2. Within the film industry, genre is the term for how a film is
categorised based on similarities in the narrative elements.
Besides the basic distinction in genre between fiction and
documentary, film genres can be categorised in several
ways. Most dramatic feature films, especially from Hollywood
can fall fairly comfortably into one of a long list of film genres
such as horror, romantic comedy, crime, thriller, western,
musical and many others.
Many of these genres have sub-genres, as in the case of the
courtroom and trail-focused subgenre within drama known
as the legal drama. These are categorised by setting, subject
or distinctive national style. They can be combined to form
hybrid genres, such as science and fiction (Sci-fi) and
romance and comedy (Rom-Com).
3. Daniel Chandler: Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the
notion that they constitute particular conventions of content (such as themes
or settings) and or/form (including structure and style) which are shared by the
texts which are regarded as belonging to them.
Steve Neale: Declares that ‘genres are instances of repetition and difference’.
He adds that ‘difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre’:
more repetition would not attract an audience.
Rick Altman: Argues that genres are usually defined in terms of media
language or certain ideologies and narratives.
David Bordwell: notes that ‘any theme may appear in any genre’ (Bordwell
1989, 147). He concludes by saying that ‘one could... argue that no set of
necessary and sufficient conditions can mark off genres from other sorts of
grouping in ways that all experts of ordinary film-goers would find acceptable’.
Robert Stam: refers to common ways of categorising films: While some genres
are based on story content (war film), others are borrowed from literature
(comedy, melodrama) or from other media (musical). Some are performer-based
(Astaire-Rogers films) or budget-based (blockbuster), while other are
based on artistic status (art film), racial identity (Black cinema), location
(Western) or sexual orientation (Queer cinema). (Stam 2000, 14)
4. These different theorists link to the horror
genre as the codes and conventions can be
applied because horror films typically contain
an isolated setting with a supernatural set of
events with a weak victim. There is also
usually dull lighting to create an eerie
atmosphere.
