- Action
- Animation
- Biopic
- Comedy
- Crime
- Documentary
- Drama
- Horror
- Musical
- Period & Historical
- Romance
- Science Fiction
- Fantasy
- Thriller
- War
- Westerns
Animation
Animation is a very hard genre on a low budget simply because of the very specific set of skills it needs to work it. I have a very low skills set in the area of animation; I can manage rough CGI against live action, but to make a wholly animated film would take a lot more. There is only really one way in which I could do animation, and that is by doing claymation - using plasticine and taking pictures, then moving the model, then taking another picture and so on. The is very time consuming, and at a low budget it wouldn't look very good anyway. Therefore I am not doing animation.
Biopic
Once again, I can't do a biopic thanks to practicality. They require a very specific storyline, and the locations and actors are also very specific, which, not only limits my creativity, but also is extremely high budget. I could only really get it to work if I chose the person very carefully, and kept it very closed up in a house or somewhere. I don't really want this sort of limit, so therefore I am not doing a biopic.
Comedy
Comedies have to be funny. If they're not funny, they're not good, and if they're not good then I don't want to make one. It's really that simple. They can be made on a low budget, and technically they are easy, but it's just the small issue of having to make it funny that brings it down. Therefore I am not doing a comedy!
Documentary
A documentary would be very easy to make; they could be about anything! That's exactly why I don't want to do a documentary! I don't want to do a genre that is too easy, and isn't very interesting anyway. Documentaries limit your creativity more than any other genre, and I don't want that sort of limit. Mockumentaries would appeal to me a little more, as they aren't true, and it would be fun, but once again it comes back to the issue of making it funny...
Horror
A lot of people are choosing to do horror, and I think that it's the worst genre possible to choose. I'd rather do animation then horror. They are very very very hard to make, and make well. Even in the professional film business horrors are hard to make very well, and very few of them receive critical acclaim, and the ones that do are hybrids of other genres, like in 'The Silence of the Lambs'. Horror films have to have a scare factor otherwise they are not successful, and when it comes to amateur teenagers trying to scare an audience, the success rate is not very high. It would fall back far to heavily on cliches, and would lack a personal flourish to it, which is essential in being successful. I have seen a great many amateur horror films fail drastically, and this is not a route I want to take. Finally, for an amateur film maker, horror films are the most cliche genre. They look as cheap as they are.
Musical
We could do a musical, except for the fact that we have to write our own songs, perform them, record a backing track, choreograph dance sequences on top of making an AS level film...
Period & Historical
These are some of the most expensive genres around. Every tiny detail has to be in tune with the period in which the film is set, and that requires huge amounts of money! Just think about how much a quality feather pen would be, to have as a tiny, yet essential detail in a scene! The only way we could do this would be to go into a forest and hire out some costumes, which both limits our creativity and still costs a fair amount of money. It also includes a lot of research into language, culture, clothing etc, and would take a lot more planning than the time available. As much as I would like to make a period or historical film, it is just unfeasible.
Romance
Romance genres are a possibility, but I don't really want to do one as I'm not a huge fan of the genre anyway, and it would not garner enough enthusiasm from me. I don't think I would be able to show enough film making techniques, and I don't think it would stretch me enough. Also, kissing scenes could be very awkward to watch and film, and sex scenes are out of the question.
Science Fiction
Science fiction is a very expensive genre. It requires a lot of SFX and money, and although I can handle a small amount of CGI, I don't think I could handle a full on science fiction film. I don't want our film to look cheap, and I think that by doing science fiction it would look very very cheap.
Fantasy
Expensive.
War
Expensive.
Westerns
Expensive.
So overall it comes down to budget and skill. Skill not just of the film maker, but of the actors and the composer and the animator. With these out of the way the genres I have left are:
- Action
- Crime
- Drama
- Thriller
Between these genres I think I will choose to do a thriller, as they are a challenge, but not an impossible one. They can look great, even at a low budget, and if I do it well, I think it could be a real success!
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