Genre Theory

Genre - "a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, context, technique, or the like."


Genre can be represented to many things; for example genre painting, genre film and genre fiction. For terms of my coursework I will only be focusing on the film aspect of genre.


In film theory, genre refers to the primary method of film categorization. A "genre" basically refers to films that share similar story lines. For example the basis of a horror movie is to frighten the audience via various techniques such as characters actions and the narrative being told. Showing graphic content and sensitive narrative is a technique that works in to days horror film industry where films such as the Saw films are very popular and are notorious for there graphical bloody scenes. These films have brought up controversy in issues regarding there violence and 'gore', this is because clearly if you watch the 'scariest' film of the 70's or 80's and compare it to present day you can see that over just 20/30 years there has been a massive difference in the sensitivity of the audience, they are becoming more and more 'numb' as time progresses. 

I found this video below very interesting and has helped me develop my knowledge of film genre's  as it shows various types of films.



 The life cycle of a genre:


i. A certain number of media products that share common characteristics
ii. Neologism - Media items share similarities and come up with a name
iii. the name is accepted by the audience and a genre is born
iv. producers start to make products to fit the new genre classification
v. parodies are created
vi. Exception to these rules in case of a manifesto


The Concept of Genre in Film:


Examination of the main debates surrounding the functions and purposes of genre in film, including how, why, definitions of particular genres change according to the contexts of their production.


Media Languages Forms and Conventions:


Codes and conventions of different genres (Stuart Hall's Encode - Decode), historical origins and development over time, construction of realism and other codes, strengths and weaknesses of genre theory.


Media Institutions:


Film industries ‘Hollywood studios’ production line approach to genre associated with specific studios, pre-/post production, distribution, exhibition; genre as marketing tool Media Audiences: pleasures, expectations, audience identification, fans; cults, Media Representations: character types-stereotypes and archetypes, representations of gender, race, nationality, age, sexuality etc, ideological dominant values, typecasting and genre as a ‘reading’ device.




Genre is seen to be 'fundamental to communication' this means that a piece's genre is directly relational to how the piece communicates and what is communicated. Genre makes information more controllable, more rule-bound. Genre makes characters predictable (as they already know what type of character they are), and therefore transforming the world into something more controllable; it offers imaginary solutions to real problems. In film, genres are structures used by film-makers and audience for making meaning. To construct a film within a genre, specific selections are made:- e.g. Western Horses, guns, saloons e.g. Sci-Fi Spaceships, Robots, Laser guns. e.g. Gangster Speakeasy, the moll, black suits. These selections (or paradigms) are Iconongraphical. They are Signifiers. (Iconography/mise en scene) Genre and narrative Beyond the surface features of any genre are Themetic Precoccupations and Ideological Emphases. e.g Jurassic Park is about responsible application of science and technology, where Scream is a preoccupation with the morality of teenagers.
 ref.

Characters

Our film trailer is going to be based on one main character whom the storyline and plot is going to be based around. The main character is going to be in a relationship, the male role being played by, Hayden Simmons (group member), and the female role being played, Karen Smith.

Other anomalous characters may be used in our film trailer. These characters would be of both genders, and portrayed to the audience as surgeons and friends of the couple. These characters will not be seen in the film trailer, only heard by the use of a voice over, therefore we felt that we didnt really need to develop these characters in more depth.

Although our storyline involves a couple, our storyline and film trailer will be mainly based around the female character. We chose to base our storyline around a couple because that is one of the main themes of a romantic genre, however due to our hybrid genre involving tragedy, we made the decision to make the female character the victim in our storyline and plot, this is because we felt that females are stereotypically portrayed as the victim in films of any genre.

Above, and in our final ideas, we have outlined the actor/actresses who will be playing the role of our main character and our mains characters partner. We decided that Karen Smith was the best suited actress for the  female part because she is a very talented, experienced actress, who is a quick learner and takes good direction and is extremely versatile. Hayden (Group member) have chosen to take on the role of the male part because he has some acting experience and because Karen Smith is a close friend of mine and Hayden's; meaning we could easily create the chemistry needed between the couple, in order to make their relationship look believable to the audience. 

We felt as a group that we needed to create a character profile for our main character whom, Karen Smith will be playing. This is so we can create a fully crafted, three dimensional character, in order for Karen Smith to have a better understanding of the role she is going to be acting out. In theory we are hoping this will produce a more realistic, believable character on screen, that an audience can build a close relationship with, feeling sympathy for her, and therefore interacting with the film more.

We hope that the chemistry between our main character and her partner, as well as the relationship with the audience, will produce a more successful film trailer, as the audience will interact and identify more with the main character and her partner, letting their guard down, and making it easier to create atmosphere and tension that relates to the nature of our film trailer.

Below is a simple character profile that I have produced for our main character. There is a picture of the actress in the middle so you can visualise what the character is going to look like, as well as being able to understand the type of role our actress will be playing.

Character Profile of Main Character:


Karen Smith:

Plot Summary

Our brief states that we have to produce a promotional package for a film; one of the aspects included in this promotional package is to produce a film trailer. A film trailer is structured around the most appealing aspects of a whole film, without taking conventional narrative order into consideration. Therefore we needed to have a clear idea of what our whole film would entail, in order for us to structure our film trailer around the most appealing aspects, causing it to be comparable to existing media products on the market.

Before we wrote our plot summary, we decided to research into what the objectives of a plot summary were, enabling me to write a more professional plot summary for our audience.

The Objectives of a Plot Summary:

The objective of a summary is to condense a large amount of information into a short, accessible format. It is not to reproduce the experience of watching a film, nor to cover every detail. For those who have not seen the film, it should serve as a general overview of the major points. For those who have, it should be detailed enough to refresh their memory – no more.

Below is a plot summary for our film.

Plot Summary:

Set in England, Katy had finally found her ‘happy ever after,’ which she had longed for since she was a child. As a beautiful, smart woman, married to the love of her life – a passionate, sweet, handsome man named John. Katy felt as though her life was complete and that nothing would ever go wrong. It came as a huge shock when John died due to a rare condition known as SADS – referred to as ‘Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome,’ leaving Katy broken, and alone. Subconsciously Katy refused to let go; her mind began to create life like fantasies with John in which she lives through whilst she dreams. This longing for John back in her life leads Katy to consume masses of sleeping pills and alcohol to help her sleep more, enabling them to be together again. Katy looses a sense of reality, believing that when she is in fact awake, she is having nightmares. This obsession leaves her life in ruins, making her feel even more shut off to the world than she did before. Her severe depression leads to thoughts of taking an overdose, however after failing to follow through, Katy decides its time to get her life back on track. Katy puts her past to one side as if it never happened and attempts to move forward with her life, however Katy starts hallucinating. Believing that she is going crazy and that John has come back to haunt her, Katy has a mental breakdown and kills herself.