Film Language: Genre

Today we are: Learning about the different types of genre within films Learning how genre can effect film making

Objectives:
By the end of this lesson:
All of you: Will be able to describe what genre is and how it is used in media
Most of you: Will distinguish between the different types of genre and generic conventions and be able to apply this knowledge to film clips Some of you: Will be able to describe and highlight signs used within specific genres and apply this knowledge to film clips. Will be able to decide what signs and conventions to use within a specific genre film.

Starter Questions:
Write down your answers - leave a space underneath each answer....
What is genre? Why do we have different genres in film? How can you distinguish between different genres?

Genre...
Genre is a French word for type or kind. It is a term used in film analysis for the purpose of grouping certain films together in a series of categories. It is the way of classifying a film to help the audience identify it. Examples: Action Comedy Family History Mystery Sci-Fi War

Adventure Crime Fantasy Horror News Sport Western

Animation Documentary Film-Noir Music Reality-TV Talk-Show

Biography Drama Game-Show Musical Romance Thriller

Why do we have genres?

Particular audiences like certain types of film It helps to analyse films and to see how they are constructed and marketed To give a film an identity To attract a mainstream audience To attract a niche audience To inform an audience of the type of storyline or characters To sell the film To play with variations on a formula which works To deliver an audience to advertisers To give audiences what they expect To create historical progression (e.g. Directors make films of genres that they enjoy) To make it safe or easy for a specific audience To avoid disappointment

Generic Conventions
In order for a film to be categorised into a particular genre, it must share similar features with other films of that genre. These features can be defined as generic conventions, giving us a method of which genre a film belongs to.
Audiences have certain expectations of texts because of their generic conventions. Generic conventions can fall into a number of categories.

Generic Conventions
Visual conventions These are those that we can see on the screen Audio Conventions Those we hear as part of the soundtrack Thematic Conventions The themes we identify in the films narrative (how the storyline is pieced together)

Generic Conventions
Watch this clip and see how many generic conventions you can spot: List them under: Visual Audio Thematic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z33-qOXOWS4

Generic Conventions
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) Visual conventions The spaceships Stars and Planets Audio conventions The sound of gunfire The sound of the spaceship

Thematic conventions Futuristic settings Outer space setting

Generic Conventions
Generic Conventions are very much associated with how a film is conveyed to an audience.
It can include how the audience reads the film and how they understand messages and values found within the film (otherwise known as Representation). To read generic conventions in detail you can look at the signs that the producers put into the film.

Generic Conventions in Depth Signifiers and Signified

Signifier/Denotation = The image in the raw, the physical form - A knife is simply a metal implement Signified/Connotation = That which carries the meaning, referring to something other than itself - In the context of a scene involving a murder in a shower this knife signifies death and violence.

Both a Signifier and the Signified join together to make up A SIGN

This (otherwise known as Semiotics) is able to give account for meanings that are absent as well as present in any given representation.

Applying semiotics to generic conventions

Meaning can also be derived from a media text on the following two levels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hBDNueV4ec&feature=related
Denotative Level (Denotations/Denotes) This is the straight forward visual image we see on the screen. In Psycho (1960) we see the Bates family hotel. On a denotative level it is a house on a hill. Connotative Level (Connotations/Connotes) This is the meaning we associate with the image that we see. In Psycho (1960) on a connotative level we believe the house is spooky, full of dread and horror. What genre do these generic conventions belong to and why?

Different Types of Genre

Major genre A dominant, important category - it should be relatively obvious and easy to define or spot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoAPKt7kbD0

Unforgiven (1992)

Different types of Genre

Subgenre A minor category or subdivision that is very closely related to its major genre by being a specific type in its own right. Subgenres define a specific version of the genre by refining it with an adjective, e.g. spaghetti western http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLyYYHqVTsE
The Sixth Sense (1999)

Different types of genre

Hybrid genre A combination of two major genres that creates another type of film
For example: Romance + Comedy = Romantic Comedy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eIpvZsEky4 Alien (1979)

Genre Quiz!
See if you can identify the genres of the following films: Categorise them under the following headings: Clip 1 = (Name of the Genre) Type of genre (Major/Sub/Hybrid) Visual Conventions Audio Conventions (Diegetic/Non Diegetic) Thematic Conventions

For an extra challenge try and identify the signs (signifiers

and signified) in each piece under visual conventions!

Genre Quiz
Work out which genre these clips belong to by using your new knowledge based on genre identification! Even if you know what genre they belong to - discuss in depth the generic conventions found in the clip!
Clip 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grW4gCxOGjA&feature=relmfu Clip 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOkPtlNgvvw Start at 3.15 Clip 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pV2zz3z0oM Clip 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0Ic7l6cpsQ&NR=1&feature=endscreen Clip 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E4mAF-JFDI&feature=related

Tell me what generic conventions and signs you would use if you were to make a....

HORROR FILM!

In Conclusion:
Lets return to our original questions, this time add in the detail you have learnt this lesson..
What is genre? Why do we have different genres in film? How can you distinguish between different genres?