150 likes | 164 Views
“Genre and the Genre System”. By: John Belton Presentation By: Cassie Branum. Outline/Aims. Gain an Understanding Genres (15 minutes) Watch Clips and Have Group Discussion (10 minutes) Review Questions (5 minutes). GENRE.
E N D
“Genre and the Genre System” By: John Belton Presentation By: Cassie Branum
Outline/Aims • Gain an Understanding Genres (15 minutes) • Watch Clips and Have Group Discussion (10 minutes) • Review Questions (5 minutes)
GENRE • “refers to a kind, type, or category of a particular phenomenon or thing” • “used to designate various categories of motion picture production”
Examples of Basic Genres • Musicals • Comedies • Action and Adventure Films • Crime and Detective Films • Horror and Science-Fiction Films • Suspense Films • Disaster Films
Subgenres • From the main genre, the movie can be broken down into a subgenre or subdivision.
Examples of Subgenres • Romantic Comedies: • Action Adventure Disaster:
Why do we have genres? • Genres stabilize the film industry, which is definitely described as unstable. • 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.
Risks with Creating a Film • The Money Issue • 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.”
What can help to Compensate? • The Star System: who is who and who is popular in current films • The Genre System: developing films that have popular genres; “represents an attempt by the film industry to control the entertainment marketplace”
How did the genre system occur? • “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 • Or, one movie leads to a sequel of the original. Examples: Godfather, Jaws, Indiana Jones
Fixed Settings within the Genre • “Each genre has fixed settings that new films draw from.” • These settings include: body of characters, story types, settings, situations, costumes, and props
If all films have specific similarities, what brings in the audience? • The prospect of a new twist. • The audience is “enticed by the prospect of seeing a film that differs in a number of respects from films they have seen before.”
In Closing... • “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.”
Review Questions • What is a genre? • Why do we have genres? • Name a few with a film example.