Genres are important in the film and media industries because the consumers and audiences can easily establish the differences between media forms; genres also help to establish specific codes and conventions that film makers and media producers can follow in order to make the product look a certain way, attract a specific audience and to creat a specific effect. Hence, why it also helps to establish certain expectations and familiarities in audiences. Genres also help the audiences to dvelop their own tastes around genres and consumptions (what they like and dont like).
As well as genres there are also sub-genres and hybrid genres. Sub-genres are subdivisions of main genres. Hybrid genres are are cross between themes and elements of two or more genres. There are also genre tropes which basically means the use of figurative language via through words or phrases. Genres are established and recognised by the audience through codes and conventions. Codes and conventions are signs or signals that the audience can make links to certain genres, for example if the film contains allot of humour, puns and jokes, then the audience can assume that the film is a comedy because they recognise the signs of a typical comedy film.
My personal top three favourite genres would have to be comedy, fantasy and action.
Out of my top three favourite film genres, my favourite would have to be comedy because the humour in comedy fims make me laugh allot and entertains me, which is why i like to watch films. Hence why theorists Blumner and Katz say that one of the reasons society watch films is because they want to be entertained. The most common conventions of the genre comedy is that the camera shot are always naturalistic to show that no one is better then the other. Another convention of the genre comedy is that mostly throughout the film the sound is diagetic, meaning that the sounds made in the film are such sounds like dialogue between characters or sounds within the film. Non-diagetic sounds are also used to emphasise certain scenes or shots in the film. Bright or natural lighting is also a typical convention because it creates a natural environment- if a scene is meant to be happy then bright and 'happy' colours such as yellow are used to connote happiness or enjoyment. In terms of props, specific props, especially in slapstick comedy are used to emphasise or help the character to make something funny. For example in one of Charlie Chaplin's silent films, the prop of a piano is used by Chaplin to help his scene become more funny, as that prop of a piano becomes very segnificant in that film. Stereotypical characters are also featured in most comedies and their personalities are emphasised to make the characters much more funny then they actually are, by putting these characters in situations where their personalities and status may not fit with the event in the scene. For example the character in 'Harry Potter', Neville Longbottom, is a typical stock character, which in his case he is a village idiot. This type of stock charcter tends to find themselves allot of the time in comedies because they tend to say or do stupid things which will make the audience laugh. Those are the typical codes and conventions of comedy bu there also different types of comedy, such as slapstick, dark humour and wordplay/wit. Slapstick is a form of comedy in which physical movement and gestures are influenced by clowning (in which case the best example would be Charlie Chaplin's silent films). The second type of comedy would be dark humour- this sub-genre deals with disturbing context such as drugs, abuse war and rape but through humour. The last sub-genre of comedy is wit/wordplay. Wordplay is a more intellectual form of comedy, based on sly, clever puns which have been weeved through by subtle, manipulative language. One of my favourite comedy films has to be 'Knocked Up'. I really like this film because the director Judd Apatow (who also directed another one of the favourite films called 'The 40-year-old-virgin') really made the film funny but the humour was easy to relate to- theoristis Blumner and Katz also said that another reason why we watch films is to relate to certain characters or scenes in films. The characters featured in this film are well known to the type of audience that watch this type of comedy, so the audience as well as myself had an expectation from the director and the actors in how they performed.
My second favourite genre is fantasy. I enjoy watching fantasy films specifically because of the graphic design. The word fantasy is the genre in which contains fairytale like conventions such as magic and supernatural phenomena's as a primary source for the plot, scene or even setting of the film. One of the most tpical conventions of fantasy films are supernatural creatures such as vampires, monsters, fairies and dragons. These characters attract audiences because they are not realistic and are very imaginative, which means that these characters can be and do anything such as have x-ray vision or breathe out fire- it sets the audiences imagination free to believe that anything is possible, however once the film has ended of course the audience are back in reality ad these characters do not exist in the real world. However, having said that, Blumner and Katz also say that another reason why we watch films is to escape from the real world to experience something new and forget about reality-escapism. In terms of sound the soundtracks used in fantasy films are very dark and mysterious which makes the film very dramatic and makes the audience question what is happening. There is more non-diagetic then diagetic sound in fantasy films because the non-diagetic sounds tend to have much more meaning and emphasis in the film then diagetic sound, whether it is through soundtracks, voice overs or through music. Fantasy films can also have similar conventions to horror or sci-fi films, meaning that it is important for the director to make the film easy enough for the audience to extinguish the difference between fantasy, horror and sci-fi films. The difference between fantasy films and horror films is that fantasy films are much more mystical compared to horror films where it is much more gorry and scary for the audience to view. One of my favourite fantasy films has to be 'Pans Labyrinth' directed by Guillermo Del Toro. I really enjoy this film because the director has brought fantasy to the real world, which in this film a young girl is torn between the real world (set at a base camp away from the war) and the fantasy world that she descovers. As well as the amazing graphics of this film, the mystical storyline emphasises how ones imagination can expand so vast, which allows the audience to experience fantasy through the art of film.
My final favourite film genre is action. I enjoy watching action films because there is so much going on inthe storyline that that dont lose interest or get bored, whch can be a problem for allot of viewers, if the storyline is boring or not interestign, then they will lose focus and move on to something else instead of consuming whats in front of them. Action films are basically films in which the characters must complete a task or quest successfully, in which they will be rewarded later on after the quest has been completed. These tasks and quests tend to be directed so that the audience will believe that these tasks are impossible to finish or even attempt, which is why it builds up so such tension and captivates the audiences attention. Action films tend to hybrid with the genres of romance and sci-fi, however the main focus is to still be a action film. The characters in action films tend to be realistic 'everyday' people, despite the fact that the film is unrealistic.When it comes to time periods, action films tend to be set in the present compared to action books, this is done to make the storyline realistic. The theorist Todorov says that in an action film the storyline tends to follow this order:
- Equalibrium: There is no problems, all is calm, everyone is at peace including the hero.
- Disruption: Aproblem occurs, the hero finds out that they have a power or authority and leaves for this mission/quest/task.
- Recognisition of disruption: The hero makes a plan to sort the issue/ problem out.
- Attempts to resolve disruption: Hero goes into battle against enemy to resolve the problem.
- Return to equalibrium: The hero resolves the problem, everything is back to normal.
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