The document discusses genre conventions for gangster films, westerns, and musicals. Gangster films were prohibited from portraying gangsters as folk heroes under the Hays Code and featured distinctive contemporary hoodlum costumes. Westerns typically involve an individual solving conflicts in a morality tale featuring good versus evil, use landscape as a character, and distinctive cowboy costumes. Musicals originally had no serious narrative but became more integrated, used ambitious choreographed song-and-dance numbers and high budget sets, and followed commercial formulas.

1. 10
Genre Conventions

2. GENRE

3. Video Study : Gangster

4. Gangster
•Hays Code prohibited portrayal as a folk hero
•Distinctive costume of contemporary hoodlums
•Sub-genres include film noir
•Probably the longest surviving genre

5. Video Study : Western

6. Western
Individual (wanderer/nomadic) solving conflict
Simple morality tale (Good vs Evil)
Landscape as Character
Distinctive costume (Hats, spurs, etc)
Can be sub-divided to a variety of genres such as
Ostern (Soviet made and morally siding with the
American Indians), Spaghetti western and hybrid
versions such as Sci-fi westerns.

7. Musical
No serious attempt at narrative until ‘Integrated Musicals’
Highly choreographed (See Buzby Berkeley shot)
Ambitious high budget sets
Formulaic and the most unashamedly commercial of genres