MADE BY: HUMNA FEROZE

1. Genre Research
MADE BY: HUMNA FEROZE

2. What is Genre?
Genre (from French genre 'kind, sort') is any form or type of communication in any mode
(written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over
time. Genre is most popularly known as a category of literature, music, or other forms of art or
entertainment, whether written or spoken, audio or visual, based on some set of stylistic
criteria, yet genres can be aesthetic, rhetorical, communicative, or functional. Genres form by
conventions that change over time as cultures invent new genres and discontinue the use of old
ones. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these
conventions. Stand-alone texts, works, or pieces of communication may have individual styles,
but genres are amalgams of these texts based on agreed-upon or socially inferred conventions.
Some genres may have rigid, strictly adhered-to guidelines, while others may show great
flexibility.

3. Film Genre Examples
The basic genres of film can be regarded as drama, in the feature film and most cartoons,
and documentary. Most dramatic feature films, especially war film, horror film, romantic
comedy film, musical, crime film, and many others. Many of these genres have a number of
subgenres, for example by setting or subject, or a distinctive national style, for example in the
Indian Bollywood musical.
The main genres are crime, fantasy, romance, science fiction, western, inspirational, historical
fiction and horror.

4. Why is Genre Important to
Audiences?
Genre creates familiarity amongst audiences so that they know what type of film they like to
watch and what to expect from a certain film genre. Audiences are the main influence on genre
in terms of how they’re created and distributed in order to make them appealing upon their
release at multiplexes as well disc and digital formats. By including typical key conventions
within a film that are linked to a genre, a film will become more appealing to an audience as well
being more easier to recognise which will ultimately mean they will end up watching it. If a film
was not to have any clear genre to it, it’s likely that few people will even watch the film in the
first place.

5. Uses & Gratifications
Audience Pleasures Recognizing iconographies and conventions due to recurring familiarity
Emotional and physical pleasures in response to certain film genres Character judging and
relation A sense of community when watching and enjoying films with others Shifting
expectations via manipulated genres Predictions and expectations being met.

6. Why is Genre important to
producers and institutions?
Genre is key to producers so that they are aware from the start of creating a film, they’ll have to
follow typical conventions so that the film doesn’t lose its focus. This is also the same so that
institutions can pick the correct elements that make up a film such as actors and actresses,
props, setting and most importantly, the storyline and script itself. Additionally, when promoting
a film in terms of a trailer and any other form of advertising campaign, it needs to be made clear
by the institution what the film genre is but to also make sure no story line is essentially given
away. Genre all helps mainly institutions but audiences as well, so that supply and demand can
be more effective in attracting more viewers.

7. Genre Hybrids
A hybrid genre involves the combination of two or more conflicting film genres into one film, in order
to create a new type of narrative that keeps both the audiences interested as well as creating fresh
ideas. Hybrids have became more popular due to the demand from audiences for new and fresh
ideas from audiences and so far in most cases have proven to be a great success. Institutions are able
to manipulate the typical conventions audiences would usually become passive to and then create
new hybrids.
Examples include:
1. Twilight – Fantasy/Romance
2. Shaun Of The Dead – Comedy/Horror
3. Cowboys V.S Aliens – Western/Science Fiction
4. Pirates Of The Caribbean – Action/Fantasy + A new breed of film type has been created +
Audiences react well to the combination - Opposing genres doesn’t always create a good narrative
- Institutions use hybrids as a way of churning out ideas

8. Sub-Genre
Sun-Genres are categories of films which originate from a main key film genre such as Horror,
Comedy or Action. They use conventions from a mixture of genres so they cant be branded as
one in particular. Comedy/Action/ Adventure - Road Films Romance/ Dramas/ Comedy - Chick
Flicks Horror/ Comedy/ Science Fiction - Supernatural Action/ Fantasy - Superheroes Drama -
Biopics Science Fiction/ Horror - Fantasy

9. Are Genre’s fixed?
In terms on typical conventions and iconographies, any type of genre will find it self to have
some key aspects that will help institutions make a particular film follow the correct narrative
style that appeals to fans of the movie type, an example being perhaps monsters and jumpy
moments that are associated with horror films. However, genre of any type has to adapt with
the times in terms of society and personal values, whilst in addition styles of filmmaking become
more or less popular, as well as technology changing and becoming advanced to create a much
more realistic and believable experience. To again use the horror example, aspects of the genre
such as blood and gore have fallen more out of favour for a psychological and supernatural style
in recent times as demands for fresh ideas rises, which as previously mentioned has resulted in
genres being mashed together in order to create hybrids which in itself shows that genre aspects
aren’t fixed to a single type of film. Genres have to change so that there isn’t a constant
repetition of narrative which in turn would not attract an audience. Some genres can rely on the
usual passive key features however most such as horror differ based upon shared cultural values
as opposed to a fixed guideline of features.