Friday, November 3, 2023

Fantasy Genre Research

What Makes Fantasy so Special?

 Throughout the years, fantasy has taken viewers imaginations through new worlds, magical experiences, and supernatural wonder. With the immense popularity of this genre, sprouting great works like Star Wars and Lord of the rings, its time that we break down what makes this genre so beloved.

Starting at the basics, Fantasy is a fictional genre, that involves imaginative and fantastical themes. Unlike many other genres, fantasy is able to explore the farthest reaches of imagination by exploring extraordinary situations, that would typically not be seen within films taking place in an ordinary world. Often this is facilitated through a main hero. Fantasy can also be wide-reaching in its definition, and many times Fantasy films may overlap with other genres like Horror and Science Fiction. 

 

Content-

Though Fantasy films can vary widely in content, and many sub-genres are present within fantasy, there are a few common content threads that tie Fantasy together. Typically, Fantasy films focus on heroic protagonists that can be small parts of a vast world. In this world, its common to have a central theme of a Fantasy story be a fight of good and evil. 


Examples of the battle of good and evil can be seen in Harry Potter, where Harry and his friends valiantly fight against the evil of Lord Voldemort trying to destroy the world. 



Looking at specific sub-genres, in High Fantasy, the same themes present in most Fantasy stories can be seen. However, the stakes, scale, and scope of the fate of the world, and the problem it faces, are expanded. The world is also, an alternate world, similar to earth in some aspects, but with great differences especially when it comes to the presence of a magical force, and completely distinct cultures, politics, and people from our world. Though, High fantasy may seem detached from our own world, often the problems that high Fantasy explores, can be an exploration into real problems our world experiences, only through a fantastical lens.

Production Techniques

In Fantastical productions, impressive Mise-en scene elements such as costumes, and set design, can be essential in setting the style for a Fantasy production. These elements can create for very iconic films, and can help elevate the Fantastical world. Especially in productions with a highly magical world, they can be an essential part in bringing the audience to experience the fantastical realm

 

 

In Fantasy films like Black Panther, the costume design makes clear the culture of the world. Allowing the audience to suspend their belief, and feel truly immersed in the magical world that Fantasy is set on creating

 

 

 

 

 
Fantasy productions will also often use a wide variety of special effects to create a sense of realism for the viewer. This is frequently seen in films like Star Wars, which in order to sell their elaborate settings and magical light sabers, employ a wide variety of special effects, and do a lot of filming with green screens.
 

how is Fantasy marketed

But, no matter how great a Fantasy film may be, no one would able to enjoy these ambitions, and often expensive productions, if it weren't for their marketing efforts. The target audience for Fantasy films, can be highly movie specific. Movies like Harry Potter appeal to a wide audience from kids and teens to adults. Other Fantasy productions, such as Game of Thrones, can be a marketed to a more mature audience, featuring a wide range of mature themes. 

Trailers are a common way to market Fantasy Films. As a result of their often grandiose nature, these trailers often feature spectacular visuals and epic music, in an attempt to bring the viewer closer to the narrative world. These can be distributed within theater previews, social media ads, Youtube, and TV commercials.

Studios like Marvel, have used a multi-film Fantasy universe to market their films. More and more, other studios like D.C, Disney with star wars, and even recently Nintendo, have adopted this strategy as a way to market their Fantasy films in a long line of similar films. 



Marvel's Avengers Infinity war (2018)

 




How Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) embodies this genre,

 

The Harry Potter series is one that perfectly embodies the genre of Fantasy. The series feautures a world much like our own, but where a certain group of people have somehow been blesssed with magical abilities and created a Wizarding World. The films take us through the journey of a classic Fantasy film Heroic protagonist, who embodies the values of bravery, justice, and intelligence. Meanwhile, the antagonist he fights, Lord Voldemort, is an evil dark lord that presents and immediate and grave danger onto the narrative world. The films were created on an immense budget, and few expenses were spared when it came to the creation of physical sets and costumes, as well as special effects to sell the narrative world.  

 

How Encanto (2021) embodies this genre,



While it is an animated production, Encanto is also a Fantasy production. The film centers on a magical house in an imaginary Colombian town, where the main character, Mirabel is the only member of her family without magical powers. Throughout the production she is integral in fighting a mysterious threat, that threatens to destroy the family's home, discovering the magic that was within her along. The film embodies a sub-genre of Fantasy called Magical Realism, where magical elements are presented as a natural part of the everyday world. The animation in the production helps perfectly to display this magic, as it isn't constrained by live action possibilities, and is able to display any magical scenes in the movie with an unbroken sense of realism. The film is also marketed towards a younger demographic, showing the wide-reaching age ranges that Fantasy marketing can contain.

 

Some Fantasy Films to Consider:

 

The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)











Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse (2023)

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2003)

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Dune (2021)

 





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