Often, multiple genres are present within one individual film however, most share precise genre conventions. Orthodox plots or fixed foreseeable personalities are predicted to be seen in a movie within an anticipated genre. These conventions are what classify movies into subgenres. Conventions concerning cinematography, lighting and editing, sound, mise-en-scene, genres frequently generate limits about the sort of ideas existing within movies. For instance, in “The Wizard of Oz”, fantasy describes this film however, this classic has been categorized as a musical as well.
Fantasy films are films that are made up with make believe situations that seem dreamlike, ridiculous characters, or settings, and often cusp into other genres (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). Horror and Comedy are just to name a few genres that Fantasy allows border with (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). In fact, in “The Wizard of Oz”, humor is seen throughout the entire production which is presented fabulously by main characters; the tin man, the scarecrow, and the cowardly lion.
As Alexander Sergeant describes in “Scrutinising the Rainbow: Fantastic Space in The Wizard of Oz (1939)”, “It is extremely difficult to pinpoint a precise definition of exactly what constitutes a fantasy film” (Sergeant, 2011). “A key aspect of fantasy seems indeed to be its ability to embrace a lack of certainty and fixity. Any attempt to define such pleasures too rigidly will invariably lead to an inorganically doctrinal approach to what is clearly a rather malleable and organic generic practice. One must allow fantasy to be what it is: a type of storytelling that displays a distinct lack of typical iconographies or narrative tropes” (Sergeant, 2011).
Though to start from the beginning, the first main conflict of the film is introduced in the form of a cyclone that sweeps Dorothy and Toto, the main character and her dog, to a far-away land where the unbelievable characters are introduced into the story. One of the most epic scenes takes place once Dorothy has entered this magical land and she realizes her house has landed on the Wicked Witch of the East. Creators also used technology in this scene that takes you from black and white to vivid color once Dorothy awakens somewhere far away from home, after the cyclone has hit. The Wicked Witch of the East, obviously an unreal creature that displayed a hate towards Dorothy and her dog, and left them frightened (as well as the audience), displayed a green face, and traditional black witch’s hat and gown and is a true symbol of the conventions that “The Wizard of Oz” contains making this a classic Fantasy genre film.
Other characters that are crucial to the movie, and represent the genre Fantasy include Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, another fictional character that helps the audience to understand that the reality of the film has shifted, and possibly Dorothy is trapped within a dream. As you soon find out, Dorothy and her dog have somehow left the home they once knew in Kansas, and after meeting Munchkins, realize they are now in Munchkinland. The Munchkins introduce their selves through song and dance to thank Dorothy for killing the evil witch. This song, as