Thursday, January 22, 2026

Portfolio Project Genre #1

 

Genre

    For one of the options I would possibly use for my portfolio project I chose... Science Fiction! This genre really resonated with me since it's something different that I haven't seen many people do. Another reason is the amount of creativy that I would be able to use, and what I can do to make that achievable.

    Science Fiction focuses on a futuristic aspect of the world, often based on possibilities that could happen with a specific focus on technology, parallel universes, extraterrestial life, etc. This genre encompasses some other subgenres that have left a lasting mark on the media sphere, and that is dystopian and utopian genres. A few examples of Science Fiction movies are:


Coherence (2013)

Hunger Games (2012)

Typical Target Audience

    • Adults (30-45)
    • A little more focused in males

Characteristics of Science Fiction

    Like any other genre, science fiction follows more or less the same amount of rules throught the movies within the genre, and some of these are:

Genre Conventions with content

    Science fiction has a great focus on the what ifs of the world, for example, alternate universes, space exploration and more, some of these are shown as in characters, settings, and plot lines. Some of these are:

    Themes

    • Exploring humanity and post-apocalyptic societies.
    • A huge focus on science and technology.
    • Exploring the universe.
    • Dystopian/Utopian worlds
Interstellar (2013)

Children of Men (2006)
The Giver (2014)


     Settings

    • Futuristic cities
    • Parallel universes
    • High-tech socities
    • Desolated areas
Blade Runner (2019)


    Characters

    • The hero
    • The explorer
    • Artificial Intelligence (Robots, cyborgs)
    • Extraterrestial beings
Neo (Matrix 1999)

    While there are many characters, settings, and themes across the genre this seemed to be the most prominent ones during my research. This shows how the genre tends to be more focused on cgi and after effect rather then being more practical.

Genre Conventions with technique

Shots/Composition

    • Long shots for planets, spaceships, monuments.
    • Low-angle shots to make spaceships or anything else big feel imposing
    • High-angle shots for landscapes.
    • Hand-held camera when something catastrophic is happening.

    Mis-en-scene

    • Space suits
    • Cool lighting for cities
    • Hologram interphases heavily used as props
    • Huge cities
    • Different make up depending on species (ex: human, alien, robot)
Star Trek (1966)



    Audio

    • Ambient sound to make a feeling of loneliness.
    • Electronic music for a futuristic feel

    Editing

    • Cross-cutting between timelines or universes.
    • Match cuts to connect past or future versions.
    • Fast paced cuts in action scenes.
    • Graphic matches to connect Earth alien environments.

Institutional Conventions


Marketing

    • Posters featuring space ships, robots. Characters are also featured in the poster
    • Trailers empahsize technology and action scenes
    • Most posters make the viewers think by using rhetorical questions in them.



    Distribution

    • Wide cinema release around the world
    • Movies are often distributed in sagas
    • Move to streaming platforms directly after cinema release
    Genres are very different one from the other, and that is not an exception for Sci-fi, while marketing is extremely important when it comes to making these films popualr, fandoms are a huge characteristic that these films have in common, where thanks to the fan mindset most of these films seem to be succesful.

Analyzing Films in Sci-fi

Everything Everywhere All At Once

    In this movie we follow the Evelyn Wang, a chinese woman who is struggling with being at the verge of losing her house, a crumbling relationship with her husband, and accepting her daughter. The movie is filled with different mis-en-scene elements, for example, when we see her transport herself into the "Kung Fu" universe she turns into a sleek, put together woman rather than a laundromat. Another huge element is the editing used when the realities are overlapping over each other, making the screen seemed like cracked glass and in every shard its a different character from the movie in a different reality. This movie makes the viewer question many things about themselves, like finding meaning, loving, and being with your family.




E.T

    The movie is centered around a homesick alien stuck on Earth, trying to make it back home before scientist capture him. In the film mis-en-scene is used in a way to make E.T seem friendly and ethereal, for example in the last scene where E.T is saying his final goodbye he glows in ethereal light, making him seem friendly and harmless. This movie is centered heavily around friendship and loayalty, no matter what happened throughout this film Elliot never gave up in heliping E.T get home. All this combined makes the viewer reflection about loyalty and the lengths they're willing to go for their friends and family.








Reflection

    Even though this genre is super interesting to me, I realize that it poses a great challenge especially since most of the films made in this genre rely heavily on cgi and after effects. We will probably have to make many technical props and get really creative, but I’m willing to do it, I really wanna do a sci-fi project, hopefully it’s good.

References:

  • Dillman, L. (2015, September 24). The generic conventions of sci-fi films [Slideshow]. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/the-generic-conventions-of-scifi-films/53109658
  • Hellerman, J. (2023, June 28). What is the science fiction genre? Definition, tropes, and examples. No Film School. https://nofilmschool.com/science-fiction-genre
  • Screencraft. (2021, July 1). 5 popular sci-fi tropes in movies and TV. https://screencraft.org/blog/5-popular-sci-fi-tropes-in-movies-and-tv/
  • WeVideo. (2022, June 23). What makes a sci-fi movie? Exploring the science fiction genre. https://www.wevideo.com/blog/sci-fi-genre
   
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