1. “Genre and the Genre System” By: John Belton Presentation By: Cassie Branum

2. Outline/Aims n Gain an Understanding Genres (15 minutes) n Watch Clips and Have Group Discussion (10 minutes) n Review Questions (5 minutes)

3. GENRE n “refers to a kind, type, or category of a particular phenomenon or thing” n “used to designate various categories of motion picture production”

4. Examples of Basic Genres n Musicals n Comedies n Action and Adventure Films n Crime and Detective Films n Horror and Science-Fiction Films n Suspense Films n Disaster Films

5. Examples of Various Genres

6. Subgenres n From the main genre, the movie can be broken down into a subgenre or subdivision.

7. Examples of Subgenres n Romantic Comedies: n Action Adventure Disaster:

8. Why do we have genres? n Genres stabilize the film industry, which is definitely described as unstable. n Instability occurs because of the high costs in creating films. “In 1950, a film would cost about 2.2 million. As of 1991, films costs range from 50 million” to infinite amounts as seen with Titanic.

9. Risks with Creating a Film n The Money Issue n The Product Itself: A movie is not something that the consumer can take home and use. A movie is not something that can be pin pointed by a “brand name.”

10. What can help to Compensate? n The Star System: who is who and who is popular in current films n The Genre System: developing films that have popular genres; “represents an attempt by the film industry to control the entertainment marketplace”

11. How did the genre system occur? n “The proven success of one movie leads to another movie with a similar theme but a different essential plot.” Example: Scream leading to I Know What You Did Last Summer & Scary Movie n Or, one movie leads to a sequel of the original. Examples: Godfather, Jaws, Indiana Jones

12. Fixed Settings within the Genre n “Each genre has fixed settings that new films draw from.” n These settings include: body of characters, story types, settings, situations, costumes, and props

13. If all films have specific similarities, what brings in the audience? n The prospect of a new twist. n The audience is “enticed by the prospect of seeing a film that differs in a number of respects from films they have seen before.”

14. In Closing... n “By looking at a large body of films within individual genres, we can see how those genres help to shape and are shaped by our understanding of American culture, character, and identity.”

15. Review Questions n What is a genre? n Why do we have genres? n Name a few with a film example.