Film Genre

Analyzing a Genre

- both filmmakers and film viewers share some general notions about the types of films that compete our attention - conventions shape our expectations about that we're likely to see and hear

GENRE HISTORY

-genres change constantly through recasting of conventions -creating their own history is a combination of borrowing from other arts and innovations

SUMMARY of Film Genre

-govern what we expect to see and hear. -guide our reactions -press us to make sense of a movie in certain ways

Way to categorize film for various purposes

- Creative - Economic - Marketing - Scholarly

conventions of story and style

- Genre conventions often center on plot patterns - Other genre conventions are more thematic (involving broad meanings that are summoned again and again) - Other genre conventions involve stylistic patterns (lighting, camera movement, music, etc.)

the monster and horror

- a dangerous breach of nature -might be unnaturally large - might violate the boundary between dead and living - ordinary human who is transformed or something wholly unknown to science

examples of early horror: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) Noseferatu (1922)

- angular performances -heavy makeup -distorted settings -conveyed ominous, supernatural atmosphere

A CLOSER LOOK: Creative Decisions in The Crime Thriller

- broad - supernatural, political, variations of crime - can be cheap to produce since it carries less special effects and set in contemporary urban locations

sports film pattern: athletes at prime of career with setback

- career cut short through physical injury -social factors ex: Bend it like Beckham

THE SOCIAL FUNCTION OF GENRES

- fluctuation in popularity are tightly bound to cultural factors

UNDERSTANDING GENRE: INTRODUCTION

- genre is originally french which means "kind" or "type" -related to the word genus -film genres lack scientific precision, developed informally as convenient terms -change over time

Rituals and Ambivalence

- genres are ritualized dramas resembling holiday celebrations -reaffirm cultural values in a predictable way -help us forget disturbing aspects of world ex: gangster/mobster swagger -promise something new based on something familiar - response quickly to social trends ex: romantic comedies to tastes of career woman

Genre Mixing

- mixing and matching elements of two or more genres -innovative -may borrow from other cultures - ex: Alien (1979) fused science fiction with contemporary horror

which genres blends easily with other genres?

- musicals -comedies

Genres and Cycles

- no predictable trajectory - genre mixing can be at any time once a genre or subgenre is launched

critics and entertainment reporters

- not only announces what genre the film belongs to - expresses an evaluation of how well it fulfills certain conventions

characteristics of a cycle

- occur when a sucessful film triggers a burst of imitations ex: Godfather -> gangster movies 1970s: disaster movies; Earthquake, The Poseidon Adventure fantasy adventures: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter - short term cycle that lasts long can lead to a subgenre ex: 1980s horror cycle to slasher films - no genre can really die since cycles and subgenres can emerge at any time

Genres as Social Reflection

- scholars suggest that filmmakers address their film to current concerns and tastes -others suggest that genres are harmonized with public attitudes involuntarily -hypothesis of genre conventions reflecting audience tastes explains popularity -as public anxieties change, new genres reflect new concerns

THE SPORTS FILM

- staple in film history from an early start since Kinetoscope parlors -competition and tournament provide conflict -climatic game can provide resolution and closure -can raise larger idealogical issues -explores themes of racist and gender roles

biographical films ("biopics") aim to do what?

- trace significant episodes in an actual person's life

usefulness of genre categories

-help producers decide what films to make -despite popularity, fantasy and science fiction films are green-lighted -

in what way has social ideology influence Westerns?

- westward expansion viewed as historic mission -full of racist stereotypes -N.A. treated as tragic figures -civilization commitment tinged with loss of freedom -standarized scenes: indians attacks, shy courting of a woman, hero's discovery of settlers attack' -liberal westerns (1950s): helped gain more respect of indigenous culture

the iconography of horror film includes what kind of settings?

- where monsters might lurk examples: Pyscho -Hitchock juxtaposition of mundane hotel with decaying mansion -slasher subgenre: superhuman killers in everyday settings

backstage musicals

-action centering on singers and dancers -perform and audience within story world -ocassionally break into song in an everyday setting ex: 42nd Street (1933) -set classic pattern for backstage musicals ex: Swing Time (1935): -RKO; exemplary

what roles does conventions play when they are rejected?

-blending or varying forces viewers to reset their expectations -fresh way of engagement

central theme of westerns

-conflict between civilized order and lawless frontier -people outside eastern civilization thrive

horror film plot

-developed in various ways -monster launch a series of attacks -people in authority resist the belief of monster's existence OR -blocking characters efforts to destroy it

characteristic techniques of musicals

-diverse -tend to be brightly lit for cheerful costumes and choreography -color film stock -classic rely on long takes, while contemporary cut very quickly -crane shots and high angles to show off patterns -lip-synching to prerecording songs for actors to move freely and concentrate on acting

iconography of backstage musicals

-dressing rooms -wings of a theater -flats and backdrops of the stage -nightclub with orchestra and dance floor -distinctive stage costumes

The Western

-established in the 1910s -based on historical reality and portrayal of frontier from songs, popular fictions, and Wild West Shows -actors were a blend of realism and myth

Origins

-genres begin by borrowing conventions from other media example: stage plays and novels in the genre of melodrama

sports film pattern: the Cinderella story

-how an underdog overcomes long odds to make it in the big leagues or compete for a championship -appeal to audience by sympathizing with unlikely characters who risk everything for a dream -can be considered a cliché, but any sports contain real-life examples

audience and genre

-know genre's of their cutlure very well -structures people's way of seeing the world -due to internet, everyone can be a genre connoisseur, a passionate and knowledgeable fan

THE HORROR FILM

-most recognizable and shaped by emotional effect -aims to shock, disgust, repel, horrify -can be made on low budget -became a staple of independent production in 1960s

genre categories for viewers

-part of their tastes -exchange information via magazines, websites, or conventions about their favorites

straight musicals

-people may sing and dance in situations of everyday life -tend to be romantic comedies

horror iconography has ____ contemporary culture and has created ___ interest

-pervaded, global

advertising and genre

-pinpoint a film's genre through coming-attraction trailers and film's poster design

Defining a Genre

-popular, mass-market cinema rests on genre film making

THE MUSICAL

-response to technological innovation -late 1920s after success of recorded soundtracks -associated with childeren's stories -with serious matters, the positive tend to accentuated

musical were initially ____

-revues: programs of numbers with little or no narrative linkage between them

conventions of musicals

-rewards of high ambition -lovers united in song and dance

what makes a genre?

-scholars agree that no genre can be defined in a single hard-and-fast way -in some, films share subjects or themes

conventions help viewers have a clear pathway into a film in what way?

-set expectations, -communicate information economically -can be revised or rejected

the typical Western hero (the "good bad man")

-stands between two thematic poles -often poised between savagery and civilization - start off as lawless, but decides to join forces of order

sports film common character conventions

-tough coach -dedicated, but flawed athlete -unscrupulous adversary -mate who resents partner's obsessions with winning -some focus on fans

horror's centrality to American cinema

1970s subgenre: reflects social concerns about the breakup of american families -post-Vietnam and post Cold-war: tuned with its questioning of traditional categories of normality -cultural explanations: uncertainty of viewers of their fundamental beliefs

(T/F): In both backstage and straight musicals, the numbers often reflect a couple's courtship.

True

horror films emotional effect is usually created by a ____ convention

a menacing, unnatural character (monster)

two major subgenres of musicals are _____ musicals and ____ musicals

backstage; straight

a cycle is a ____ of related genre films that enjoys intense _____ and ______ over a _____ period

batch; popularity, influence; brief

examples of how conventions were rejected in films

bugsy malone: gangster musical in which children play all traditional roles 2001 a space odyssey: violated science conventions with: -lengthy prehistoric times -synchronizing classical music to outer-space action - ending with an enigmatic symbolic fetus the prestige: can be considered with the Tesla machine

The Cute Meet

characters should first encounter each other in a way that is amusing, even embarrassing

big misunderstanding

creating obstacles to the lovers' union separate the couple physically, by decision or accident

what is the phenomenon resulted from the rise and fall in prestige and popularity of genres?

cycles

genre is a category best used to

describe and analyze films, not to evaluate them

comical touches lighten dramas and if the proportions are somewhat equal, they can be referred as what?

dramedy, seriocomedy

genre innovation and social processes

example: Ripley of Aliens (1976) -product of attitudes derived from the 1970s women's movements

how does film mediums reshape its adopted genre?

example: westerns became a film genre in 1908 despite popularity in 19th century -due to need of outdoor landscapes -fostered stories involving the frontier and rural American landscapes -allowed US to compete in a growing international market

A CLOSER LOOK: Exploitation of the Narrative Conventions in The Crime Thriller

four character roles: crime is at center or on one of the four sorts of characters - victims - (innocent) bystanders -forces of justice - lawbreakers narration effects: surprise and suspense, highlighted by clever plans, blocking moves, sudden coincidences innovations: emphasis on suspense and surprise encourages filmmaker to mislead the audience

objects and settings often ______ _______ for a genre

furnish iconography

examples of subjects and themes

gangster film: centers on urban organized crime science fiction: technology beyond reach of contemporary science fantasy: typically involves magical powers and supernatural creatures detective: plot pattern of investigation

gangster films usually center on what?

gangster's rise and fall as he struggles against police and rival gangs

examples of local genres include

heimatfilm: germany's genre of small-town life devotionals: hindi cinema of india that center on the lives of saints and religious figures mythologicals: hindi cinema derived from legend and literary classic cabaretera: mexican melodram centering on prosititutes

horror film conventions of imaginative special effects and makeup have caused what films to rise?

horror parodies

both _____ and ____ emerged in the silent era

horror, Western

heavy makeup is very prominent in the _____ of horror

iconography

in westerns, _____ reinforces ____ ____

iconography; basic duality -costumes, location contrasts

film conventions

isolated properties or figures that identify a genre through such features as character types, settings, props, or events that are repeated from film to film. These also include iconography.

historians believe that genres inevitably passes from a phase of ____ to one of _____

maturity, parody

____ assume that genres reflect social attitudes

reflectionist

horror's central theme stem from the _____ the filmmakers aim ___ ____

response; to arouse

most countries have what genres?

romance stories, action sagas, supernatural tales, and comedies

film genre

set of conventions and formulas, repeated and developed through film history that organize and categorize film according to repeated subjects, icons, and styles.

examples of subgenres

space opera: aline invasions, biological experiments, or future societies

genre's iconography consist of recurring ____ _____ that _____ _______ from film to film

symbolic images; carry meaning

example of big misunderstanding in The Wedding Singer

the heroine tries on a wedding dress while imagining she's marrying the hero. But when he glimpses her trying it on, he assumes she's preparing to marry someone else

creative choices about film form depend on what?

the kind of film you are making

cop thrillers have three kinds of characters. what are they?

the shifty informer, comic sidekick, the exasperated captain

subgenres

useful to refer to distinct and fairly long-lasting types distinction conventions of their own and perhaps appeal to different viewers

FOUR GENRES of FILMAKING

western, horror, musical, sports