Maddox Blog: Science Fiction Research

How Science Fiction is Science Fiction?

The science fiction genre is mostly associated with imaginative and futuristic elements that, such as advanced science and technology.

Science fiction mostly targets people of the ages 45-65, and 57% of the viewers are male. This also is not surprising that most of the viewers tend to read the most. This genre includes many futuristic concepts such as space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, etc. The purpose of this genre is to create a connection between our present and the future, and can consider what the future will look like based on the choices made now.

Content

The content that is produced throughout most science fiction films can speculate on what humanity will look like in the future by giving examples of what humanity is like during the present.

Most science fiction movies also can give us a "what if" question. Meaning like, they can give us an example of what life would be like if an important event occurred during a different time period, or if an event that turned out one way, turned out the other way. All science fiction movies have about the similar tropes whether it be robots fighting the world, aliens invading earth, or the whole world is living in a simulation for example, the Matrix.

Dystopian is a sub genre to science fiction because it relates to questioning the future and how what we do now can affect our future. Dystopian movies have become a massive industry with having 40% of its viewers be 18-29 yr/o.

Sci-fi films are also known for its use of CGI and other technology that allow film makers to create their futuristic worlds. Without CGI many of the sci-fi films seen today would not be that great because it wouldn't have the creative ability for the film makers.

Production Techniques

The lighting that is used in sci-fi is usually a bright light to give off the sci-fi tone. A blue lighting effect is also used to give off the sci-fi tone because of how most of them are.

Example: Tron movie using blue effect

Sound is the most important aspect of creating a science fiction movie because it is that, that creates the environment. The amount of layers that are used in a sci-fi movie is a lot, because they have to make the environment believable for the audience. Sound is mixed with unique textures and tones and in the end create an extraordinary experience in cinema.

Marketing

As I stated before, the audience for this type of genre ranges from 45 to 65 as many people from this age likes high technology because it is a genre that is goes over the boundaries of this world and can expand our understanding of what the film maker is trying to tell us.

Sci-fi films, in their posters, use many bright colors like blue, red and green in their focus parts. This is because they want to whoever sees the poster to be reeled in because of its bright and obvious colors. This is one of the main reasons why sci-fi films have become so popular because of the marketing in their posters and their trailers, which persuades the audience to go and see the movie.

Samples

The film Tomorrowland (2015) is when a highly optimistic and curious teen embarks on a mission to find a place that is set somewhere is space and time that only exists in a collective memory called "Tomorrowland". The reason why this film is set in the sci-fi genre is because of its futuristic setting for most of the movie, even though some parts of it are set in the present. The film also uses white throughout the whole futuristic city. Whenever the protagonist had touched a pin it would time travel her to somewhere in the future. The film also includes giant robots to try and defeat the protagonist from freeing the city from being stuck in time.

The film The Matrix (1999) is when a man is getting contacted through his computer from the outside world but thinks he is just dreaming. Until he is told that he wasn't and found out that the world that he was living in was a simulation and the real world has been taken over by Artificial Intelligence. This movie fits in with its genre because of the world living in a simulation trope and many other aspects. Some of which are the world being ran by AI. The colors that are used in the movie are mostly normal colors tat you would see in real life, but there is a scene where it goes all white and that can connect to the overall genre of the film.