Genre Class Work

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Genres Class Work

• Anna Ryan

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The Schema of Elements
Originally, we mind-mapped some elements of the
horror genre to start us on our genre work. Here
are a few examples
Narrative Usually starts off with unsuspecting
characters who live their lives in school or
moving into a new house Everything seems fine
until something goes wrong Usually one survivor
at the end, when everyone else is dead Someone
always going into the attic where the loud noises
are coming from
Settings Somewhere scary-looking Somewhere
abandoned Somewhere haunted like a haunted
house Somewhere safe like a school where
everything seems fine until something bad happens
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The Schema of Elements - Contiued
Stock Characters The villain/murderer/psychopath
Unsuspecting main character who survives (like
shown in Scream) Someone who gets killed/
kidnapped early in the film Some who knows whats
going on, but nobody will listen to them The
alpha male/ leader of the group A misleading
character who appears good at the start, but
turns out to be bad
Iconography Blood Colours of red, black,
dark Dark lighting Screaming victim Binary
opposites of good vs evil Weapons
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Genre Change
We tried to develop a horror story ideas based
around three things a rubber ball, a tree and a
witch. Originally we had a story where a young
boy is in a tree house. He can see an old womans
garden from his tree house. He falls out the
treehouse but manages to brush himself off,
getting up to play again. The boy is playing with
a ball. He accidentally kicks it over the fence
into the old womans garden and jumps the fence
to try and retrieve it. As it turns out, the old
woman is, in fact, a witch. The witch kidnaps the
boy and kills him.
After having a solid horror story, we tried to
create a hybrid genre, so our ideas changed to
accommodate that genre. For example, we wanted to
create a Sci- Fi genre. Therefore, we had an idea
where the witch could in fact not be a witch, but
an alien from space, whos ship had crashed and
she was stuck on earth. This idea changed our
idea into a Sci-Fi, horror genre, as the witch
would still kidnap the boy and kill him.
We then changed our idea even further by changing
the ending, so the audience wouldnt know what
actually happened to the boy. There would only be
an ending shot of the ball rolling in front of
the camera, the boy absent. This would create the
hybrid genre of mystery. That would create a
story of horror, sci-fi and mystery, which is
more likely to draw in an audience and attract
different audiences.
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Hybrid Genres
Genre itself is a way to categorise different
works, whether that be in written fiction,
television, film or even music. Those are just a
few examples. Genre is like a set of rules,
agreed upon by fans of the genre. Hybrid genres
happen when someone tries to merge one or more
genres.
An example of a modern, hybrid genre is Science
Fiction and Fantasy. Avatar would be a good
example of that. Another popular hybrid genre
would be Romantic Comedy, which has been used so
frequently, its almost become its own genre.
Examples of that would be Pretty Woman, Love
Actually and Bridget Jones Diary.
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Genre Ingredients
As a rule of genre, they all have common
techniques, ingredients or features associated
with that particular genre, where people can
recognise the genre for what it is. Here are a
few examples
Science Fiction With Science Fiction, you can
always almost expect to find an alien of some
sort. And an alien space ship. A lot of the time,
its not set on earth. The Hitchhikers Guide To
The Galaxy being an example. Lighting wise, the
films are often quite bright and clean.
Romance The Romance genre almost always focusses
on two people who are in love. They usually both
have families, who sometimes oppose their
relationship, but they always end up together in
the end, even if it means leaving their
respective partners. You can always almost cry at
a Romance genre. They usually have two attractive
leads stereotypically, a male and a female.
Murder Mystery Someone always has to be
killed. Usually more than one person is
killed. Theres always a detective. Its usually
quite a dark film. For example, Sherlock Holmes.
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Genre Theory
Whilst looking at genre, we looked at some genre
theorists and what they were saying about
genre. John Hartley said the addition of just
one film to a genre changed that genre as a
whole This is true to modern, mainstream films
that are popular now. For example, The Hunger
Games is originally a Science Fiction genre, as
its set in the future, in a world different from
the one we live in today. If we include the
relationship of Katniss and Peeta (the two main
characters), it changes the story into a romance
film, probably even more so then Science
Fiction. Another theorist, Deborah Knight
mentioned that Genre may offer various
emotional pleasures, such as empathy and
escapism. We enjoy identifying with characters
and imagining ourselves living out their
experiences. This made me think how its true
for many and most films out there today,
especially relatable ones. Chick flick and
Romantic Comedies, especially, as they live out
normal lives until something completely normal
but extraordinary happens at the same time. This
makes it easier to put ourselves in their shoes,
as its more likely for someone to fall in love,
rather than be transported to space.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF GENRE
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Popular Genres
There are many, many, many genres out there, not
even including hybrid-genres. With so many, its
hard to distinguish which ones are the most
popular and most successful. And despite all the
hybrid-genres and so much choice to choose from,
the main genres seem to be most successful.
For example, according to Movie Distribution
Facts (http//moviedistributionfacts.wordpress.co
m/tag/popular-movie-genres/) , the most popular
film genres include Sci-Fi, Comedy, Fantasy and
Romance, with Titanic as 600, 788 million box
office film gross. Despite this being mainly
romance, it is a hybrid film with Tragedy.
However, according to the Oscars, their most
popular genre is Drama. And why is this?
According to the theorist John Hartley, the
addition of just one film to a genrechanges that
genre as a whole.
This suggests that the film most popular within
these popular film genres, has combined with
other genres to add something else to that genre.
This makes sense as, if the genre becomes too
predictable, it can lose its audience, and
changes happen in the social attitude of the
genre. Nobody really talks about it in a good
light. Also, it means there can be a cultural
shifts, causing the genre to become old
fashioned, until its reinvented. These genres
could have been reinvented in some way.
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Popular Genres Continued
For example the romance genre. Theres a genre
branching off that called the romantic comedy. It
gives a new and interesting twist to a romantic
film. Or, again with Titanic, thats a romance
with a tragedy, rather than just a romance film,
which makes people appreciate the love story as
well as cry. This type of love story- tragedy
could have been inspired by something as early as
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
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Short Film to Feature Film
Some short films are so popular that they even
get made into full, length feature films. An
example of this would be Across The Hall,
originally a two part short film, which was made
into a full feature film. Another short film is
Cashback (about an art student who takes a job at
a later-night supermarket after suffering from
insomnia, which was originally exhibited in 2004,
and made into a feature film in 2006. The short
film was very popular and received several awards
at international film festivals. It was also
nominated for an Academy Award for Best
Live-Action Short Film. Despite its success as a
short film, Cashbacks feature film received
tepid reviews. A third popular short film that
was made into a full, feature length was the
animated film 9. The story included rag dolls
who survive in a post apocalyptic world, and
caught the eye of Tim Burton. It was re-released
as a feature film, including a popular cast of
Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly and John C.
Reilly. Once again, the film received an
unenthusiastic response, despite the short film
being showered with many awards.
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Short Film Awards
Here is a website specifically designed for
finding the best short films http//www.filmsshor
t.com/ It included the best short films for
different countries, as well as different genres.
There are all different types of genres, even
including Animation and Christmas. The prizes
include exposure, which is what aspiring
directors want. Sniffer, directed by Bobby
Peers won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film
festival. Its a Science Fiction/Fantasy, where
everyone has the ability to fly.
The Chubbchubbs! is a short, animated film
written by Jeff Wolverton and directed by Erin
Armstrong. It won Best Short animation Oscar in
2003 and was nominated for a BAFTA in the same
year.
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Genres within Short Films
There are many genres of short films out there,
and with so many to choose from, its hard to see
which ones are most popular or have a large fan
base.
The Thriller genre seems to be vey popular among
short films, as its easy to provide a shocking
shot film that will allow the audience to
remember it. Here is a website specifically
designed for short films belonging to the
Thriller genre http//shortsbay.com/category/thri
ller It shows popular short film that an audience
can watch and enjoy. However, what seems even
more popular than the Thriller Genre is the
Romance genre, as the same website seems to have
a lot more videos of romance http//shortsbay.com
/category/romance The amount of films on the
website shows that the Romance genre has a bigger
fan base, as more people seem to enjoy making
short films belonging to that genre. It could
also suggest that there is more of an audience
for the Romance genre, as aspiring film directors
arent going to make films they think wont
capture an audience.
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Films released in September, October November,
2013
November Carrie, The Hunger Games Catching Fire,
Saving Mr Banks, Doctor Who Day of THE Doctor,
Muse Live in Rome, Not My Life and many more.
October Sharknado, The Fifth Estate, Last
Passenger, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Thor The
Dark World
December Frozen, 12 Dogs of Christmas A Puppy
Rescue, The Christmas Candle, American Hustle,
Justin Biebers Believe
Where almost all genres appear in this month,
there are some that are more there than others.
For example, Decembers seems to follow a pattern
of family friendly Christmas films. This is
because its Christmas, so there would be a large
market for Christmas films. Also, families tend
to do more with their children at Christmas,
therefore the more family movies, the better. For
example, Frozen, an animation, is suitable for
Christmas and Children. Also, in the lead up to
Christmas, there are many more Fantasy and
Science Fiction films released. For example, The
Hunger Games and Doctor Who in October, Thor in
October. These few months are where people are
feeling in a magical, Christmas spirit, therefore
resulting in them going to see films where they
can imagine themselves in all different types of
fantasy situations (Deborah Knights theory).
Another thing to notice about this, is that these
Fantasy/ Science Fiction genres are also suitable
for Children, allowing them to reel in that
audience.
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Film released in May, June, July 2014
May Broadways Romeo and Juliet, Divergent, Noah,
The Amazing Spider Man 2, Love Punch
June Maleficent, The Legend of Oz Dorothys
return, X Men Days of Future Past, Godzilla,
Tarzan
July The Fault In Our Stars, Jersey Boys, A
Haunted House 2, Holiday!, Mrs. Browns Boys
DMovie
Unlike the opposite end of the spectrum, with
September, October, November, there isnt any
obvious pattern. However, there are a lot of
films in July suited for teenagers, (such as
romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy) suggesting
films have aimed for them being off school,
therefore them being able to go to the cinema.
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Genre Patterns
Different genres and sub-genres have been popular
over periods of time. For example, in the 1980s,
the top grossing films of the decade included
Batman, The Empire Strikes Back, Indiana Jones
and the Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters and
more. As you can see, the genres most common
here are Science Fiction and Fantasy. This could
be to do with the sudden increase of technology.
The 1980s saw the personal computer, CDs and
other technology like that. Audiences may have
wanted to see films with technology in, because
technology was starting to come to light. Another
explanation is that, because of the appearance of
technology, directors and producers were using
technology more in their films, allowing them to
create believable science fiction and fantasy
genres.
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Genre Patterns - Continued
Currently, in 2013, the top grossing films
include Maleficent, Captain America, Guardians
of the Galaxy, How to Train You Dragon 2 and a
few others. As well as back in the 1980s, there
seems to be a current genre pattern of science
fiction and/or fantasy. Furthermore, there are
more options for children now (a few examples
being Maleficent and How to train your Dragon 2),
which wasnt in previous years. This suggests
that more teenagers and children and going to the
cinema to see films, as genres seem to be popping
up for them.
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Conclusion

• In conclusion, genre and how to identify a genre
  relies on many different things. Be that the
  schema of elements, genre ingredients or how
  hybrid genres mould together to make new and
  interesting films. Genre is a big part of film
  and television.