example. The combination of murder and romance was also common, such as Kiss of Death (1947). The mystery elements of these films are what define the subgenre as a whole, films like Mysterious Intruder (1946).
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With key words like these in mind, I now want to shift my focus on design elements of a working title, these being color and most importantly font. There are a plethora of fonts used throughout noir film, usually involving blocky text with an imitated 3D effect, take the opening of White Heat (1949), for example, which uses a hand-drawn font with a slight squiggle to the linework, possibly a nod to the "heat" in the film's title.

                    White Heat (1949)

If I were to take a similar approach with my brief's title artwork, I perused the site 1001 Fonts, the same site I used for the font in my magazine cover assignment I posted just a few months ago, and found two fonts that replicate the classic noir style: Francois One and Poppins (specifically semi-bold).



 

Though this style of title design is well known in older films, I would still rather create something closer to modern era film rather than something that dwells on the past for my brief. What I in the films Palmetto (1998) and Romeo Is Bleeding (1993) are not much different from films that released decades prior. Though the only working title I found in footage paired with Palmetto comes from a trailer, it creates a 3D effect similar to older films, and is paired with a brilliant orange sunset, which is a great change of pace from the typical black and white. The font used closely resembles the font Compacta.

                    Palmetto (1998)

Prior to the opening for Romeo Is Bleeding, the title is written in a font similar to Trajan Pro on a black background. It is very simple compared to the rest of the ones found throughout today's research, so I will most likely not be referring back to it for inspiration come design time. (The opening can be found on YouTube, but I will not be including it in my sources due to excessive blood during one scene.)

                    Romeo Is Bleeding (1993)

As for the colors used in the production titles that I have seen today, they all look to simply use black and white, even in the two films that actually had the ability to give these more color. I would also look at the posters of these films to see what colors or maybe even different fonts are used in the designs there, but for my brief I am simply filming the opening, so I will leave my research on color to that.
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Before researching, I was expecting to see a variety of different title design conventions that would have left me overwhelmed when it came time to designing my own, but am glad to see that there is a somewhat universal connection between most of these that seek for the audience's attention, even without using extravagant fonts or over-the-top effects. I have definitely been inspired to at least capture the 3D effect and monochromatic coloring of most of these titles, with the font being the only real feature I should put most of my thought into. I think I am leaning towards using a font with more clean lines, like Francois One, to keep with the more simple title designs of the subgenre.
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Sources used for information:





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Next post I will be going over two possible editing applications I can use for when filming is all said and done, comparing them by my personal experiences using them, and their pros and cons. Thanks for reading, see you soon!
at No comments:

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Research - Color Theory of Noir

Welcome back to my blog, readers!

Before I jump into this week's first research post, there is something I would like to establish. For the past few posts following my decision to make a mystery film opening, I simply stated that I would be making just a "mystery" opening, widening my further research into the genre as a whole rather than a specific sub-genre. So starting now, I would like my opening to be a noir story. Though very niche today, this would be the best subgenre for me to advance with since I personally find the deeper plot and characters interesting; additionally, I stated that in the technical elements post most of the lighting conventions can be traced back to noir films of the 40's and 50's. Despite all my research, all of what I have found would still apply for a noir film.

Anyways, the next step in my research is all about color theory. This includes the behavior and effect of colors in a film alongside ones most common to, the newly chosen, film noir.
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What comes to mind when you think of a noir setting? For most, it is probably the black and white films of the old times, which utilized lighting techniques like backlighting and chiaroscuro to convey deeper meaning into scenes. Despite what may seem like an limitation, the monochromatic filter of films like The Lighthouse (2019) and the opening of Casino Royale (2006) help create narratives that depart from the colorful norm of modern-day film, establishing time periods and emotional responses, as well as grabbing the audience's attention without the possible distraction of color.

                    The Lighthouse (2019)

As previously established when researching technical elements, the deep, contrasting shadows created by a few lighting techniques can help to obscure a person or environment. These create unsettling feelings of mystery, and sometimes even suspense and feat in the audience, as they attempt to interpret what they are seeing. Shadows also give the image a particular harshness that can truly only be created by the two-toned filter of black and white film. The colors (or lack there of) themselves are usually effective at reflecting the typical noir's bleak themes of corruption and betrayal.

Although there is a lot of creative ingenuity that goes into working around the monochromatic environment of a typical noir film, there is another, rather obscure mystery film genre that updates and adapts the characteristics of film noir with modern themes and techniques. Neo-noir films, like typical noir, were popularized decades ago. The 1960's-70's saw a point where noir films were being infused with the new tropes of the time, the biggest being color itself.

The use of color in movies can express many meanings, though the primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) can be seen as more universal, as they hold many meaning that can change depending on the genre or context of a film. Reds, in the topic of mystery, are synonymous for its associations with blood, an outcome of violence and sometimes rage or anger. Yellow is typically associated with happiness, but in many other cases can represent madness, imagination, and deceit, which are all things faced by the protagonist of a noir film, who tend to be mentally broken in one way or another. Blues represent sadness and coldness, but also order, as cops are typically represented in any mystery film one way or another.

Sin City (2005), though being almost 21 years old at this point, is still an example that I cannot pass up. The film uses a combination of both monochrome as well as primary colors that give the film unique visual identity that is practically a culmination of all that I have found on color theory. For example, the use of red for blood or yellow for hair pop out amongst the black and white of the rest of the environment. The combination of both color elements of noir and neo-noir serve as narrative devices that underline the film's themes of violent corruption.

                    Sin City (2005)
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My newfound knowledge of color theory opened my eyes to how much can be expressed with (or even without) colors! Personally, I find that the work-arounds with having a traditional monochrome film noir, usually involving lighting, especially stand out, because without them a scene would just appear bland and have no meaning at all. Though, I am not sure if that is how I want to tackle my brief. Instead, I feel like using specific colors to convey certain meanings of feelings would be more interesting, as I can use both those and other technical elements, giving me countless other opportunities to express tone and mood rather than relying on lighting alone.
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Sources used for information:





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Following this research session, I think taking a look at the titles of some movies themselves would inspire me when it comes time to make one of my own for this brief, as it only makes sense to provide one towards the end of the opening scene. Thanks for reading, until next time!
at No comments:

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Research - Target Audience

Hello! Last post, I stated that I would like to conduct research on the target audience of a mystery film. This is an important aspect to these films that does not involve any part of the plot or production process, but simply who this genre appeals to. This post will go over some statistical data I have found on mystery films in general, and provide an example of a recent film and how well it performed in the box office based on its marketing practice.
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When researching the mystery genre, I stated that age and gender were some of the largest influencing demographics within a target audience. It was quite difficult finding some solid numbers for these in the mystery genre, considering its sister genres are usually tied within. However, one source compiled the average ratings from a survey conducted on 80 males and 80 females about their personal preferences of 17 movie genres, one of which being mystery.

         
                    Source: PubMed Central

Data shows that the mystery films, on average, are predominantly preferred by males over females. This can be concluded by the distance relationship between the male and female dots. This same study also collected the average ages of the participants, equating to 24 years old for both male and females, limiting the range of this study in terms of age. 

Despite not delivering the bigger picture for the entire viewership of a mystery film, the evidence uses a generally balanced set of variables which shows a bit of diversity in gender appeal for mystery films.
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Generally, identifying the appropriate age and gender demographics increases the likelihood of a movie being financially successful. 

The Kid Detective (2020) is a mystery/comedy following a once renowned kid detective (played by Adam Brody) getting his first serious, with the plot twisting from a silly tone to dark ending. This movie appealed to fans of both genres, and its performance shows it.


                    Source: IMDb

This film was primarily on streaming services, with its widest release being in 865 theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite unfavorable release conditions, the film still managed to make $367,890 worldwide box office, and it received a number of positive views on Rotten Tomatoes praising the actor's performances and story's blend of both mystery and comedy.

                    Source: Box Office Mojo
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Though today's post was quite shorter than my previous ones, learning a bit about my genre's target audience is still important for my brief. However, I am not sure particularly how I can actually make my opening appeal to an audience based on demographics, as films typically do so in their marketing practices. Additionally, the plots of a mystery film are all structured identically, no matter who it is trying to appeal towards. What I believe could change depending on the target audience would be the typical incident introduction featured in the opening, changing how intense or serious the situation is as I find who I want to appeal towards.
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There are just a few more features I think would be beneficial to look into before I move on to the next part of my brief production. I believe that by next week I will have everything I need to know. Next time, I plan to look into color theory and what are the effects of those common to the mystery genre. Catch you on my next post! 
at No comments:

Friday, January 23, 2026

Research - Mystery Tropes

Hello, readers! Today I continue my research on the mystery genre, now looking into commonly recurring elements, also known as tropes, that appear in mystery stories/films. These include character types, plot devices, and other elements.
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Characters are key features of any story, and much like other genre conventions, the characters of a story are sometimes specific to a single genre.

A staple trope seen throughout mystery as a whole would be the detective protagonist/character. They are often the ones who solve cases  by gathering evidence and using their smarts to outwit the antagonists and often other authority like the police. Detectives may come in the form of a single person who prefers to work alone, one who suffers from some sort of problem, or a detective duo/group that works as one to solve a case. Detective Benoit Blanc from the Knives Out series is a private detective and is usually enlisted by and works with others to solve each film's case.

                    Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

Antagonists are usually those who have either lead to or caused the incident. Typical examples include the stealthy suspect or masked culprit, who in some way try to communicate with the protagonists by leaving either clues or red herrings. Another significant antagonist trope is the unassuming suspect, a character who may seem innocent at first glance, but could actually be the source of the problem at hand.
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As I have explained a few times before, mystery films all follow the same typical plot structure. One important structural element that I have explained was be the introductory scene, which provides context and sets the rest of the plot in motion.

Most tropes are executed in the plot itself. A case taken by the protagonist may potentially call back to a mistake or traumatizing moment of their past, forcing them to indirectly face the past in order to bring justice. 

Other such tropes can be seen towards the climax/falling action of the plot, which usually involves a light bulb moment in which the protagonist finally connects the evidence gathered to a few sources. Following this is usually the big reveal and confrontation of the perpetrator which concludes the story; however, there is chance that the protagonist made a mistake, resulting in a twist ending where the case was never really solved and the incident continues.
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Outside of characters and plot, the setting of a film can deliver the same feelings of suspense and mystery to the audience.

Mystery plots typically occur in congested cities or remote locations, depending on how the plot wants to shroud the antagonist. 

Remote or secluded areas typically limit the number of suspects, making it easier for the protagonist to work around the testimonies of local residents to solve the issue; whereas in a crowded environment, it makes it easier for the antagonist to blend in with the rest of the environment, often resulting in stories in which more thought has to be put into investigation.

Death on the Nile (2022) is a whodunnit involving the murder of a heiress on a cruise ship and is a prime example of  a secluded setting. Following the death, characters are interrogated and significant leads are made through these.
                    Death on the Nile (2022)
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Just like my previous research, looking into mystery genre tropes now gives me a solid idea of common elements I can add into my brief to make an authentic piece that meets the right categorization under mystery. Additionally, recognizing that some of these elements can only really be used under a certain style of plot gives me further options on how I want my story to play out, even if it is only an introduction to the rest of the hypothetical plot. A detective protagonist would be the best to include in a story under this genre, though they typically do not get involved in the plot until after the incident occurs.
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Up next, I want to take a look at the target audience of my genre, so that my work could appeal to the wider viewership of this specific genre. Until next post, see you soon!
at No comments:

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Research - Technical Element Conventions

It's the start of a new week, and with that, I am looking deeper into mystery as a film genre. Today, I will share information I found surrounding technical elements used throughout films in this category, focusing on lighting, sound, and other mise-en-scene features.
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Lighting techniques commonly used in mystery movies can be traced back to noir films, a mystery sub-genre I glanced over in the last post. Originating in the 1940's where films were still monochromatic, special lighting techniques created shadows, these made effects which shaped the entire atmosphere of a scene, giving deeper meaning to characters and their surroundings. These techniques are still used today and evoke the same moods when used.

Low key lighting uses sharp contrasts between light and dark to create a sense of foreboding and gives off a mysterious appearance to characters/environments.
 
                    Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Backlighting is a technique where a light it lit behind a subject, often creating an outlined silhouette. This technique evokes mystery via obscuring details and actions, leaving the audience to interpret what they see for themselves.
                    Nosferatu (2024)

Chiaroscuro uses extreme contrasts between light and dark to create harsher shadows on a subject. Its effects are typically more dramatic than low-key lighting.

                    The Black Phone (2021)
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Sounds commonly used in mystery films are shared with its sub-genres and sister genres, as they all share the foundational structure of a scene, backed by music/sound effects that establish the tone and mood of the moment. Music primarily takes control over the atmosphere of a scene and is typically non-diegetic.

Voiceover narration is another non-diegetic element and is used to give narrative information or provide context to important details. These narrations can be given through the third person point of view, or by a character in the story (autodiegetic for protagonist, homodiegetic for any other).

Sound effects can be either diegetic or non-diegetic. Diegetic examples include all sounds that can be produced and heard by the characters within the scene, popular examples being creaking floorboards or footsteps, instilling a sense of dread or fear. Non-diegetic sounds usually include stylized noises that are meant to fit within the scene.

Silence has to be one of the most recognizable sound devices of a mystery film, as it turns the audience's attention to the scene, while simultaneously creating suspense. An abrupt silence is usually an indicator for a significant moment.

This scene from The Pale Blue Eye (2022) shows two characters (played by Harry Melling and Christian Bale) combines the use of dialogue and silence (in the background) to get the reader's attention on the conversation between the two, as they make observations on a crumpled message found on a deceased body.
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Additional mis-en-scene elements include costumes, props, and the actor's performances. 

In a mystery film, costumes are usually tailored to fit the era or time period in which the story takes place. For example, Amsterdam (2022) takes place in the 1930's and follows 3 friends. These characters are seen in suits and dresses throughout the film, typical men's and female's fashion at the time.

                    Amsterdam (2022)

Props are used in these films to create a sense of intrigue, working as a hint which can help audiences solve the incident the plot surrounds itself with. These props usually include murder weapons, or belongings/objects of people close to (or directly from) the cause.

Blocking is an actor's directed position/movement within the scene. This directs the audience's attention toward a character, and can be used to evoke suspicion or reveal clues.
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Having concluded research on these elements, I now have a better idea of what to incorporate in my opening to give indirect messages to the audience. I feel like in the 2 minutes I have for the opening I can find space to incorporate all devices from each of the describes elements; additionally, I feel like the most important of these to incorporate would be a prop of significance and the backlighting technique to shroud whatever the incident was in mystery. 
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Sources used for information:











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The research does not end there. I feel like it would be best for me to look into other common mystery tropes, to further help me create an authentic mystery piece. See you next post!
at No comments:

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Research - Further Research On My Chosen Genre

Hello again, readers! In yesterday's post, I compiled my research on the crime and mystery genres in a similar fashion to my first set of research posts where I explored comedy. Towards the end, I compared all three genres, along with the pros and cons that would come with whichever one I chose. But after a night of thinking, I have finally made my decision...

Between comedy, crime, and mystery, I want my film opening to be a mystery story. Despite having a greater fondness for comedy, I stated twice before that making a balanced film opening that uses this genre's typical conventions would be difficult, as there are a lot of factors pertaining to it. Additionally, I stated that it would be nice to get a taste of a mystery or crime plot. As for why I chose mystery over crime, I feel as though murders and heists are popular incidents that many stories within the genre usually base their plots around, and I personally feel as though I can do better.

Now that I have chosen a genre to work with, I will be conducting deeper research within the mystery genre, looking at common sub-genres and opening scenes from a few titles of the category.
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Mystery is a genre that can be broken down into many well-known subgenres, many of which have been interpreted into film. Noir is a classic sub-genre that has its focus on the protagonist, usually starring a character who has morally declined or dealt with serious emotions in the past. These films typically focus on themes of greed, corruption, and betrayal, which are effectively reflected by the grim nature of the main character and other surrounding elements. Films under this category were most common in the 1940's and 50's, with releases such as Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Sweet Smell of Success (1957).

                    Source: IMDb

Much like noir, hardboiled is a sub-genre which focuses on the protagonists personality, usually starring a character who has a strong sense of justice and is tough and cynical by heart. These kinds of characters are usually seen working within gritty suburban settings and are found breaking the rules for the sake of their work. The Maltese Falcon (1930) is a film adaptation of the book of the same name, following detective Sam Spade as he takes on a case involving a number of criminals and their obsession over a simple artifact.

                    Source: IMDb

Amateur sleuth and cozy plots are similar as in they involve the work of unprofessional or often unskilled people that on the challenge of working through a case. Murder, She Said (1961) is part of a 5-movie series featuring the fictional Miss Marple (played by Margaret Rutherford in the films) created by Agatha Christie in 1927. Miss Marple is an elderly woman who spent most of her life in a small village town but was always observant on human nature. Amateur sleuths and cozy sub-genres also appear in media targeted for younger demographics, usually starring a single or group of young protagonists, such as Scooby-Doo.


                    Source: IMDb

Despite these genre's popularity especially in the past, a more timeless sub-genre that makes up a majority of mystery films is the simple Whodunit?. Despite usually involving murders, a staple of the crime genre, this sub-genre involves a large cast of characters. The incident occurs when everybody is seemingly doing their own things, and come the time of discovery, the perpetrator blends themselves in to seem as innocent as possible. See How They Run (2023) is a comedic whodunit that takes place in the 1950's, where the filming of a movie adaptation of one of, coincidentally, Agatha Christie's plays is stopped after the murder of the director. The film follows Inspector Stoppard and Agent Stalker (played by Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan respectively) as they investigate a number of suspects in the theatrical scene. Despite there being two protagonists in this example, there is still an array of suspects closely related to the victim.
                    Source: IMDb
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Now that I have a better knowledge on some of the sub-genres under the mystery umbrella, I looked into some openings of mystery films to get a good idea of what my brief should look like. Last post, I learned that one of the conventions commonly used in mystery films is opening on the prime incident that sets the entire plot in motion. I decided to first look into the opening scene of Weapons (2025), a movie that I used as an example for recent mystery films in my last post. This film follows the convention perfectly, with a child narrator describing the night when all the children of a specific classroom went missing. At the same time, this exact moment is shown with scenes of children running across the streets, almost as if they were in a sort of trance, in the middle of the night. The other opening I saw was for Shutter Island (2010) starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. Instead of opening with the central issue and no prior explanation, this film's opening starts a non-direct explanation of the plot. Teddy Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule are about to dock on a inhospitable island housing a mental institute, the pair discuss their objective, which will be the the focus of the entire rest of the film following that point. Additionally, the captain of the ship taking the duo to the location throws unintentionally hints about the oncoming danger they will face using metaphorical phrases such as, "storm's coming". 

One detail to make note of that I noticed about both of these openings is that they do not include opening credits as they play out, which I may follow in my brief.

I watched both of these clips on YouTube, and the links are cited below. 
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Now that I have my genre chosen, this additional researched proved to be very insightful and has given me a clearer picture of what my final brief should look like. Watching the two openings that were different in execution shows that I may have some room to decide what specifically could be conveyed within the scene, whether it be an overview with subtle hints at what would happen later down the line or the typical incident portrayal. A look into the sub-genres also gives me some options with how I want the opening to be approached, and, if it were to include a protagonist, how would they behave or react?
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Sources used for information:










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Despite all this information, I would still like to go deeper into this genre. I think that looking into film elements would be the next best step from here. Thanks for reading and I'll see you again soon!
at No comments:

Friday, January 16, 2026

Research - Delving into Crime and Mystery

Hello, readers! Today I will be continuing my genre research, to determine which I should base my brief, the film opening, off of and how to do so. Last post, I presented my findings on the comedy genre, saying I would group crime and mystery together in this post, as they are both usually grouped together and show some similarities. I personally have little experience watching crime/mystery media, but I feel like the concept of eventually solving the issue with proof would be entertaining and immersive. This post will be similar to my last, as I will be looking into the target demographic and genre conventions of these two genres in film, along with some popular examples from recent times. At the end, I will be comparing all the genres I researched, determining which I will utilize for the plot of my brief in tomorrow's post.
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When researching conventions, I gathered that crime and mystery films share the same basic conventions, which made me worried that these were the same genre. The most important of these conventions for me to follow if I were to go with one of these genres for my brief is what takes place in a typical opening sequence of. Both types open on the central crime/incident (depending on the genre) of the plot being committed, which will become the focus of the protagonist(s) throughout the rest of the film.

Despite sharing a majority of the basic plot conventions, crime and mystery differs the most in what they are trying to show within the plot. Crime media typically delves into the "why" of a crime, with clues related to past events or evidence left/made by the committer themselves making up most of what is discovered as the plot progresses; alternatively, mystery media explains the "how" of an incident, with tools and similar items being valuable clues for the protagonists to find. One particular feature that appears in some crime films is an object of interest, which is typically stolen and in possession of the antagonist.
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Crime stories have incorporated into film make for good watches, and are usually mixed with other similar genres. For example, The Batman (2022) is an action/crime movie that involves Batman, played by Robert Pattinson, investigating the Riddler's true identity as he targets and murders Gotham's elite political figures. As the movie goes on, Batman discovers clues that go much deeper than expected, uncovering his family's involvement. The Batman is a perfect blend of action and crime, following most typical conventions of each seamlessly. The Rip (2026) is a crime/thriller starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that, in fact, just released today. The movie involves a group of Miami cops who start to lose trust in one-another after discovering a giant illegal stash of money, attempting to keep it a secret from outsiders at the same time. Though not following typical crime conventions, the plot looks to generally take the genre and create a unique spin that involves the fallout between what would seem to be the protagonists of the story.

                                                    Source: IMDb
                                                    Source: IMDb

Mystery is a genre who's films are also usually paired with other genres (horror specifically) to create a story that incorporates elements from one another. Weapons (2025) is a Horror/Mystery starring Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, and Alden Ehrenreich in which a community experiences the disappearance of all but one child from the same class all in one night, left having to investigate the cause. The already bizarre anomaly grows into a bigger problem as the movie focuses on the perspectives of different residents of the community. Wake Up Dead Man (2025) is the third installment to a franchise that merges both mystery and crime. Starring Daniel Craig as detective Benoit Blanc, Blanc teams up with a priest to investigate a murder at a small church which turns into a complex story revolving around a mysterious diamond, secrets, and resurrection.
                                                   Source: IMDb
                                                   Source: IMDb

While studying studios who have had successful crime and mystery film releases, there is one who had kept appearing on headlines more than any other, that being Netflix. Netflix is known for its releases in both crime and mystery,  such as the two examples just given, and countless series such as The Perfect Couple (2024) and Bodies (2023). Warner Brothers is also a prime releaser in crime and mystery, responsible for a wave of gangster films from as early on as the 1930's  like The Public Enemy (1931) and Little Caesar (1931).
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After researching these two genres, I now have the proper information to evenly judge my three genre choices. Last post, I described how working with 2-minutes on a comedy piece may be a challenge, as I would have to fit in a proper character introduction and some jokes within the available time, making it hard to avoid being overwhelming/annoying. Whereas with a mystery or crime prompt, I could possibly make my opening about setting up the main conflict surrounding the entire movie. Depending on which of these genres I would specifically like to do, the biggest obstacle would be having to work around the similarities of both, maintaining to strictly the one I chose and avoiding the use of elements from the other. This would most likely be done by what exactly the aforementioned conflict is about. As mentioned on the start of today's post, I have little experience with crime/mystery media, but hold comedy close to my heart as I have been exposed to much of it even since I was a kid. My decision will most likely be driven by how difficult it would be to apply the genre into a short clip, and whether or not I want to work with something I am familiar with or trying something new. This research has given me a great appreciation for all three genres, and I hope to carry this on with me next time I see or read media that falls into one of these categories.
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My notes on today's research, I specifically took these for the conventions so I can find what was similar and different for both genres:


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Sources used for information:










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 Next post, I will have made my decision and go into deeper research on the genre, exploring its sub-genres and looking at some examples of openings of films under the same category. Hope to see you next time with my brief's genre decided!
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Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Research - Exploring Comedy As A Genre

Hello! This week I will be starting work on my brief, which I decided would be the film opening. With good work comes good research, so I plan to look into some genre types that catch my eye. The 3 genres I would like to dive deeper into are comedy, crime, and mystery. Today, I started with researching the comedy genre, as I have always enjoyed films under this genre and I feel as though I can write a pretty funny script. This post will go over my research findings and some post-research thoughts I have towards this genre.
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When making something that will be seen by others, it is always good to take into consideration the target audience of your work. Two important demographics for any film genre are gender and age. In the UK, women made up 54% of the audiences of comedy movies over a 21 year period (1996-2017). In the same period of time, a general audience comprised of people aged 7-45+ went to see G, PG, and PG-13 rated comedies. Though inappropriate for this project, it is good to note that R-rated comedy audiences were dominated by 15-24 year-olds, who made up roughly 45%.

                                        Source: Stephen Follows

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Genre conventions are also important to follow during planning and production, as they ensure that the final product is easily recognizable as a certain genre, so audiences know what to expect. Looking at a few sources, I noticed that a lot of what makes a comedy a comedy is the actors and the characters they play. The protagonists of some comedy films have certain flaws that they may or may not be aware about; an character that immediately came into my mind was Ace Ventura, played by Jim Carrey in the movie series of the same name. Ace Ventura, the character, suffers from many flaws, such as him being annoyance as well as narcissistic and arrogant, not caring for other people, but despite these flaws the character seems to not care enough to notice, which can lead to moments that are both completely foolish but hilarious at the same time.

                                                   Source: IMDb

Other conventions regarding characters can also apply to elements/outside forces in scenes. Exaggeration is a classic trope for comedies, with over-the-top, absurd, or even unreal actions within the scenes or by the actors making scenes funny for audiences. Additionally, the timing and delivery of certain jokes or joke elements have to be appropriate, which goes for all forms of comedy. The difference between an out of pocket gag and one that is well timed to fit in with the scene can make a difference in how the scene plays out, or how funny it is.
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When it comes to comedy movies, most people think of classics like the aforementioned Ace Ventura series, with most popular comedies today being just sequels and reboots to these classics. The Naked Gun (2025) has been described by critics and audiences to be very faithful to the humor and tone to the 1988 action/comedy movie of the same title.

                                                   Source: IMDb

Rehashes aside, the last 5 years has seen some solid releases, though not living up to older comedies, still deserve to be known. For example, Free Guy (2021) is another action/comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, known for some of his comedic roles, who plays an NPC in a destructive video game who tries to save the world. It was rated a 7.7/10 on IMDb and audiences considered the movie simply a fun and entertaining experience.

                                                   Source: IMDb 

It is no question that Hollywood's five largest studios (Universal, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros., and Sony) have all had successful comedy releases, such as Airplane! (Paramount) and Beetlejuice (Warner Bros.), to name a few. However, in last year's Emmy Awards, Apple's The Studio had received 23 total nominations. Despite being a series, its success cannot be ignored and stands out against industry giants
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Before the research process, I was initially going to post my findings on the three genres I am considering for my opening (comedy, crime, and mystery) all in this post, but crime and mystery films can be seen as closely related. So, I decided to hold off on the research for the two until my next post, where I can describe them both in detail, comparing and contrasting their features. In the meantime, I cannot make comparisons between comedy and crime/mystery to see which I would consider more than others, but I can say that to exceed in making a comedy movie opening, I am going to have to accommodate enough so that the humor is there, but the footage does not exceed 2 minutes. On the bright side, I feel as though the processes for producing and actually filming the opening will be much more entertaining than doing so with the other genres.
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Here are the notes I took for this genre:


(Accidentally dated the notes to 2025, oops.)
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Sources used for information:

https://stephenfollows.com/p/patterns-among-successful-comedy-movies

https://robincatling.com/conventions-of-the-comedy-genre

https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/comedy-genre-guide-78017/

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/09/apples-the-studio-sweeps-as-the-most-winning-freshman-comedy-in-emmy-history/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109040/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3402138/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6264654/
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Next post, I will be compiling my research on crime and mystery movies, including some similarities and differences in conventions, and some popular examples that I can look at for inspiration. See you again and thanks for reading!

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