Genre

 Genre is a French word that means type or kind. Genre is a way of classifying media to tell us something about it.

The first thing to ask about a text or movie is what is its genre. Film and television shows usually come under a few major genre such as: thriller, action, scifi, western, romantic comedy,horror, sport, soap opera, or comedy.

Many modern films are hybrid genres with elements of say thriller, comedy and maybe horror.

Pirates of the Caribbean is in the adventure genre with elements of comedy. If you see an adventure film what do you expect – exotic costumes, and a pistol perhaps.

In any text make sure you can identify the conventions of a genre. These are the particular characteristics that make each genre different. 

Try to work out how much the characters depend on the genre – could you have an action movie without a hero or heroine?

Discuss what the audience expects from each genre. If you go to see a thriller what do you expect to see –not men in hats with guns on horses.

Decide if the text/movie largely conforms to the characteristics of the genre, or maybe it treats them in a humorous way e.g. Scary Movie. 

A parody film is a film that mocks through comedy other films often of a particular genre. Hot Fuzz is a recent British film that makes fun of the genre of cop action films. (It is very popular with students).

A pastiche film borrows a number of themes and styles from other films even to the extent of copying some scenes and imitating others – the aim is to make it obvious that these elements have been borrowed or imitated as a form of flattery. The films of Quentin Tarantino are considered pastiche as they pay tribute to Chinese Kung Fu films and cheap (pulp) novels.

Discuss if the text/movie features a star actor, a famous director, or a writer (e.g. Hugh Grant, George Lucas) who is strongly associated with a particular genre.

Here are some ways of identifying genre:

• the story or plot
• characters
• Iconography
• setting – time and place
• dress
• action
• dialogue
• objects and gadgets 
• filming style

The combination of some or all of these elements in a particular style creates a pattern that is known as a genre convention. It is this pattern that identifies a genre and becomes the conventions of that genre.

Task 1 - Add a post to your blog explaining Genre.

Task 2 - Choose three genres that interest you - List the conventions of that genre and discuss a trailer from that genre.