The Fantasy Genre

Dive Into Fantasy Worlds With Me

Fantasy, a genre we all know and love. I mean we've gotten iconic movies from the genre, Harry Potter, Jumanji, and Alice In Wonderland, just to name a few. The fantasy genre provides a way to escape from our reality; that's why it's so popular. Screenwriters and authors craft stories, characters, and world larger than ours, this intrigues people and encourages them to take a deep dive into these new worlds. People of all ages enjoy fantasy, there isn't one target audience the genre sticks to. 

Content:

Magic is a very common aspect in a fantasy film. Magic does not and can not exist in our world. This aspect is one of the major reasons we call a fantasy film a fantasy. Magic not only adds to the mysticism, but it's what sets the genre apart from a genre like science-fiction. 

                             

      Ex: The Harry Potter films are great examples of magic used in the fantasy genre. The films are all about the wizarding world and the good and evil forces in this magical world.

Exotic worlds/settings are another aspect of the fantasy genre. The setting of a film sets the mood, and in the fantasy genre we see worlds and places beyond our imaginations. We tend to see abstract shapes and a large variety of color. Aspects of our normal lives tend to be blown out of proportion or made into something abstract. This draws viewers in because our natural curiosity gets the best of us, and we want to see more of the mystical worlds that are being shown to us. Is a fantasy film really a fantasy film without an exotic, mystical setting?

      Ex: Alice In Wonderland is an excellent example of the exotic places we see in fantasy films. Wonderland stays true to it's name and presents us with mushroom trees and vibrant flowers, and in Alice Through The Looking Glass we even see a place in the clouds where stopwatches hang freely.

Make-believe creatures are things we see often in fantasy films. They can be things like unicorns or made up creatures a screenwriter or author creates. Make-believe creatures add so much to fantasy films. They're characters that provide a sense of companionship but also keep the fantasy vibe because they are not real in our world. Make-believe creatures are a staple to fantasy films.

     Ex: The movie Onward is filled with make-believe, mystical creatures. Fairies, trolls, elves, dragons, and a griffin are just a few of the creatures in the film.

Production Techniques:

Sound is one technique used to create a mystical, extraordinary vibe in fantasy films. We can see a pattern of music that is soft, smooth, and flowing with beautiful crescendos, compared to bass boosted, loud music in action films. We usually hear this when a character is flying, whether it be on a make-believe creature, for example, in Avatar The Last Airbender (the series), or by magic, for example, in Harry Potter. 

Costume and make-up design are major techniques used to create a fantasy. Different fabrics, styles, and prosthetics are used to make the characters we see in movies. In Alice In Wonderland, costume and make-up design brought the character Mad Hatter to life. His pale, white skin, red eye shadow and lips, bright orange hair, and funky outfit brought the mystical aspect out of him. 

The use of color is another technique used in the fantasy genre. In most fantasy films we see the use of a variety of colors. In Disney princess movies, for example, we see a lot of bright colors. This captures the viewers attention because color is appealing to the eye. The movie The Lorax uses this technique. Before all the trees were chopped down, the setting was vibrant and lively. We saw animals and nature of all different colors making a true fantasy. We can also see a lot of toned down, dingy colors in dark or low fantasies.

Ex: This picture from The Lorax depicts the use of color to create Dr Suess' fantasy world.

Ex: The Mad Hatter is a great example of how costume and make-up design create the fantasy characters we're so familiar with.

Marketing:

The fantasy genre is for all demographics. However, we do see a lot of marketing towards children(5-12yrs old). Teenagers and adults tend to gravitate towards the dark or low fantasy subgenre rather than the fairytale or high fantasy that is marketed. Movie posters in this subgenre of fantasy will tend to be dingier and darker rather than colorful.

In trailers and posters we can expect to see bright(or toned down)colors, soft music, and exotic settings, make-up, and costumes. A lot of posters tend to show a colorful or extraordinary setting with a couple characters. We can also see the main character or characters in their full costume and makeup with mystical expressions. Although their costume and make-up does all the work for them with creating the fantasy vibe.

Samples:

The film Alice In Wonderland (2010) follows the main character Alice Kingsleigh(Mia Wasikowska). As a child, Alice had visited a magical place, Wonderland. She is now a teenager, however, she has no memory of the mystical place she once visited, except in her dreams. During a garden party thrown for her and her fiancé, Alice notices a white rabbit and decides to follow it. This leads to her falling down hole after him and her ending up back in Wonderland. Alice meets he friends the Mad Hatter(Johnny Depp), Cheshire Cat(Stephan Fry), and more once again. She finds out that she has to overthrow the Red Queen(Helena Bonham) to end her evil reign. The film uses a variety of colors to set moods and bring Wonderland to life. Soft, mystical music is used to add to the extraordinary feeling of Wonderland and make the viewer feel as if the character, and even they themselves, are in a fantasy world. Costume and make-up design was used to its fullest to develop characters and setting. The various settings in this film are unreal. Mushroom trees, Mad Hatters house, and Red Queen's castle are landmarks in the film that a viewer can not miss.

The film Harry Potter and The Sorcerers' Stone(2001)is the first of the eight Harry Potter films/books. It follows the the main character Harry Potter(Daniel Radcliffe). On his eleventh birthday Harry receives the news that he is a wizard and the orphaned son of two extraordinary wizards. He is called to attend Hogwarts, a school for wizards and witches such as himself. He meets Ron Weasley(Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger(Emma Watson) and together the three friends find out the truth about Harry's parents and of a evil emerging. Costume design is prominent in this film. All the students in Hogwarts wear school robes, color coordinated based off the house they get sorted into their first year at the school. We see teachers wear pointed witch hats as well. The color pallet in the film is dark and dingy which is different from the fairytale type fantasy most people are familiar with. However, this dark color scheme helps the fantasy come to life because this story is not a happy one and it's mysterious. The soundtrack for the film is very iconic. Everyone know the theme, which is a very flowing and beautiful. The multiple settings in the film add to the fantasy, especially the Hogwarts castle. The Hogwarts castle is an extraordinary structure which seems too good to be true. Talking paintings hung on the walls and  ghosts roam around the castle everyday. The castle is also very large, it seems to almost be like a mountain. There are also many creatures in this wizarding world, from dragons, to unicorns, to giant, vicious dogs, not just your ordinary house pet.

Fantasy Recommendations:

Narnia(2005)

Ella Enchanted(2004)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(2005)

How To Train Your Dragon(2010)

Peter Pan(1953)

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children(2016)

Sources:

http://danniliang.weebly.com/film-and-genre/conventions-of-the-fantasy-genre#:~:text=Fantasy%20films%20are%20films%20with,wonder%2C%20escapism%20and%20the%20extraordinary.

https://www.slideshare.net/MoniqueJackson2/conventions-of-the-fantasy-genre

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-the-fantasy-genre-history-of-fantasy-and-subgenres-and-types-of-fantasy-in-literature