'Drive'

Drive shows some conventions of Film Noir, we see within the first scene that low key lighting is used, this suggest a darks tory line that that danger is ahead. Within the first scene also the location is established, to be in an urban environment which is typically used within 'Noir' films. `for example, when we are first introduced to Sin City, we see that the film is set within an urban environment, suggesting similarities between the two. Another convention of film noir is that rain drenched steers and damp weathers used frequently, we see this is established when the disequilibrium begins to occur, also the same as it does throughout the whole of Sin City.

The introduction to the femme fatale in Drive is also an convention of film noir. When we first see her character, she is wearing red lipstick and is smoking these are two very common uses of iconography within film noir as it suggest danger. The villain also states that she is a 'beautiful lady' which tells the audience that she may be dangerous throughout the film. This believes us to think that this film has the same conventions as a film noir, as the use of a beautiful woman wearing red lipstick is used in films such as 'The last seduction' and   'Sin City'.  This then contradicts the idea of her being a femme fatale during the end of the scenes in which she is in, this is because her character dies, which is usual as it is usually the male character that she has become involved with that end up dead or severely injured.

Drive also shows another convention of film noir, is the use of neon lights on typical american places such as american dinners and motels which are frequent in other noir films. for example in Pulp Fiction the opening scene is set in typical american place in the dinner, whereas in Drive, this is set in the typical american place in a Motel.

District 9 Question

"Most texts today are mixed genres, how is this true within the film 'District 9'"

In the film district 9, in the first scene, the film is set out in the style of a documentary which gives the idea of realism within the film. The idea of the showing the opening as a documentary gives us an idea of the events that are ahead. During this first scene, it is also established that it is Sci-Fi by the portrayal of aliens and the use of CGI. Within this first scene, the idea of the documentary is ported by the mid-shots of the people who are presenting this information to us, this style is used to show how the disequilibrium is presented on the news. The use of the tracking shots that appear to the audience like they are being filmed from a helicopter to present the aliens and there home to the audience, this shows the apparent mix of genres between the science fiction genre and the documentary techniques.  the idea of documentary techniques is shown throughout in scenes, with the idea of news footage and interviews. During the end scene within district 9, the idea of Wikus' family and friends being interviewed, shows the idea of realism, which suggests that the genre is mixed as we still have the element of sic-fi with the scientific experiments and the damage and remains of the aliens.

Science fiction is the main type of genre that is used within this film, we see that the genre of sci-fi is presented in the scene where Wikus' begins to transform into a Alien, this is a common convention of Science fiction and is ported as a growing progress throughout the film. Another reference to the conventions of the science fiction genre is also established near the end of the scene where Christopher and his son are going home. It is a convention of the sci-fi genre as religious references are shown here, when the space ships lifts up out of the ground, it is apparent to the audience that the ship itself is in the shape of a crucifix, another reference to religion is the that the main alien is called "christopher" which refers to christ, he also has a son, so it gives the idea of 'the father, the son, and the holy ghost'. The holy short is presented as the rise to the space ship, which suggest that christianity is a theme within district 9. The idea of transformation also occurs within district 9, this is a common convention that occurs within the idea of Sci-Fi, which links to the film Sci-Fi film avatar, we see that in both film, full transformation hasn't occurred and there are still elements of a human within the characters within bot of these films.

Another genre that is ported within Distict 9 is the idea of the Horror genre, this is presented within certain parts of the film, for example the scene where Wikus goes to get weapons, we see him being tortured by the people who are illegally selling weapons in the slums of Johannesburg. Within this scene we see people explode and die, we see the elects of the horror genre by the blood, gore and distress. The horror genre is also presented within this film by the droning, low key music, which builds tension and creates a negative atmosphere within the disequilibrium.

Distict 9 presents the idea of a mix genre film, throughout the film we see aspects of Sci-Fi, documentary and Horror though out by the use of low-key lighting and different camera angles that suggest close up to show tension and upset on the characters faces. the idea of mixed genre shows that many conventions have been pit together to create this film.