Genre

1
Genre and its influences on film.
2
How has genres changed over time?
If you look back to the first ever cinematic
films made around the 1900s, comedy was a very
common genre as films did not yet have sound and
silent movies could portray comedy very easily.
Although, if you compare this to comedies from
more recent years, it is extremely easy to
identify the change in what has been considered
comedy over time and the difference in story
lines in films which are utilised to make the
audience laugh. Take for example, Charlie
Chaplin, a famous silent movie actor for his
comical short films, his comedy was based around
silly gags such as his walk, facial expressions
and things such as his unfortunate luck in
situations such as getting trapped in a cage
with a lion.
3
As opposed to this, I want to compare original
comedy genre based films to the ones being
produced in todays modern day cinema, around 100
years later. In my opinion, comedy more than any
other genre has changed the most, as the whole
genre itself has been completely changed and
modernised as time has gone on. Films now
obviously have sound and colour, so film makers
have a lot more flexibility in what they can
produce. Newer comedy films seem to base
themselves more on a world in which we can
identify with characters in humour that we can
all recognise, often with recurring story lines
such as situations with teenagers trying to
appear cool or adults trying to be grown up and
for example, look after the new born baby. The
characters themselves are more often than not
comical in their ways but the comedy is more-so
based on the situations they are faced with and
how they respond to them.
4
Although, setting this aside, it is important to
understand that comedy has expanded in many ways
but still some films, although its unpopular,
still stick to old conventions. Take for
example, Mr. Bean, a show which started in 1990
and has had many episodes and even films made
based around the almost mute comedy character. As
well as this, many genres which can often be
surprising have took on comedy to make the films
more light-hearted in some way and appeal more to
the lifestyle especially of teenagers. An example
of this is The Fault In Our Stars recently made
into a full length feature after the book sold
masses of copies. Although the story follows
teenagers who are terminally ill with cancer, the
film also includes lots of comedy and in ways
mocks the illness itself. This is an example of
how comedy over time has expanded itself and
progressed and grown in new ways to appeal to new
audiences.