SCIENCE FICTION FILMS

SCIENCE FICTION IS A GENRE OF FICTION WHICH DEALS WITH

IMAGINATIVE CONTENT SUCH AS FUTURISTIC SETTINGS,

FUTURISTIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, SPACE TRAVEL, TIME

TRAVEL, FASTER THAN LIGHT TRAVEL, PARALLEL UNIVERSES

AND EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL LIFE FORMS

MEDIA LANGUAGE: FORMS AND CONVENTIONS• THERE ARE A VARIETY OF CONVENTIONS THAT ARE TYPICALLY FEATURED IN SCIENCE

FICTION FILMS. THESE CAN INCLUDE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY, ABSTRACT OUTFITS, A STRONG PRESENCE OF SILVER AND/OR METAL OBJECTS, FUTURISTIC SOUNDS AND SPACESHIPS/ROCKETS

• AS WELL AS THIS, THERE ARE SEVERAL THEMES THAT OFTEN MAKE THEMSELVES KNOWN WITHIN THE SCI-FI GENRE: GOOD VS EVIL, OPPRESSIVE SOCIETY, REBELLION AND CONFLICT.

• ALSO, SCIENCE FICTION FILMS CAN APPEAL TO AUDIENCES BECAUSE, AS WELL AS BEING ENTERTAINING, THEY ALMOST ALWAYS OFFER A COMMENTARY ON MODERN DAY SOCIETY- EVEN IF THEY ARE SET 2000 YEARS FROM NOW.

INSTITUTIONS• IT IS MAINLY THE BIGGER COMPANIES WHO PRODUCE SCIENCE FICTION FILMS

AS THEY ARE TYPICALLY EXPENSIVE MOVIES TO MAKE AND SO ONLY THE WEALTHIER COMPANIES CAN AFFORD TO PRODUCE THEM. SOME LARGE COMPANIES INCLUDE LIONSGATE (PRODUCERS OF THE HUNGER GAMES FRANCHISE) AND THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY (WHO ACQUIRED LUCASFILM- THE PRODUCERS OF THE ORIGINAL STAR WARS)• SOME MAJOR SCIENCE FICTION FILMS HAVE BECOME FRANCHISES BY

ANNOUNCING MULTIPLE MOVIES AND MERCHANDISE TO ACCOMPANY IT.

AUDIENCES AND SCI FI• MANY AUDIENCES ARE DRAWN TO THE MOVIES THAT CLEARLY STATE “SCI FI” RATHER THAN MAINSTREAM GENRES

LIKE ACTION MOVIES, SCI FI NEVER HAS A BOUNDARY OF WHERE THE FILM CAN GO. NEARLY ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN SCI FI MOVIES, IT HAS LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES. CONSEQUENTLY LEADING INTO A GATEWAY TO ANOTHER MORE FASCINATING WORLD OTHER THAN REALITY. SCI FI FILMS ARE OPTIMISTIC WHICH ALTERNATIVELY ONLY EXIST IN TWO GENRES- CHILDREN'S TELEVISION AND SCI FI.

• SCI FI FILMS ALSO ARE PROVEN TO PLAY A GOOD ROLE MODEL TO OUR YOUNGER GENERATION. UNLIKE OTHER GENRES OF FILM, SCI FI ARE EMPATHETIC TO WHICH RACE OR COLOUR A CHARACTER IS IN THE MOVIE. MOREOVER WHAT'S FAIRLY INTERESTING ABOUT THE SCI FI WORLD IS THERE IS NO VAST DIVERSITY TO BE CONVEYED IN A SINGLE NARRATIVE. SO TO AVOID THIS PROBLEM, THE GENRES JUST ADOPT THE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE METHOD OF, “WELL, WE’RE ALL IN THE SAME UNIVERSE” APPROACH. SCI FI ALSO CLEVERLY REACHES INTO THE CHILD IN ALL OF US, FOR INSTANCE, WHO DOESN’T WANT TO KICK ARSE AND FLY A SPACESHIP AT A YOUNG AGE?

• THE BRILLIANT PART ABOUT SCI FI IS THAT IT CAN INCLUDE ANY GENRE! FOR EXAMPLE IN DOCTOR WHO, ANYONE REMEMBER THE WEEPING ANGELS? NOW THAT WAS PURE HORROR.

• IN MY OPINION, I THINK THAT SCI FI IS A GREAT GENRE THAT IS CAN BE EXPERIENCED WITH JOY AT ANY AGE. ONE OF THE MAIN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SCI FI IS THAT IT CONTAINS INFINITE POSSIBILITIES WHICH DEFIANTLY MAKES IT WORTH WILD TO WATCH.

REPRESENTATION IN SCI-FIWOMEN-• WOMEN ARE GENERALLY PRESENTED AS INDEPENDENT, STRONG AND PASSIONATE IN THE MORE RECENT SCI-FI

MOVIES (FOR EXAMPLE, KATNISS IN THE HUNGER GAMES OR NEYTIRI IN AVATAR). IN FEATURES WITH A STRONG MALE LEAD, THE WOMAN IS NEVER THE HERO OR THE VILLAIN BUT SHE PLAYS THE LOVE INTEREST OR A SMALLER HERO (EG. TRINITY IN THE MATRIX.)

MEN-• MEN ARE USUALLY PRESENTED AS THE ONES WITH THE MOST POWER, WEALTH OR KNOWLEDGE. THEY ARE ALSO

ALMOST ALWAYS PRESENTED AS THE HERO OR THE VILLAIN. (EXAMPLES INCLUDE THE DOCTOR FROM DOCTOR WHO, MORPHEUS IN THE MATRIX & PRESIDENT SNOW IN THE HUNGER GAMES.

HUMANITY-• HUMANITY IS USUALLY PRESENTED WITH AN ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE OF SCIENCE BUT WITH A MORE RUTHLESS AND

CYNICAL MINDSET. AS THIS GENRE IS GENERALLY SET IN DYSTOPIAN SOCIETIES, THIS CHARACTERISATION HAPPENS OFTEN (AN EXAMPLE BEING THE GOVERNMENT IN THE HUNGER GAMES) HOWEVER, PEOPLE CAN ALSO BE SHOWN AS IGNORANT OR UNKNOWING, AS THEY ARE IN THE MATRIX.

TIMELINE• THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ANCIENT OR EARLY MODERN TEXTS

INCLUDING A GREAT MANY EPICS AND POEMS THAT CONTAIN FANTASTICAL OR "SCIENCE-FICTIONAL" ELEMENTS, YET WERE WRITTEN BEFORE THE EMERGENCE OF SCIENCE FICTION AS A DISTINCT GENRE. THESE TEXTS OFTEN INCLUDE ELEMENTS SUCH AS A FANTASTICAL VOYAGE TO THE MOON OR THE USE OF IMAGINED ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY.  NOW IN THE LATE 1960S SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES BECAME POPULAR, FOR EXAMPLE THE MOVIE STAR TREK.