Rocco Dogliani S0189038
Changing representation and technology in the genre of science fiction.
This essay will show how the science fiction genre has in some ways changed little since the first movie in the genre ‘Le Voyage dans la Lune’ (1902) to a much more modern film Avatar. It will focus on the issues of representation and technology within the genre, to explore areas that have developed over time.
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Genre is a type of category system that helps the viewer know what they’re going to get, helping them find the films they are likely to enjoy.
The problem is the more we know the genre the more predictable films will become. For example, we are expected to be scared by Horror. We also expect to see something along the line of a “large old abandoned or haunted house with a squeaky door” (Lacey, 2009. P37).
According to The Wired Magazine genres have a problem especially in Science Fiction.
“Science Fiction has a longstanding problem: Good ideas abound, but great ones are in short supply. (And most of the good ones have been used.) After decades of drought, 2001: A Space Odyssey spawned Solaris and Star Wars and Alien, and the genre became popular, but pulpify so; parades of familiar tropes spackled over with terrible visual effects. Now, in the age of mind bending and somehow relatively affordable CGI, there’s almost always a sci-fi movie in wide release. Yet somehow, more often than not, it’s boring. Or a mess. Or, worst of all, a boring mess”.
This quote shows how new films under a genre are becoming boring and predictable simply because they have been done before. This is why over time genres have had to shift and change, frequently mixing elements from other genres in a postmodern hybrid to try and make films less boring and, especially in Horror, still have surprises. This then creates new genres, such as comedy-horror.
Science fiction has always had a mix of action and strange imagery in most films of its genre. It often involves being transported to unthinkable worlds and places where anyone can be whatever they want and anything can happen. Science fiction cinema has many classics such as Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Back to the Future, Star Trek, The Matrix and ET. Avatar is another classic, but one of the more interesting in the genre. To understand its relationship to the genre, it is necessary to look back at the genre-defining moment, which occurred with ‘Le Voyage dans la Lune’ (‘A Trip to the Moon’), a 1902 French sci fi adventure film directed by Georges Méliès. The film starts with a group of figures preparing to head to the moon. They build a rocket and almost immediately reach it. The most famous image of this film is that of the moon as a face, as seen below. One major image that allows us to know this is a science fiction film is the moon itself, as well as the rocket. There are also aliens who take the astronauts hostage, and the film shows their escape by killing the aliens and getting back into the rocket. It’s a short film but it establishes all the typical imagery of sci-fi.
AVATAR of 2009 directed by James Cameron is a massive scale blockbuster that made $2.79billion, the second highest grossing movie of all time. Like Le Voyage dans la Lune, Avatar also features a ‘unreachable’ world, and also a group of people trying to reach it. This is the case for paralysed Marine Jake Sully who is made mobile again in this form and falls in love with the planet and its people.
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Even with over 100 years between them, there are major similarities. these two films are from each other with the change in scale and effects with over 100 years between the two films. Avatar is filled with advanced CGI even for its release year 2009. With its huge budget it certainly didn’t hold back on the effects. The detail in the colours and textures on the planet of Pandora was just crazy and did create a beautiful place that went beyond imagination. Le Voyage dans la Lune had no budget or technology like this however it did have some of the first basic effects ever made. This all done by Georges Méliès himself creating the look smoke and fire to the clever effects to make the look a rocket going to the moon. All this at the time really would have taken the audience to the moon for a while. These effects with the use of amazingly detailed hand painted stage design would change the genre and movie industry and even go on to inspire films like Avatar. The amazing art the scene changes Méliès used to create the look of the moon once they arrive is to a level very like the world ‘Pandora’ shown in Avatar. Some people even say the only thing the two films have in common is the genre because how different the stories are but obviously a story won’t be the same over 100 years later, times change so does the film industry. The look of the planets, the strange creatures on this planet and even simple effects that possibly even inspired the effects industry really do show the films are quite alike. The effects in these two films has changed immensely. Simple effects like a cloud of dust appearing to represent a character dying shows how much the effects industry changed from those first effects Georges Méliès created. In Avatar with advanced digital technology powerful military machine guns are created. The CGI so real unlike in Le Voyage dans la Lune. The extreme change in special effects really is shown in these two different movies.
Other than special effects Georges Méliès was very well known for extremely detailed sets and in this image is the set of his moon and what he made the planet look like a very similar look to the style they went for in Avatar on the planet of Pandora. The different layers of plants and nature, the use of tall trees and a similar sort of overgrown look. The incredible detail even from hand drawn sets to completely digitally made worlds are amazingly similar with this artistic style.
However, when we get to the storyline of these two films other than this strong similarity with the worlds and planets, they are very different. Avatars storyline is a lot more advanced and complicated. Yes, the storyline of both films was very different but both films, so unusual at the time of release they came out with this must see attitude amongst the public audience. This once in life time big film that doesn’t come around very often. This is one of the biggest things with these two films. Yes when Le Voyage dans la Lune came out it was at the time and excitement of film being a new thing but even so the fact this film has the title ‘the first ever Science Fiction film’ combined with this very unusual and creative director really would of confused many back then but also excited them for the Impact it would go on to have in cinema and film.
The release of Avatar had a very similar vibe to this despite it not being the first of its genre it still came after the very traditional Star Trek and so on so when it did come out although it wasn’t that long ago in fact almost 10 years ago to the date that I’m writing this. it had this feel to it similar to those who may have felt excitement when Le Voyage dans la Lune was released.
Le Voyage dans la Lune was the birth of the sci fi genre and was so unusual at the time it would instantly be popular. Although since these times so many Sci fi films had been made Avatar was different for its incredibly modern look. It was almost like a reborn of the genre, that the modern times had arrived. The first super modern technology cram packed movie that was going to change the World and movie industry forever.
It makes sense that a lot of the most successful and popular films of all time have all done this. A new film will stand out more if it is different with a new genre being invented and introduced with it. Films that have this effect do go on to change and influence the cinema industry. Another film that came out being very different at the time and in its genre was Saturday Night Fever (1977) similar to Avatar and Le Voyage dans la Lune It was very different and Influenced the Dance Film industry forever with it being one of the first films released that “focused on just a couple dancing rather than a group”. The film went on to be classed under drama/romance but it could also be classed as a musical with all its music all from popular at the time pop trio Bee Gees. This film defiantly went on to inspire many future films with romance/Musical Mumma Mia (2008) being very similar being about the romance of a couple and having music from ABBA. (Lacey, N., 2009 P342-343)
Another method to create hype at the release of new Science fiction film is to “define the field as realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present”. This has been done many times, for example the disaster movie 2012 (2009) generally got people thinking for four years that the world would end in 2012. This was deliberately done to get extreme publicity and create a fear when going to see the movie. This could even of changed or created a new genre. However back in time when the first Science fiction and disaster movies would have come out cinema had only really shown documentaries so people probably would have got quite scared as they maybe felt there was some truth behind this. Of course, this was just natural fear rather than a deliberate effect.
The marketing behind the release of a new film nowadays has a team working to find a way to make the film different and stand out takes a lot of time. However, when you look back to the first films of most genres, they naturally had publicity threw the public. The impact the first films under a genre had on the public will always inspire and influence new films in the cinema industry that will soon be released and change genres again. It’s a infinite process and new genres and mixes will always come out to try and be the new thing not just the boring predictable film.
In conclusion this essay has proved genres haven’t changed all that much and in Science fiction with hundreds of years between them Da Voyage Da Lune and Avatar are quite alike with the style of film. This essay found out that genres have had to shift and change with time to keep up to date and stay unique and different.
This Essay has also shown that when a new film comes out it does better if it perhaps is under a new genre and is a bit experimental at the time or nothing like it has been done before. This creates a hype within the cinema world and might go on to make a change and influence others. Although my point was to show that the classic genres such as Science Fiction hasn’t really changed all that much since the first ever release under that genre ‘Le Voyage De La Lune’ to of course a completely different looking movie with the new modern day technology Avatar. However, when you look deeply behind the two movies and compare them, both are very similar through the message the films are trying to get across. The style and mindset from both directors are also very alike even with over 100 years between the films the creativity and detail from both of them is unbelievable. Both trying to make a perfect sci fi film that would go on to have an impact in the cinema industry.
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Bibliography
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Books
Lacey, N., 2009, Image and Representation of Key Concepts in Media Studies (Second Edition). Available online: https://www.macmillanihe.com/page/detail/Image-and-Representation/?K=9780230203358 Accessed November 22, 2019.
McAvan, Em (2007) The postmodern sacred: popular culture spirituality in the genres of science fiction, fantasy and fantastic horror. PhD thesis, Murdoch University. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/188
Neale, S. 1985. The Cinema Book ed. Cook, P pp 342-343
Films
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNAHcMMOHE8
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/plotsummary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PSNL1qE6VY
https://james-camerons-avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Pandora
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/21/avengers-endgame-tops-avatar-to-be-highest-grossing-film
Images
https://online.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/abs/10.3828/extr.1974.16.1.81?journalCode=extr
Articles
https://www.wired.com/2017/03/sci-fi-has-gotten-super-boring/
