Fantasy Genre

Fantasy Genre

The definition of fantasy is the faculty or activity of imagining things, especially things that are impossible or improbable. Making it so a fantasy film is a film with scenes including themes like magic, supernatural events, make believe creatures or even exotic make believe worlds.

History

The genre emerged in on a larger scale in the 1990s when it became popular due to films like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. These two pictures were soon followed by CS Lewis’ the Chronicles of Narnia.

What had been happening on our society and culture that would have allowed this genre to emerge is that it exercises the audiences’ sense of wonder. Before this time there were so many simple things that were to be imagined because the age of electronics had not yet hit, preventing them from expanding their minds beyond that. But now that we’ve discovered so much and so many things are still to be discovered, more unrealistic ideas are needed to amaze the modern mind.

There was also a “teen fiction movement.” When all of these book series began to be made into movies. This includes the ones said above and another one I can think of is the Twilight series.

Other events that occurred in the shaping of this genre is when sound films were in the making and the Wizard of Oz was released. The next would be in 1946 when there was an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. It had won praise for its surreal elements and going beyond the range of the typical fairy tale genre. In the 1970s Willy Wonka was released and then the genre was displayed in the super hero movies not too far from that time.

Stylistic Elements

The elements that make a movie fit into this genre is anything that would be considered unrealistic. Examples being talking animals, magical powers, mythical beings or even a setting in a medieval universe. There is also a plot as to which there is a hero a villain and always an adventure of some kind which ends with the hero succeeding and the villain being defeated. Using Harry Potter as an example- spoiler alert- Voldemort is destroyed in the end after a giant battle which is also a often found component in the fantasy genre.

The way I would describe the style of the genre is purely imaginative and creative. It’s amazing all of the things that can come from the writers minds. This genre is entirely fictional which is what makes its style so unique and interesting. Each story so different from the next a new mythical world dreamed up of for every story.

Recurring Themes

These movies are generally about other types of worlds. World’s consisting of talking creatures, or even worlds inhabited by mythical populations. With Harry Potter, there’s a world of Wizards. In Narnia the animals take the roles of humans. And in beauty and the beast there’s talking cups, teapots, candles, and clocks. They are about subjects that could not actually exist in reality. Another recurring theme is- again- a “hero” on a quest to defeat evil. This hero is most often an ordinary being that is very resistant to accept their heroic role at the start of the movie, but then developing throughout the movie or series to become what they thought they never could. An example would be the reluctant Frodo in Lord of the Rings.

The way the writer’s usually see the world is in a creative way. They can look at something and see it as something completely different. They take in their experiences and express them through their stories. For example, JK Rowling created the dementors in her books, to represent sadness and depression. They are a reflection of that time she went through in her own life, when it seemed dementors were after her. I think the writers must be very introverted too. They live a lot in their own minds letting their thoughts be what rule their time as they come together into incredible, fantastical stories.

Influences of Other Movie Genres

Other movie genres that helped to influence this genre are the heroic, fairy tale, romance science, historical and probably almost every other genre you can think of. Because this genre is consistent of completely unrealistic and fictional elements anything can be thrown into these fantasy movies. I all depends on where the writer’s imagination leads them.

All other movies have unrealistic elements and that can fit them into the fantasy genre also. Life doesn’t always have a happy ending, all the “weird coincidences” that appear in these movies are fictional and that’s really what this particular genre is all about.

Innovations in Technology

Some technological innovations that are used to distribute the movies are graphic effects, movie editing technology and especially green screen effects, considering all of the out of reality things that have to be created. These surreal things include hobbits, talking animals and even Hagrid from Harry Potter. How else would this grounds keeper look so large without the great advancement that has occurred in technology.

 

                      Innovative Writers Working Within the Genre

The first trailer displays Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This fantasy series was originally written by J.K. Rowling. This is a perfect example to display the genre, for it hold all the elements that are needed to create it. 

The second trailer displays the Wizard of Oz which was written by Al Frank Baum. This writer is so significant because this movie was the first to become popular in this genre. 

The third trailer is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe written by CS Lewis. I find this to be a significant movie in the genre because this writer used the genre in creating a story that is meant to portray a powerful message, story and interpretation of the life of Christ.