Genre Research: Mystery

 Hey guys!! For today's blog I will be going ahead and doing research on the different kinds of genre movies can come in! I've decided to do this research on 4 different genres starting with Mystery! Here are some things I noted:

To create the overall "mysterious effect," I noted that close-ups, extreme close ups, Point of View shots, and over the shoulder shots were used frequently. When it comes to the camera angles, they play an extremely pivotal role in setting the mood for shots. I noted that the use of close ups were used to amplify things- such as the facial expression of characters. They'd typically use the extreme close ups to emphasize a certain object- or in this case, anything to help solve the mystery in question. The Over the Shoulder shots are always my favorite in these kinds of movies due to the intensity they can bring. For example, I remember seeing this shot being used during a shot in which a side character was investigating a murder before falling victim to the murderer. Before his demise, they used a over the shoulder shot to show him getting attacked from the back.

As for the CLAMPS used in this type of genre- it really does vary. Depending on what the mystery and story of the movie is, the clothing, props, and makeup will vary. However, one thing that remained constant in these types of movies is the lighting. The lighting of these movies is always in darker and warmer tones in comparison to happier movies. The most typical type of makeup used on actors is also more natural. The only consistently do is use the makeup to make the characters seem more distressed as the movie goes on. For example, a mother grieving her son will be shown in a shot with emphasized eye bags and a paler complexion. 

Frequent editing used in mystery movies are action cuts, reverse shots, and fade outs. For example, in Oppenheimer we see a good amount of fade in and fade outs being used to depict the guilt that lies in his creation of his bombs. In this movie, and other mystery movies, it is frequent they use diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound, and dialogue.

A specific element of mystery movies that really piqued my interest and I'd use if I were doing a mystery movie is use non-diegetic sound! In Oppenheimer, they did a marvelous job at using a score that perfectly aided the movie and the mood it was setting. However, if this was my genre, I'd also try to stray away from the typical dim and dark tones within the film.