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.
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