Film Ch. 9 - Film Genres
Genre (definition/ what is a film genre?) Different types of genres
A category or classification of films that share similar subject matter, setting, iconography and narrative and stylistic patterns. It's A recognizable kind of movie, characterized by certain pre-established conventions and formulas.(comedy, horror, sci-fi, fantasy)
Hybrid genre?
A genre may also change by mixing its conventions with those of another genre. Science fiction and horror in Alien (1979)Teen movie and musical in Hairspray (2007)Science fiction and comedy in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy(2005) and Sleeper (1973)
What are generic expectations?
A viewer's experience and knowledge while watching a film. They activate this experience and knowledge while watching a film.The viewer then anticipates the meaning of particular conventions or the direction of certain narrative formulas.
6 film genres (identify and define) What are subgenres?
Comedies- Invented in 1895. Films to make someone laugh - romantic comedy, screwball comedy; Westerns- Characters, almost always male, whose toughness separate them from crowds of modern civilization narratives that follow some version of a quest - comedy western, epic westerns; Melodramas- combination of music (melos) and human conflicts (drama) comedy, romantic; Musicals- range from traditional opera to vaudeville that have these components characters who express emotions and thoughts through song and dance plots interrupted or moved forward by musical numbers, comedy, romantic; Horror films- Characters with physical, psychological, and/or spiritual deformities narratives built on suspense, surprise, and shock, halloween, monsters; Crime Films- Characters who live on the edge of a mysterious or violent society, either criminals or individual dedicated to crime detection, noir, comedy
Types of musicals? Types of horror films? Types of crime films? Comedies?
Grease, Chicago, Dream Girls; Silence of the Lambs, Saw, Chucky; Godfather, Black Mass, Pulp Fiction; There's Something About Mary, Zoolander, Blades of Glory
What makes a film a romantic comedy?
Humor takes a second place to happiness. The subgenre draws attention to a peculiar or awkward social predicament that romance will eventually overcome on the way to a happy ending
How are genres an example of social reflection? Can you think of an example? (Not Neighbors)
It must 1) Connect with public attitudes at the time. 2)Genres reflect social attitudes as if in a mirror. ; Chicago- a social reflection of viewing a murder case, or something dark, as entertainment for the public
What is a historical paradigm?
It presumes that a genre evolved to a point of perfection at some point in history and that one or more films at that point describe the generic ideal.
What is the Paramount Decision? What impact did it have on film genres?
It was in 1948 and the Supreme Court ruled that the major studios violated antitrust laws by also owning movie theaters and therefore monopolizing the film business. It undid the studio system and the studio system began to decline. It waned the golden years of American film genres
What is the difference between the prescriptive and the descriptive approach to genres?
Prescriptive- assumes a pre-existing model for any particular film in the same category; Descriptive- on that assumes a genre changes over time by building on older films and developing in new ways. The viewer prizes genres for different reason and accepts that viewers' subjectivity can help determine a genre
What are comedy film subgenres?
Slapstick comedies, screwball comedy, romantic comedies
Horror subgenres? What are they? (Identify and define)
Supernatural Horror Films- a spiritual evil erupts in the human realm, sometimes to avenge a moral wrong and sometimes for no explainable reason; Psychological horror films-locate the dangers and distortions that threaten normal life in the minds of bizarre and deranged individuals; Physical horror films- the psychology of a character takes second place to the depiction of graphic violence
What are generic formulas? Examples?
The patterns for developing stories in a particular genre. The way a movie's story is structured- its plot- also helps viewers determine what genre it belongs to (conventions are organized through the plot).; A gangster film centers on large scale urban crime.A science fiction film features technology beyond the reach of contemporary science. A Western is usually about life on some frontier.Horror films feature a monster that threatens humans, often as punishment for folly. Sports films usually climax with a big game.
What is generic reflexivity? Give two examples of what it might convey in a film.
They are unusually self conscious about their generic identity and clearly and visibly comment on the generic paradigms; Young Frankenstein which is a goofy look at one of the most famous models for horror film. Another is L.A Confidential which a serious self-concscious reworking of the crime film
What are generic conventions? Examples?
They're properties or features that identify a genre, such as character types, settings, props, or events that are repeated from film to film.Familiar, customary way of repeating characters, story situations, or images. Recurring elements, techniques, objects, or narrative situations that have become accepted as part of a genre.; Many conventions are unique to a given genre. Mystery films will contain an investigation.Revenge plotlines are common in Westerns The gangster film usually centers on the gangster's rise and fall as he struggles against police and rival gangs.Biopics will contain major episodes in the main character's life.
How do generic formulas provide patterns for developing stories in a particular genre?
You know what to expect. the viewer has a pathway into the film. They allow the genre movie to communicate information quickly and economically.
What is iconography?
recurring symbolic images that carry meaning from film to film. Objects and setting can furnish iconography for a genre. A Tommy gun in a gangster movie
