Genres change over time due to changes in target audiences, audience expectations, society and values, censorship standards, influential texts and stars, and media institutions and technologies. Target audiences for films have become younger, and audiences are more familiar with genre conventions. Society has become more accepting of graphic content. Landmark texts and popular directors and stars can also reshape genres. New technologies impact production techniques.

1. Why do genres change over time?
Generic texts are not fixed upon a certain time and changing
characteristics can be made. Other texts, subgenres, reflect
the change in time, the change in audiences and the
change in institutions within the film industry.

2. Changes in Target Audience
 Media institutions need to have a clear understanding of the age,
gender and social class of the target audience the text is likely to
attract. This will influence on the actors and special effects of the
text.
 It is often argued that target audiences for films have become
younger over the years. This is known as the ‘juvenilisation’ of
cinema and may be why horror films are now aimed at teenagers,
rather than 18 year old/adults.

3.  Contemporary audiences are familiar with the codes and conventions of similar
genres in comparison to the older audiences.
 An example of the familiarity with these codes and conventions – the character,
the setting, the music- is romantic films and horror films. A horror film may show a
woman alone in a house at night, opening a door, with intense music and your
heart rate may increase, preparing yourself for something thrilling/scary.
 Film makers can manipulate our emotions by meeting or cheating the
expectations we have of a text based on our experience with familiar text,
however they need to balance the old tricks with spicing the genre with
something new. E.g. A protagonist behaving unexpected.
Changes in Audience Expectations

4.  It is the audiences tastes and values that influence media.
Contemporary audiences are harder to shock as they accustom to
representations of graphic violence, sexual images and explicit
language.
 The changing position of women, governments, levels of employment,
economic climates, nation and international conflicts, disease,
transport systems, immigration and emigration, attitude to sex, violence
and the family and aesthetic movements are just some of the issues
that will influence representation and trends in the media.
Changes in Society, Ideologies,
Value and Representations

5.  The filmed industry has moved on from 1960, where explicit nudity,
swearing and excessive, lustful kissing was banned.
 Modern audiences are used to graphic sex and violence and the
boundaries of what is considered to be ‘tasteful’ in the film are
stretched more and more as time passes.
Censorship and codes of conduct

6.  Genres can be heavily influenced and suddenly rekindle their
popularity or change direction because of he impact of individual
texts which come to be seen as genre defining.
 Genre defining moment are fairly rare in the media and may only
become apparent long after a text is produced when we can
properly see its influence.
Influence of particular texts

7.  Texts are important but the influence of the recognition of particular
directors, authors and stars is also key.
 Some films are made as vehicles to showcase a star and exploit his/hers
popularity. E.g. action films starring Schwarzenegger or Stallone
 J. K Rowling has earned millions for herself and the publishing and film
industries through her Harry Potter books.
Influence of stars, authors and directors

8.  The consumption of a text is a final stage of a process, as powerful
media owners are in need to fund a text, based on the profit they
anticipate it will make.
 Production, editing and marketing are costly and time consuming
processes involved in making of a text.
 Over time, it apparent which studios or publishers become associated
with certain genres. They will influence this in the style or theme of the
texts they produce.
Media Institutions

9.  Technology has advanced in the film industry with the invention of the
Steadicam which allowed the camera to float/balance, enabling the
stalking shots. This is important for the production horror films.
 The Steadicam also developed in digital video editing techniques which
led to fast pace editing and exact pacing of music with on-screen action.
 The Blair Witch Project was created using a digital camera that was
marketed through the internet, another important new technology.
Changes in Target Audience