Genre & Semiotic Analysis Report

In this blog report, I will be explaining the genre implemented in the short film SPIN OFF with references to semiotics and cinema tropes. I will also explain the statistics generated from the feedback received from the target audience and justify how the genre met its desired effect.

The Genre

The genre we were going for the film SPIN OFF was “Action Comedy”. Action genres are mainly “characterized by a lot of adrenaline and blowing things up” (TVtropes, 2020). It can also be submitted to the “rule of cool” in instances where the action needs to look WOW for it to be appealing to the audiences. Such was justified in the slow motion reveals of the spinner mechanisms, especially the Turret Spinner when it shoots bullets (see vid. 1) and the slow motion of the robot attack shot at the end. Comedy genres, on the other hand, encompass a wide spectrum of cinema tropes, but the one we were going for was an exaggerated tone of “seriousness” which in reality is foolish. Moreover, the “bickering” between two siblings for a TV remote is something very casual but relatable, yet, it is the mere idea of the film that creates the humor when pitched to an audience.

(Vid 1. Spinner Mechanisms in slow motion)

With our CG elements displaying the core genre of action, the acting needed to portray the comedy. Unlike most action films that have a protagonist and antagonist, SPIN OFF had two protagonists with their CG objects as each other’s antagonist. The 1 versus 1 (1v1) mood that ran through the course of the entire film is what stabilized the message, creating a balanced battle between the two characters, hence not generating any sort of “power” or “win/lose” moment. This was intended to stray away from the conventional stereotype of the “masculine men” and “helpless women” (Reeper, 2013, p.1) and initiate the enigma code through the last shot, making the viewer want to know who will win. As a short film, it works to leave it at a cliffhanger.

Shot Breakdown and Semiotic Analysis

(Fig. 1 - First dialogue shot)

The initial sequence of shots established the characters in their opposing characteristics while also depicting the first code of the film through their costume design - the colour of their clothes - BLUE and RED (see fig. 1). The message was made clear at the very onset of the film through the fast paced shots of the dialogue scene. This sequence also commences the “action” of the film through an “accelerated rhythm” commonly seen in action movies (Merenciano, 2014, p.1). The fast paced shots are also later seen in the film when the robots charge towards each other through the alternation of framing, movement and camera angles (see fig. 2). The humour in these shots are also capitalized in the ages of the actors seen on screen - Ahmed (25) and Dalia (22) - as it makes the whole scenario very absurd to grasp, but the seriousness in the acting makes it worth watching.

(Fig. 2 - Robot attack shot sequence)

(Fig 3. Title sequence)

Through this dramatic title sequence (See fig. 3), the viewer gets a glimpse of what is actually going to take place. It seems as if the characters are now in their own ‘created’ movie where they battle it off in a very serious attempt to win the remote. Hence this draws for an action genre vibe.

(Fig. 4 - Opening CG shot)

The opening CG shot is deliberately extended to feel like a long pause for three main reasons: (1) to introduce the object with dramatic seriousness, (2) to showcase the character’s zeal in pursuit of winning the remote, (3) and the zoomed out shot to represent the ‘scale’ of the object in comparison to the character. With these three elements, this shot calls for some humour and curiosity as viewers find the succession of events incongruous. The effectiveness of this “joke” is made evident through the revelation of the fidget spinner powers at this particular point in time, which leads the viewer to having a “surprising effect” (Gluscevskij, n.d. p. 145) thus, being overthrown by the action genre.

Another example of a surprising effect is when the male actor mocks the female actor for her ‘stunts' in catching the bullets. It temporarily breaks the momentum of the action sequence and slides in some humour (See fig. 5)

(fig. 5)

Comedy in relation to Cultural Perspectives

The reason the film was chosen to be in Sudanese Arabic was to ease the humour from the true ethnicity of the actors. It was also done to bring some “ethnic humour” to the table and relate more to audiences that come from similar ethnic backgrounds. The response received from Arabic speakers was beyond amazing. They enjoyed every bit of it from the acting to the overall idea and found it incredibly enjoyable (See fig. 6). However, it was noticed that the ethnic humour only fit partially to the audiences who watched since those that do not come from similar backgrounds couldn’t grasp the “comedy” in the film (See fig. 7) If the film was done in English, it wouldn’t have rendered the desired effect when it came to the dialogue sequence as the dialogues would seem very scripted and unnatural. Hence, one of the core reasons why the film was able to achieve its desired effect was due to the influence of “factors characterizing the ethnic groups”(Balirano, Giuseppe & Corduas, Marcella, 2008, pp.2 - 7).

(Fig. 6 - statistics from survey responses, Facebook and YouTube. Arabic speaker's responses found mainly on Facebook.)

(Fig. 7 - data based on who responded)

Action in relation to editing

The action genre was also heightened by the use of adequate action sequence music that justified the “serious” shots in the film and corresponded with the dramatic expressions of the characters to their character roles. The colour grading also played an important part in creating a serious tone during the action sequence while the shots prior to the title sequence depicted a normal life.

Statistics and Derived Conclusions

Overall the audience enjoyed the film with majority finding the genre to be a mix of both Action and Comedy, and a few who agree on it being Comedy alone (see fig. 8). A lot of feedback was received in relation to some animation shots being weak and some minor tweaks needed in a few other shots but overall enjoyed the idea of the film as a whole. Moreover from those who responded and commented on the film, Arabic speakers were largely a fan of the film due to cultural context resonating more with them, while non Arabic speakers from a similar ethnic background enjoyed the film despite the language barrier. The acting transcended language. However, there were a minority of respondents who did not get the humour due to “the feeling of being excluded by culturally and linguistically connoted” texts in the film (Balirano, Giuseppe & Corduas, Marcella, 2008, pp.2 - 7).

(Fig. 8 - pie chart statistics based on the number of people who responded to the survey)

Therefore, in conclusion, the film was able to achieve its genre of Action Comedy with the audience through the various tropes and semiotics used in the film. The colour code used as a symbol across the film - BLUE and RED - allowed to create the 1v1 theme and generate a form of teaming for both sides of the protagonists. The antagonists were clear through the CG elements and were able to display the action part of the genre while their corresponding protagonists were able to create the humor in the film through their acting and charisma.

References

Balirano, Giuseppe & Corduas, Marcella. (2008). Detecting semiotically-expressed humor in diasporic TV productions. Humor-international Journal of Humor Research - HUMOR. 21. 227-251. 10.1515/HUMOR.2008.012.

Gluscevskij, D. (n.d.)Methodological issues and prospects of semiotics of humour [research article]. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7fff/e6478f07d435c40e18424b263f6d5446c23c.pdfpp.145-146

Merenciano, L. (2014) Semiotics and Rhythm of film: Hollywoodian cinema compared to Cinema Novo. Retrieved from https://semioticon.com/semiotix/2014/06/the-semiotics-of-hollywoodian-cinema/

Reeper, M. D. (2013, December 17) How to Analyse Movies #2: Signs, Codes & Conventions [blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.filminquiry.com/analyse-movies-signs/

TV Tropes (2020) Action Genre - TV Tropes. Retrieved from https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ActionGenre