Larissa's Media Blog: Genre Research: Science Fiction Films

Living Through Fiction

Science Fiction is one of the most popular genres in the film industry, having some of the most successful films. It deals with the scientific, imaginative, and visionary aspects of films that are also visualized through imaginative settings, advanced technology gadgets, scientific developments, and special effects. There are various sub-genres to it, and it works with different genres to develop films that relate to a wide audience, which is why it is currently, as well for the past decades, been doing so well in the film industry.

Content:

These films often include heroes, distant planets, impossible quests, unique settings, unknown places, villains, futurist technology and gizmos, and inexplicable forces. Since there is a variety of different combinations and possible factors that make the story, people of all ages are interested in watching science fiction films. In the majority of the films, there is a protagonist who is often portrayed as the hero of the story and it can be a single character, but more often than not it is a group of people.

Production Techniques:

Science fiction films most of the time take place in our reality, but it incorporates fiction settings and a futuristic society or technology. A technique that is commonly used is the use of special effects throughout the movie. Special effects such as CGI or digital composition allow the filmmakers to dive deeper into the world of science fiction and bring this specific world and society that the characters live on to the audience. A lot of times there are action scenes in the movie and to convey those scenes, they use fast pace editing to make the audience more engaged and intense background music is used to emphasize the intensity.

Marketing:

To promote these films in order to reach a wider audience most science fiction films use well-known actors in the industry to attract more people. An example can be seen in Rampage with Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock. He has been part of extremely successful franchises and is known around the world. When hearing his name, someone can immediately recognize the actor and become interested in the film. The posters used include the main characters, most times the hero in the story, by himself, or depending on the movie, the group of people right in the center of the poster. This illustrates a lot of actors that will take part in the film, attracting more people because they will recognize more actors, therefore, become more interested in the plot and what it has to offer.

Sample #1:

The film Avengers Endgame (2019) is the highest-grossing film of all time, taking first place at the box office. It is an action, science fiction film that includes action and has that superhero theme to it. As the poster illustrates, there is a group of people in the center that are the superheroes in the story, and in the back, the villain is shown to be mysterious and shadowy to create suspense to it. By looking at the poster, most will be able to recognize the actors in the film because they are extremely well-known in the film industry, this attracts more people to see the film rather than just having one person on the poster to promote the movie. The movie contains the science fiction genre to it by having different planets and creatures in the film. Some characters have special abilities and superpowers.

Sample #2:

The film The Mazer Runner: The Death Cure is a Dystopian Science Fiction movie that centers around a group of teens. It is the last of the trilogy for The Maze Runner Series, from the adaptation of the famous novels. The poster just as the other film contains a group of people, in this case, teens, that are the main focus of the movie. They are after a cure, while simultaneously fighting the government or organization that is controlling some people and using young adults to experiment on and find a cure. It takes place in a futuristic society where there are "cranks" or people that are infected, as well as other natural obstacles that are occurring. The director uses the fast pace editing during important scenes, especially when they are fighting the bad guys in the film.

Other Science Fiction Films to consider:

Annihilation (2018)