Genre refers to categories of films based on similar narrative elements, themes, settings, and character types. Examples include action, crime/drama, comedy, horror, romance, and science fiction. Hybrid genres blend two or more genres, like romantic comedy. Sub-genres branch out from main genres with variations, such as dark comedy or slapstick comedy. Genres help audiences understand and find films they will enjoy, and help producers target marketing and anticipate success. However, genres are not fixed and evolve over time as social contexts and audience tastes change.

2. WHAT IS GENRE?
Genreisbasedonthemanysimilarnarrative
elementswhichbuildthetypicalstructureofan
individualgroupoffilms.Agenreconsistsofa
particularthemewhichtheviewersexpectand
recognisethefilmby.Thesegenericcodesare
whatcreatesagenre.
Genrehelpstogroupdifferenttypesoffilm
throughtheusesofsetting,theme,narrativeand
charactertypes.

3. GENRE EXAMPLES:
Actionfilmstypicallyinvolveaherowhoischallengedbyavarietyof
physicaltasksinordertosavetheworld.Thesearenormallyshown
throughfastpacedchaoticscenesandthemaincharactertendsto
havesuperpowerswhichhelpthemtoovercomeimpossible
situations.
Dramacanseemverycloselylinkedtoactionbutis
generallymorerealisticwitheverydayscenarioswhich
mustbefoughtwitheverydayskills.Dramasare
normallysetineverydaylocationssuchashospitalsand
workplacessoaneverydayaudiencecanrelatefurther
tothem.Crimefilmsalsotendtobeanaverageperson
solvingaproblemwithknowledgeratherthanpowers
andtypicallyinvolvesonemaindetectiveorinvestigator.
ACTION
CRIME/DRAMA

4. WHAT IS GENRE?
Comedyfilmsaregenerallylightheartedbutmaycontain“dark
humour”or“tongueincheekhumour”.Comedy'snormallyfollow
agroupofpeopleratherthanonepersonwhonormallyhavebad
luckandareunsuccessfulastheymakeamistakewhichtheytryto
fixinavarietyorhumorousways.
Horrorfilmsaredesignedto makeanaudiencefeelanxious
andscarethem.Horrorsarenormallysetindarkisolated
areaswhichthecharactersareunfamiliarwithandasthe
filmgoesonthecharactersareeachkilledorgomissingin
worseningways.Manyhorrorsendwithagirlfightingfor
survivalbyherselfandcanbeparanoidorsecurehorrors.
COMEDY
HORROR

5. GENRE EXAMPLES:
Romancefilmsfocusonacouplewhofaceaproblemintheirrelationship
leadingtothemfightingtoovercomeitorabandoningit.Themaleis
normallyplayedbya“heartthrob”staractorandisfulloflongdialogued
sceneswhichappealmoretoafemaleaudience.
Sciencefilmsareaimedatthemorecriticalhorrorfans
whowantscienceandlogictobackthefilmup.This
leadsthemtobelinkedmainlywithaliensandthe
sciencebehindhowtheyexist orincludeexaggerated
diseaseswhichhumanstryandfight.Manyaresetin
thefuturewherescienceisfurtheraheadandthefilms
canincludeevenfurtherexaggeratedcreatures.
ROMANCE
SCIENCE

6. WHY IS GENRE IMPORTANT TO AUDIENCES?
Genrehelpsanaudiencetodefinetheirtasteinfilms
andtobeabletobasehowmuchtheywouldenjoya
filmonitsgenre.Thisisveryusefultodayasthefilm
industrycreatesmanyfilmsandwithoutasorting
processforviewers,itwouldbeimpossibletosort
throughthevastamountoffilmsbeingreleasedata
time.
Anaudienceisabletounderstandwhatthefilm
narrativewillconsistofbeforetheyevenwatchitso
willknowwhethertheywillenjoyitandwill
understanditscontextatafarquickerpace.

7. WHY IS GENRE IMPORTANT TO PRODUCERS?
Genreisaveryusefultoolforfilmproducerswhen
workingouthowpopularthefilmcouldbeandhow
tomarketitwelltoincreaseitssuccess.Ahugepartof
marketingafilmisitsgenreastheproducersareable
tospecificallytargettheiradvertisingtothegroupof
fanswhoappreciateandlikethegenreofthefilm.
Genreisalsohelpfultoproducerswhenlookingfor
whatfilmtomake.Sincegenrescategorisefilms,
producersareabletolookatwhattypeoffilmismost
popularatthemomentandcanestimateitssuccess.
Genresalsocomewithgenericcodesandnarratives
whichtheaudienceexpectsotheproducersknow
howtopleaseandsurprisetheiraudience.

8. WHAT ARE HYBRID-GENRES?
Ahybridgenreiswhentwoormoregenresareblendedtogethertocreateanewgenre.Thesegenrenormally
havesimilaraudienceswhichjointogethertomakeonebiggeraudiencebutinsomecasestheoriginalgenres
cancontrast.(e.g.Romantic-Horror)
ROMANCE + COMEDY = ROM/COM
SCIENCE + FICTION = SCI/FI
HORROR + FANTASY = DARK/FANTASY
Hybrisgenresuccessfullyallowtwoaudiencestojointogethertojoinintoonebiggeraudienceandhelpto
createamoreinterestingnarrative.Withabiggeraudience,aproducercanalsohaveabiggerbudgetforthe
filmandmarketingtooverallmakeabetterfilm.
HOWEVER
Manyfilmfansmaybededicatedtotheonegenreandmaydislikethesecondgenreithasbeenmergedwith
sothefilmcouldlooseoutonfansitwouldhaveasasinglegenre.Thenarrativemaybecometoconfusingand
couldcontrastandnotmakesense.

9. WHAT ARE SUB-GENRES?
Sub-genresarewhenagenrebranchesouttocreatefurthertypesofitsoriginalgenre.Forexample:
AcomedyhasdarkerhumourinitsocanbereferredtoasDARKCOMEDY
AcomedywithcheesycomedycanbecalledaSLAPSTICKCOMEDY
AcomedywhichmockssomethingiscalledaPARODY
(Althoughintendedtobefunny,includedthemesofdeathandfear)
EXAMPLE:SHAUNOFTHEDEAD
(Physical,cleanfamilyhumourwhichisnormallyoverexaggerated.)
EXAMPLE:NATIONALLAMPOONSVACATION
(Mockingagroupofpeopleoranotherfilmforahumorouseffect)
EXAMPLE:SCARYMOVIE

10. ARE GENRES FIXED?
Genresarenotfixedandovertimetheymaychangebased
onwhattheiraudiencewants.Asmorefilmsofthegenreare
made,moregenreconceptsarechallengedaseachfilmis
likelytocross“genreboundaries”.Veryfewfilmsofagenreall
conformtothesameconventionsandrulesleavingthe
genreunfixed.Thisalso
Genresmayalsochangeassocialcontextdoesorcould
become“oldfashioned”andunuseduntilsomeone
reproducesthegenrewithmodernisedgenreconventions
whichsuitamodernaudience.
Sub-genreshavedifferentconventionstothemaingenre
alsomeaningitwouldbeimpossibletofixthem.

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
http://en/Wikipedia.org/wiki/film_genre
http://www.Glyndwr.ac.uk/rdover/mediastud/genre.htm