Ironically, science-fiction films use the latest
high-tech special effects to tell stories that warn
against the dehumanizing dangers of advanced tech-
nology. In fact, the genre is responsible for many
important special effect innovations, from the
miniatures and matte paintings that made possible
the futuristic city of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis(1927),
to the motion-control cameras and rotoscope ani-
mation that launched the spaceships of Stanley
Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968), to the spe-
cial “virtual camera system” director James
Cameron and his Avatar(2009) team used to cap-
ture actors’ expressions and actions as the first step
in a revolutionary technical process that trans-
formed the film’s cast into aliens inhabiting an all-
digital world.
Westerns, a genre clearly associated with set-
ting, feature a great many exterior shots that jux-
tapose the characters with the environment they
inhabit. The human subject tends to dominate the
frame in most movie compositions, but many of
these Western exterior shots are framed so that the
“civilized” characters are dwarfed by the over-
whelming expanse of wilderness around them.
Movies in the action genre often shoot combat
(and other high-energy action) from many different
angles to allow for a fast-paced editing style that
presents the action from a constantly shifting per-
spective. These highly fragmented sequences sub-
ject the viewer to a rapid-fire cinematic simulation
of the amplified exercise presumably experienced
by the characters fighting on-screen.Gangster plot elementsFrancis Ford Coppola’s The
Godfather trilogy (1972–90), perhaps the most famous
gangster film series, includes many plot elements common to
the genre, including the protagonist’s humble origins and his
rise to power through a combination of astute management
and ruthless violence. But Coppola incorporated genre
innovations that differentiated The Godfathermovies from
more typical gangster films. For example, the protagonist,
Michael (Al Pacino), is an unwilling crime boss forced into
syndicate leadership by circumstances and birthright. The
plot elements of a humble origin and the rise to power are
presented as flashbacks featuring not Michael, but his father,
the man whose death propels Michael into a life of organized
crime. Finally, Michael is unusual in that he attains power
and prestige but is not destroyed (physically, at least) by
corruption and greed.GENRE 89