While you wait………… Review any films you’ve seen Look at the box office figures – what do you notice?

Workroom C3.1 - Media office Julie Ham Julie.ham@bilborough.ac.uk Workroom C3.1 - Media office

Objectives for the session To explore the concept of genre. To identify aspects of genre theory. To apply genre theory to film examples.

What is film form? Genre Narrative Cinematography Editing Sound Macro elements Micro elements Genre Narrative Cinematography Editing Sound Mise en scene Performance

What is GENRE?

Watch the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy (2014 James Gunn) What is the genre of the film? Write down three ways in which the trailer tells the audience the genre. http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3390942489?ref_=ttvi_vi_imdb_8

Watch the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy (2014 James Gunn) How does it differ from the first trailer – what does it suggest about the film? http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4087983129?ref_=ttvi_vi_imdb_7

Group Task Read the information about genre. Use the information to develop detailed examples of the generic conventions of either horror or comedy films. Summarise the information in a spider diagram.

What did you find out?

Identifying Genre What genre is this film? Why?

Identifying Genre Conventions 1 – Iconography What characters and character types? Location/Setting? Props/Costume?

Identifying Genre Conventions 2 Plot events - What were they talking about? What has happened? What do you think will happen? Sound – how were they talking? What was the dialogue like? Were there any SFX? If not, what SFX would you expect later on?

Identifying Genre Using your notes write 3 sentences summarising what you know about the genre of Miller’s Crossing (1990, Coen Bros).

Genre Theory Film theorists suggest that genre is more complicated than simply sorting films by type. The audience has to be involved in recognising genres for them to work. Producers have to understand genre in order to make the films.

There is a relationship between producer, audience and film text How genre works Audience Genre Text Producer There is a relationship between producer, audience and film text

Genre and Producers (the industry) Genre is good for producers because: It allows successful stories to be ‘remade’. It can guarantee audiences for the films. It can be used to sell and market films. Also, Christine Gledhill notes that: ‘…differences between genres meant different audiences could be identified and catered to...’

Genre and Audiences Audiences like genre films because expectations will be fulfilled and they find pleasure in this and predicting what will happen. But simple repetition will not attract an audience so genre films have to be a mix of the familiar and unexpected

Key Term Generic Hybrid This is the term used to describe a film that mixes together established conventions from different genres

Key Term Generic Hybrid This is the term used to describe a film that mixes together established conventions from different genres

Evolution of Genre Christian Metz: The experimental stage The classical stage The parody stage The deconstruction stage

Task In pairs/small groups, research one stage of the evolution of the vampire horror genre or the zombie film. Watch the examples of films and explain why they fit into the stage suggested by Christian Metz Be prepared to explain your stage and example to the rest of the group.

Sharing Information Get into your new groups Explain your stage with at least 1 example. Make notes on other people’s explanations and examples.

The experimental stage: the earliest contributions to the genre or sub-genre. In this stage generic conventions have not yet been fully established. There are recognisable elements of the genre (in hindsight) but audiences and producers are just beginning the negotiation of what the genre should include. The films in the experimental stage of genre are successful and therefore begin the development of the genre. (E.g. silent horror films of the 1920s) Information for group 1 (print out)

The classical stage: the genre is established, and its conventions are widely used and recognised. Audiences know what to expect from the genre and producers will include the conventions in the films to fulfil these audience expectations. Generic conventions are easily identifiable and regularly repeated in genre films. (E.g. gothic horror 1930s – 1970s)

The parody stage: in this stage of genre, the films show awareness of their own conventions and this can lead to different types of films being produced. One type of film will make fun of the generic conventions that the audience expects in order to create comedy. The audiences are often not able to take the films seriously as the conventions have now become clichéd. This leads to comic spoofs such as Scary Movie in the horror genre. Another type of film in this stage can be the self-conscious genre film. These type of films are aware of themselves as a genre film and use the audience’[s knowledge of conventions to engage them. For example, Scream is aware of itself as a ‘slasher’ horror as many of the traditional conventions are discussed by the cast as they try to evade death.

The deconstruction stage: when generic conventions are seen outside of their original context. Conventions may also be transformed so that their original meaning is no longer applicable. Traditional characters, storylines and plots may be developed so that the original audience expectations are transformed completely. Hybrids and new sub-genres emerge (these types then may go on to be parodied or deconstructed further). Sub-genres are different varieties of the same genre. Horror films for example could be gothic horror (vampires/werewolf etc.), slashers, zombie or ghost.

Genre Summary At a basic level genre is a type of film. Genre works because the audience and producers of films understand conventions. Genre films have to be a mix of the familiar and unexpected.

Homework . On Moodle: Read through the genre quotes and write an explanation of what they mean.