1. a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like: the genre of epic poetry; the genre of symphonic music.
2. Fine Arts.
a. paintings in which scenes of everyday life form the subject matter.
b. a realistic style of painting using such subject matter.
3. genus; kind; sort; style. –adjective
4. Fine Arts. of or pertaining to genre.
5. of or pertaining to a distinctive literary type.
- grouping films by genre allows us to group them by similarities
- depends on how it is made and what it is about - characteristics, key feature, conventions
Categories of Conventions:
Characters: typical roles, characteristics, relationships, action & behaviour, names, costume etc.
Narratives: typical plots/structures, events & how they happen
Themes: typical ideas behind the story, what the film is about, the director's intentions for the audience, ways of thinking that the film inspires
Iconography: mise-en-scène, props, locations, colours, shooting, lighting and techniques
There need to be enough films with similar characterstics and key features for a genre to be created, e.g. horror. Sub-genres can only develop once a genre is very large, e.g. Zombie films are a sub-genre of horror, as they have similar characteristics but their own defining features too.
The key to making any genre film successful is REPETITION and DIFFERENCE - directors take elements of previous successful films & insert twists and breaks with convention. A film will probably be unsuccessful if it is too similar to another.
Formula for a successful genre film = familiar combined with the unexpected. There needs to be familiarity, or audiences can become confused. Word-of-mouth can undo initial successes of films which fail to meet the conventions of the genre they claim to be.
Films that cross genres [hybrids] often have several different posters advertising the film, each portraying a different genre within the film.
Genre films are much easier to target and market en masse than non-genre films, due to the power of expectation amongst audiences. Non-genre films tend to be more difficult to decode & therefore be enjoyed, which is one thing that can limit their mainstream appeal.
For producers and directors, using genre conventions helps films have a higher popularity and familiarity with audiences, and helps them to target & market the film. The risk factor is reduced with the use of previously successful elements too.
For audiences, genres help inform what they like and therefore what films they want to see, which stems from the expectations of certain genres - as audience members, we know generally what we do and don't like and so tend to go for what we know when choosing films - we look for the familiar. These are called 'predictable pleasures'.
However, categories are not as stable as they look; there is not one for everything. Genre theory is useful but if you look at it too closely and try to play around with it too much, it doesn't really work.
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