WJEC GCE AS Film Studies Stuart Grenville-Price FM1 Exploring Film Form
An Introduction to Film Genre
Nosferatu (F.W.Murnau 1922)
The origin of the word ‘Genre’ is French and means ‘type’ or ‘kind’ .
This key concept, like narrative, is one of the two macro elements of Film Studies. Genre refers to the fact that most films fall into a category or type.
What is at stake in the study of genres is how these repetitive categories are made use of in society. Film genres are categories, each with a set of typical codes and conventions. Activity***** * * *
1) Why
is genre a good thing for producers?
Your thoughts or answer:
2) Why is genre a good thing for audiences? Your thoughts or answer:
The characteristics of genre include: The creation of a set of expectations in the audience. It is a fundamental way in which film texts are understood. Genres are made up of a set of codes and conventions recognised by audiences over time. In one sense they give advance notice of what to expect, which allows the consumer/audience the active choice of whether to be involved with it. Recognition by audiences is the main feature and in terms of choosing a film it can be an instant process.This suggests that the openings of films are very important. The meeting of these expectations in a film can equal pleasure and customer satisfaction.
The creation of characteristics and formulas by producers which audiences can recognise. At a textual level this involves narrative, iconography, mise en scéne, themes and representation. Genres function like a language, offering sets of rules and a way of talking about texts to organise meaning in them. Or at the level of what Neale (1990) describes as ‘inter textual relay’. He suggests that, because organisations name, label and brand their products, they help to reinforce generic categories through these processes.
OnceUpon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone 1968)
A relationship between audiences and producers which minimises the risk of financial failure It is, therefore, implicated or constructed for commercial consumption. Formulas and repeats of ideas are commonplace in film production as they offer the promise of security for both parties involved in the transaction.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill 1969)
Dynamism and flexibility. The dangers of staleness, even sterility, are ever present. Hence generic mutation is required to maintain a genre’s vitality.
1. This can be range from minor changes such as using the same hero (but played by a different actor). EXAMPLE: Or it could challenge the dominant systems of representation such as casting a woman as the central hero.
EXAMPLE: 2. Their boundaries are approximate and shifting to offer audiences more points of engagement with the text. Neale (1990) describes the processas follows
‘individual genres not only form part of the generic regime, but also themselves change, develop and vary by borrowing from, and overlapping, with one another.’
Thus many genres can be mixed to create generic hybrids and offer a range of pleasures and recognition points for audiences.
At an ideological level genres can offer comforting reassurance and a sense of the closing down of the complexities of life. When we settle down with a box of chocolates and a glass of wine with our favourite film (soap opera, magazine etc also) we rarely expect our assumptions about how we live to be challenged. Our ideas and values will often find reinforcement from the textual construction - the audience cues it offers and our ability to recognise how the text ‘hails’ us – and in addition, from the ways in which our sense of identification with the text has been created through a range of media. Hence star interviews and trailers have an important role in establishing this reassurance.
Genre glossary: Codes = Visual or Aural signs which create meaning. Semiotics = another name for signs. Semiology = the study of signs. Conventions are what is expected or familiar in a text. Hybrid – a text made of more than one genre Intertextuality : Parody: a spoof or mocking of a text or genres codes and conventions. Pastiche: intentionally copies the style of someone else's work or is intentionally in various styles Bricolage: a piece created from diverse resources Homage: a reverent or respectful version or tribute Sub-genre – a spin-off from an established major genre into a more specific genre with its own sets of codes and conventions