Genre by Leah McCallum

Genre

Genre 

Genre is the primary factor in categorising a film so that they can be distinguished from one another. Genre typically refers to films that share similar aspects in narrative elements from which they are constructed. Genres offer audiences a structure, a structure that can often be familiar, for example, within a horror film the narrative structure contains a protagonist and an antagonist who makes life difficult for the protagonist, the protagonist must overcome it. Genre also allows them to identify the similarities and conventions of that particular genre, it appeals to the audience as they can compare it of other films, however, some audiences enjoy seeing the genre subverted from its a original form. Genre research was essential in order to create the short film as we needed to identify the key aspects of each genre in order to feature said features in the final product.

List of Genres: 

COMEDY

Comedy films are created in order to entertain and make an audience laugh and can be achieved in various ways, either through cinematography, dialogue, narrative content or a particular character.

Brief History of the Comedy film genre:
1895-1920

The Lumiere Brothers

When comedy was  first introduced it was during the silent era where actors had to rely heavily on facial expressions, gestures and body moment and heavily relied on slapstick humour, for example a person slipping on a banana skin conveys the comedy genre as it is humorous for the audience and does not need dialogue in order for it to be amusing.
The first comedic silent film featuring slapstick comedy was Watering the Gardener by the Lumiere brothers in 1895. The short footage contains a gardener who is watering the plants, a young boy steps on the hose of the water hose to stop the flow of water, the gardener then inspects the hose and points it in the direction of his face and thus the boy releases the hose and the water sprays into his face. The gardener then chases the boy and spanks him.


Charlie Chaplin was also noteworthy for his contribution to slapstick comedy, achieved simply his body and facial expressions. Chaplin's first comedy, Making a living,involved being chased after swindling a photo, the chase allows situations to occur that are comedic, for example during the chase, he is caught in bed with someones wife. Chaplins approach to slapstick humour involved everyday occurrences such as a flat tyre as the audience can relate to these everyday situations too and laugh at themselves when it occurs.

Buster Keaton Falling over

During the same era as Chaplin, there was another director who used slapstick comedy that is still used in today's comedy films, his name was Buster Keaton, his trademark was to use his body to portray humour via the injury of himself. For example, walking into walls and lamp-posts, and falling over.  Buster Keatons trademark of self injury to make the audience laugh is also identifiable in children's entertainment, the trademark of self injury for the purpose of the audience to laugh has been used in the film franchise; Home Alone where the wet bandits are hurt continuously in horrific ways but its presented in a humorous way via the facial expressions and resilience after each injury.

1930-1950's
With the addition of dialogue in film and the advancement of technology, the comedy genre was able to translate a new meaning of comedy and the way in which the audience seeks amusement. Rather than relying on physical acting in order to convey comedy, the addition of verbal comedy meant the comedy genre was more immersive and life like for the audience, the use of jokes and innuendos became an important part of onscreen verbal humour. One of the first directors to use
verbal humour  in a significant way was director William fields. In the film My little Chickadee, he uses jokes to establish the comedy, for example a famous joke featured in My little Chickadee was: 'Whilst traveling through the Andes Mountains we lost our corkscrew', the punchline that followed was 'Had to live on food and water for several days'. This is humorous for the audience at the time and even now as alcohol was becoming widely sold and suggests to the audience it is a necessity.

Towards the end of the 1950's heading through to the sixties and early 1970's an approach to comedy was becoming much more sexualised and used a vast array of innuendos, the most common film franchise to use this basis of comedy was the Carry On franchise.









In the Carry On films, there is a scene where a students bra flings off whilst doing exercise, she is then looked at by men who are with their partners, it is very tongue in cheek which is perhaps due to the fact the 60's and 70's were more open to sexual discovery, drugs and humour.








1980'S to 1990's

Ferris Talks to the camera

The rise of teen comedies and romantic comedies came from the 1980's and early 1990's, cinematography developments were on the rise and the demand for film was even more so advanced. The most significant director of teen comedies was John Hughes as he gave teenagers there own environment within films to relate to. A teen comedy Ferris Buellers Day off directed by John Hughes is comedic for teenagers as it is a relatable experience all students will have faced, however, John exaggerates it giving it more humour, the humour is brought to the audience in subtle ways, for example, Ferris talks to the camera as if the audience were there making it all the more amusing when he pauses to talk to them. By the mid 1990's, comedies were distributed in all kinds of formats, the verbal humour was then adapted and expanded and characters were then established to create comedy, for example an ugly character in a comedy is laughable and has been translated through to present day comedies.

2000 to present day

Comedies from the 2000 to now reuse features of the past in order to create sub genres of the comedy genre, from the year 2000, comedy has expanded thorough to the horror genre, crime genre and even action films. The use of the combinations of comedies with other film genres creates a new breed of genre, for example the comedy horror genre uses both aspects of the genre in order to create a film with tones of horror and comedy. For example, the film shaun of the dead, allows a film about the apocalypse to be humorous due to how the characters combat the apocalyptic zombies. Also the action comedy has overtones of seriousness but often it is interrupted with comedic interludes whether it be verbal or physical. An example of an action comedy would be Rush Hour.

• Romantic Comedy: A romantic comedy aims to connect to the audiences emotions via the combination of humour and romance. Romantic comedy often features a couple who face an obstacle of being together but in the end they connect, thus achieving the romantic quality. 

Example of Romantic Comedy films: 

When Harry Met Sally

The Bounty Hunter

Knocked Up

• Slapstick Comedy: Slapstick comedy incorporates physical comedy into it, for example, harmless violence and horseplay to depict the humour. 

Example of Slapstick comedy films:

Caddyshack 

Home Alone

• Parody: A parody comedy is a form of comedy that attempts to parody an existing serious film. It creates similar settings and characters of recognisable films and manipulates the context of it to be humorous. 

Examples of Parody comedy films:

Scary Movie

Epic Movie 

• Action Comedy: An action comedy combines both elements of action and comedy films, however the action is less serious and the characters dialogue is the basis of the comedy. 

Examples of action comedy films:

Hot Fuzz




Beverly Hills Cop

• Dark Comedy: Dark comedy combines comedy and satire, black comedy often takes serious situations and adds an essence of dark humour to it. 

Example of black comedy films: 

The Voices

Fargo


THE CONVENTIONS OF COMEDY

Comedy set in a school

Comedy film set in a school

The setting: The setting of a comedy is typically in an everyday environment where social interaction may take place. A comedy may take place in a school, an office, a bar, etc. The use of these settings in comedy's is so that it is relatable for the audience and plausible for certain situations that may occur.




Character types: In comedy's there are typical characters that an audience expects, the character types range from:

Dumb and Dumber:Lloyd and Harry:Typically accident prone
and idiotic characters

• Accident Prone characters, idiotic characters, unintelligent characters. The ways in which this kind of character can be identified is via their dialogue, actions and costumes. For example Lloyd's character in Dumb and Dumber is clearly identified as stupid due to his vibrant suit, bowl cut and gap between his teeth. Harry can be seen as accident prone due to his incident with the melted chocolate bar in his pocket and the toilet scene. 

Slapstick comedy behaviour: Character trait

Dumb and Dumber toilet scene

John Tucker Must Die:John 

• Regular characters within comedy's are used to represent everyday people and demonstrates that comedic situations can happen to  anyone. 

Eunice: Shes the man

• In contrast to the stupid characters, there are smart and socially awkward ugly characters within comedy's to create a juxtaposition between the typically handsome and beautiful characters, the socially awkward characters create a basis for comedy as they are placed into situations where they can overcome their archetypal character traits but may also be the basis of all the jokes and punch lines within a comedy. For example, Eunice in Shes the Man is known for her quirky sayings and her appearance is geeky as she wears a head brace. These types of characters are identified typically via their clothing and appearance, for example they may wear glasses. 

Drillbit Taylor: The three Geeks

Mid Close up shot: Shes the man

Mid shot: Shes the man

• Cinematography: within comedy shots can be fast paced to emphasise the comedic aspect of the plot. It is also typically naturalistic and there are usually a variety of mid shots and close up shots to indicate each character. 
• Establishing shots to establish characters location

• Sound: The sound within comedy can be edited to make it fit the comical atmosphere as well as upbeat music to reinforce this. The dialogue in comedy is highly important as it is the key to understanding the humour and jokes between characters. 

Trailer of a comedy film:

ROMANCE

Romance films aim to evoke romantic feelings in the audience as love is a universal experience the audience can relate to. A romance film can feature characters wanting to be together but cant because of a conflict, or an existing couple going through the hardships of a relationship or strangers falling in love.Romance films may feature the themes of love at first sight, unrequited love, obsession, sexual love and sentimental love. The ways in which we can identify romance is the chemistry between two characters, for example they may kiss.



In 1896 the first known short romance film was The May Irwin Kiss,which featured the first romantic scene in a film, as it featured a kiss, kissing within films has gone on to be a necessity of romance films as it signifies love and often a romance film builds up to a final kiss.

THE CONVENTIONS OF ROMANCE

Breakfast at Tiffany's set in New York

The setting: Within romance films the setting is typically familiar such as a large city and other everyday environments so that the audience can identify with the film. The  most stereo-typically used setting in a romance film is New York City/Paris as it holds hope for individuals of having  a love affair in romantic city's. Also other settings will be iconic to the romance theme, such as dates and therefore restaurants and the cinema will be featured in a romance. For example in 500 days of summer they have a date in the cinema which the audience can relate to.

A romance film set in New York City

High key lighting in The Longest Ride

Lighting: The lighting in romance films is natural light and high vibrant lighting to elicit the feeling that it is realistic and therefore believable for the audience.








Sound: A common aspect of a romance film is the use of tender music to represent the sensitivity and emotion involved within the characters who are in love or are falling in love. In a romance film, a love scene may be accompanied by a tender score to heighten the love making and allow it to be immersive as possible, it may even be a leitmotif for the two characters. For example, within carol, the score for their first kiss and love scene is tender and sweet and becomes higher in pitch as it reaches its climax. it allows the audience to know or rather guess what is coming.


 Iconic romantic songs may  also be featured within the romance genre, for example in romantic comedy's, Marvin Gayes, Lets git it on will play when a couple are about to kiss/make love. Other sounds featured within a romance film may be diegetic sounds of birds tweeting as this is a stereotype of romance as it suggests the love is natural, peaceful and organic.

Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum

Typical Characters: There are typically always two protagonists who are each others love interests, typically a male and a female. For example Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum. The appeal of these actresses are that they have a large following, meaning the film will be somewhat of a success with having popular and attractive cast members. There may also be a character who acts as an opposition for one of the characters, it may even cause a disruption in the couple being together.


Narrative Content: A convention of a romance film is that within the narrative a couple meet and fall in love, however, there is someone or something that disagrees with their relationship. They end up going separate ways but then reconnecting. The obstacle for love in most romance films is either family or society. 

Examples of why couples can not be together:

• Family disagrees with relationship 

• Married/Sexual Orientation 

• Sexual Orientation

• Opposites 

Cinematography: High key lighting is used to emphasise a happy and romantic environment, pathetic fallacy may be considered in romance to match the characters moods, for example raining when they are heartbroken.

Trailer of a romance film 

HORROR

The horror film genre aims to create a sense of fear and dread for the audience, they are unnerving and portray situations that are uncomfortable. They typically feature an evil force, person or centre it around an event, such as Halloween. In recent times, the demand for gore in horror has risen and therefore horror films are scarier than ever due to the cinematography and effects. 

A brief history of the horror film genre:
1896
The first horror was The devils castle which lasted only 3 minutes. The expansion of time has now seen horror movies at 2 to 3 hours long.

1920-1930

Nosferatu

During the 1920's and 1930's the films featured characters that were in novels, for example Dracula/Vampires and Frankenstein. The most famous horror film from the 1920's was Nosferatu, It features a vampire- like character  and has contributed to the style of horror films throughout the future decades to now as the use of ominous black shadows and disfigured characters are equally scary in 2015. 

Shadows in Nosferatu

Frankenstein: 1930's

1940's

During the 1940's the demand for film was at a low due to the war and the horror genre did not fit the demand for the mood at the time of war time, however a few generic horror films featuring monster like characters were distributed, for example, The Wolf Man and Cat People. 

1950's
After the war had finished, the decline in film had ended, however, a new breed of horror film was introduced, Mutants were introduced, such as The Wasp Woman, It came From Beneath The Sea, the fact Mutant creatures were introduced to steer away from any possibility of reality due to the effects the war may have had on people. The use of makeup was beginning to improve and at the time look realistic, it is interesting to see the development of special effects within the 1950's horror and today's effects. For example the makeup for the Wasp Woman is unnerving for a 1959 viewer. 

The Wasp Woman Transformation

1960

A dynamic change to horror films came in the form of Hitchcock's Psycho as it introduced thriller to the horror genre, among Psycho, an iconic horror, the 1960's released films such as Birds, Blood Feast and Night of the living dead. 




















1970
During the 1970's many films that are now classics were released, they are classics due to the narrative content and cinematography, the most recognisable from this era is Carrie, The Exorcist, The Omen and Halloween. The characters in all of these films are iconic due to their evil nature. The key aspect in these films is that it relates to the supernatural and focuses on religion, the rise of films with this content scared the audience as it suggested that nothing can protect you, not even religion which gives crucifixes a frightening connotation due to this era of films.

1980

Hellraiser

With the development of technology, the possibility of realistic costumes and graphics allowed film makers to create visually immersive experiences that are frightful. For example, horrors such as The Fly, Hellraiser and Nightmare on Elm street was released, 

Nightmare on elm street

The Fly

1990

Misery

Silence of the lambs

There was a dramatic turn from monsters and the supernatural in the 1990's and a new interest of horror was introduced in the from of normal looking characters, however, they were serial killers or psychopaths. For example the films, Misery, Silence of the lamb and Seven all feature a realistic character. The use of normal appearing characters makes it more unnerving and frightening as anyone can be like this.

Seven

2000's
The 2000's have introduced us to the sub genre, teen horror, also known as slasher horror where a group of teenagers are killed one by one, for example Scream, Shrooms and Wrong Turn. The 2000's also recreate old horrors to make them even more scary, the horror films of the 2000 have become so realistic in terms of gore, there is a non stop demand to be scared and draws on real life murders or situations to unnerve audiences than ever before. 

• Comedy Horror: Comedy horror combines comedy with traditional horror movie themes and characters. Comedy horror has the intention to scare audiences but also allows comedic interludes to allow the audience to laugh at their fear. 

Examples of Comedy Horror Films

Beetle juice

Zombie land 

• Teen Horror: A teen horror is a horror film that revolves entirely around a group of teenagers and the target audience of this genre is teenagers 15 onward. The situations that are involved in teen horrors is, high school, prom, first sexual encounter, and turns them into suspenseful situations. 

Examples of Teen Horror films

I know what you did last summer

Scream 

• Supernatural Horror: A sub genre that includes ghosts, demons, devils and other supernatural occurrences. 

Example of supernatural horror films:

The Ring

Insidious 

THE CONVENTIONS OF HORROR 

Setting: of a horror usually consists of isolated areas suggesting to viewers that there is no help around for miles. This immediately creates a sense of danger for the audience as they can prejudge that something bad will occur where help is needed. For example the cabin in the woods, House of wax, wrong turn and saw all feature an isolated setting where help is unreachable. The cabin in the woods is a reclusive setting.

Lighting is used to create a sense of danger, for example shadows are cast to make the audience nervous as what they are seeing is unknown creating tension for both the characters and the audience. Light flickering also suggests that something dark is approaching the scene, causing the audience to be scared as darkness has many dangerous connotations. Darkness is the unknown. As well as darkness creating the mood of the film/scene, it can also be used to portray a character, for example half of the characters face can be in light and the other half in darkness, suggesting that this character is mysterious and cannot be trusted as half of the character isn't revealed. However lighting in this way can be used to reveal something about the character, for example half of the characters face could be deformed in some way.

Horror:Lighting Low Key

Halloween:Low Key Lighting 

Costumes:and makeup vary within horrors as the “horror” of the film may be an ordinary person or it may be a mutated monster of some sort. The generic costumes of a typical horror is jeans and a t-shirt to show the age and the personality  of the characters and the danger of the film, usually the killer, is in dark, obscure clothing that doesn't give their identity away. For example in Scream, the killer is dressed in a black cloak and ghost mask.  

Props are used within horrors such as weapons, for example a gun, axe, and knife. Within horrors that are set within a house, antiques are used to show the age of the house and cobwebs are used to show the neglect, adding to the isolation. Paintings are often used to portray something sinister, for example this is used within the omen to set the overall tone of the film.

Sound is used to create suspense, Foley sound is key to any horror film and can be in the form of footsteps, creaks, screams, etc. It adds to the suspense of the scene and typical sounds you expect to hear in a horror is creaking of floor boards and loud bangs and footsteps that is usually added after. Fast and loud non diegetic sound is used to make the audience jump or feel on edge, for example within psycho, the shower scene uses exaggerated music to make the audience feel scared and the sharpness of the music is symbolic of the sharp stabs the woman will suffer.

 

Typical characters. Typical horror movie characters consist of the blonde girl who is the first victim, the pretty one who is there to be aesthetically pleasing. The pretty girl is usually there for the sex appeal, this character is often first to be killed.

The sex appeal

 The second character to be killed is the irritating character that the audience is glad is killed off. The athletic male, usually the one in charge as he is the most seemingly strongest.

The geek who is the weakest of the group and usually there is a couple who add an element of romance to the movie. The couple may also be substituted for brother and sister. This allows the audience to be involved as they may have a partner or sibling, puts them in a fake situation as to how they would feel if it was their sibling. For example in the house of wax, the two characters that are escape the clutches of the psychopaths are brother and sister, showing that the bond never breaks even through the most difficult of times. 

House Of Wax: Brother and Sister

Editing is used to show various things within horrors, for example a low angle suggests superiority between characters. Also point of view shots help create a sense of how it is for the characters and  involves the audience more. However hand held camera shots are usually confusing for the audience creating even more tension. Editing is important for setting the scenes and atmosphere of the film, for example fast paced editing may scare the audience if the previous shots have been short and long. fast paced editing allows the audience to infer that something is approaching, or within a chase scene the shots may become quicker. Jump cuts may be used to sow that two scenes are linked, this can also be achieved through dissolves and various other transitions. For example in Don`t look now when the Fathers pictures get a red smudge on them, it is symbolic of his daughters red rain coat and the fact she drowns.

Iconography 

Iconography is the visuals in which we see that allows us to see/spot that the film is a horror. For example the iconography of a typical horror is weapons such as an axe. 

Themes in horrors are used to scare audiences as well as entertain. Horror films usually cover strange and unfold twists to create a successful horror. Themes are the common types of  horror films, typical themes are, revenge, haunting, gore, demons, serial killers, ect. Themes usually create sub genres, such as horror mystery, paranormal horror, slasher, ect. Themes of horrors vary from, revenge, to good versus evil, lust, obsession, ect.  

Trailer of a horror

As well as genres there are also sub genres which is a combination of two genres. For example Disaster films are derived from action and thriller. Genres can be identified via the repeated use of generic codes and conventions. Codes are a system of signs which create meaning and conventions are the typical way of doing something. The codes within film can range from the lighting, editing, cinematography and sound. Conventions however are the common uses of similar narratives, characters which are often stereotypes to be more relatable for the audience and mise en scene.

Within particular genres the audience will identify similarities within narratives and iconography.
Narrative
Audiences are able to identify similar plots and structures, predictable situations, obstacles and often resolution and conflicts.
Iconography 
Within films the iconography acts as a visual in aid to the audiences as they can identify common images or objects within a certain genre. For example, blood, knives and derelict houses are the common iconography of a horror film.

Genre Theories

1.Rick Altman 1999: argues that there is no genre anymore as it films continuously progress creating new genres. Altman says that generic conventions are a thing of the past due to audiences have become used to the same formula and therefore want something different. Altman argues that genre is only surviving due hybrid films, films which  combine more than one genre and conventions of film which makes it harder to categorise. An example of a hybrid is Sean of the dead which has elements of a comedy, generic codes and conventions and a zombie movie. Altman also stated that genre offers the audience a set of pleasures. The pleasures include:
Emotional pleasures: The emotional pleasures a genre offers are significant when they generate a strong audience response

Visceral pleasures: Visceral pleasures are gut responses and are defined by how the films content and construction elicits a direct effect upon its audience. This can range form revulsion to a roller coaster ride.

Intellectual puzzles: Certain film genres such as thrillers offer the pleasure in trying to unravel a mystery or a puzzle. Pleasure is derived from the deciphering of the puzzle within the plot or the plot itself can be the puzzle. Predicting the end of the film and being surprised by the unexpected also give pleasure to the audience.


2.Tom Ryall 1978: states that genre provides a framework of structuring rules which act as a from of guidance over the production of film makers and the understanding of the audience. This is achieved via-
Iconographies: Symbolic symbols associated with the genre.

Narrative: Structure, open and closed narrative.

Representations: Representations of characters and their stereotypes.

Ideologies: The belief and ideas of the ideal concept/theme.

Recognising the genre of the film enables us to feel comfortable and we gain enjoyment from spotting the generic conventions and making comparisons to other films of the same genre.

3.Steve Neale 1980: declares that genres are instances of repetition and differences and that difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre as more repetition would not attract the audience.

4.Douglas Pye: Films have to conform to audience expectations about narrative. The various ways this can be represented is via: Cinematography, choice of colour, mise-en-scene, editing and locations.

5.John Hartley: states that the same film can belong to different genres in different countries or times.


By identifying the genre theories, I am now able to see if the theories can be identified within our film plot. Rick Altman's genre theory can be seen throughout our plot as it is not one set genre and we have broken the common form and structure the audience expects to see. The ways in which we have achieved this in our film plot is via the use of the combination of two genres, the dystopian future which still resembles the century we live in now but also we conform to Rick Altman's set of pleasures. The intellectual puzzle pleasure is evoked through the ending of our short film as the audience can gain pleasure by being surprised by the unexpected which is what we aim to achieve.