Conor Mc Goldrick

HNC Diploma Creative Media Production

Faustina Starrett
Unit 11: Film Studies

What is genre?
In the world of film, genre is a method used to categorise a film based on similarities in the
narrative of the film. Genre is used in film so that the audience can understand the types of
films there are. Films can be categorised in many different genres such as action, horror,
comedy, thriller and many more. Genre are often branched out into subgenres such as
romantic comedy, action thriller etc.









What does genre do for audiences?
Genre gives the audience a wide selection of different types of movies. This gives the
audience the ability to develop a favourite genre. This gives the audience the power to
know what they are watching and if a movie would give them any type of pleasure, which
gives them the ability to decide if a movie, is their type of movie before watching it.

How can an audience recognise genre?
There are many different in which an audience can recognise the genre of a film, one of
them would be by the trailer of a film as that gives you a clear indication of the type of film
it is. Also an audience can recognise the genre of a film by the movie poster as they could
give them some idea of the type of film.

Why is genre important?
Genre is very important when it comes to film for both the producers of a film and the film
audience as the producer needs to know their target audience and how they are going to
market the film and the audience needs to know what type of film theyre going to see so
they know if they will enjoy and be engaged with the film. Christine Gledhill notes that
Conor Mc Goldrick
HNC Diploma Creative Media Production
Faustina Starrett
Unit 11: Film Studies
differences between genres means that different audience could be identified and catered
to. This makes it easier to standardise and stabilise production. To mass media, genre is part
of the process of targeting different market sectors
1
. I believe this quote proves the
usefulness of genre in film. Also I think action is the best genre to back up my point.

Action is a genre in which one or more heroes are put into a series of challenges that usually
include physical feats, fight scenes, violence and chase scenes. Action films usually have a
resourceful character struggling against incredible odds, which include life-threatening
situations, a villain, or a pursuit that generally concludes in victory for the hero.

Action is quite a big genre as a lot of films would have some action in it and also the action
genre has so many sub genres to it such as action comedy (Big Mommas House and Bad
Boys), action horror (Ghost Rider and Resident Evil), action thriller (Die Hard and Lethal
Weapon) and many more. Action is also very close to the thriller and adventure genre.
When you think of the action genre many things come to mind, such as action actors like
Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Jason Statham. Also action films come to mind such as,
Rocky, The Expendables etc.







1
Daniel Chandlers problem of definition
Conor Mc Goldrick
HNC Diploma Creative Media Production
Faustina Starrett
Unit 11: Film Studies



When you think of stuff you expect to
see in action films you immediately
think of, fight scenes, chase scenes,
weapons, fast paced editing,
explosions, deaths, a hero, a villain, a
motive, nerve wrecking music,
destruction, stunts etc. a good
example of this would be in the movie
Fast and Furious 6
2
as that has
everything you would associate with the
action genre. Also when you think of the
shots used in the action genre you
would think of shots like crane shots,
long shots, close up shots birds eye
view shots and many more. In Daniel
Chandlers problem of definition, Denis
McQuail says the genre may be
considered as a practical device for
helping any mass medium to produce
consistently and efficiently of
expectations of its customers
3
and I
believe that this definition of genre
describes the action genre perfectly because when you think of action the same things
would come to mind for most other people as they have an expectation of what they expect
to see and they are rarely wrong in what they expect in the action genre.

Action has a lot of similarities to different genres. For example many consider action to be
similar to thriller and adventure as they type of movies have similar storylines and the
expectations of the audience would be similar in ways. People wouldnt usually compare
action with genres such as drama, romantic or comedy films but if you watch closely you
would soon realise that action has some similarities as most movies would have some action
scenes in they and action itself in a way is a drama and also action has some romantic
scenes In them as a lot of the time action movies have a love interest in them. Action also

2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKi5XoeTN0k
3
Daniel Chandlers problem of definition
Conor Mc Goldrick
HNC Diploma Creative Media Production
Faustina Starrett
Unit 11: Film Studies
can have some comedy in it, as you would sometimes hear jokes or puns in them before or
after a fight scenes/ chase scenes and this is to make light of a serious situation.
Notable actors who would be considered under the action genre would be actors like,
Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Wayne, Bruce Lee, Chuck
Norris, Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin and Matt Damon. Notable directors would include Sam
Peckinpah, James Cameron, John McTiernan and Michael Bay. Finally notable producers in
the action genre would be Don Simpson, Joel Silver and Menahem Golan.

During the 1920s and 1930s action films were often
just adventure films in which actors just wielded swords
in a period piece or a western. In the 1940s and 50s
saw action develop a new form in cowboy films and war
films. The 1960s were dominated by the success of the
James Bond movies, which introduced a new type of
action which was more modern with car chases, fast
paced editing, weapons, gadgets and a hero who was
fighting against a villain who had henchmen. During the
1970s the Bond films had some competition as the
action genre began to evolve into detective and crime
action films which lead to police films such as The
French Connection, Dirty Harry etc. also in the 70s
mixed martial arts films began to be popular as Bruce
Lee films such as Enter the Dragon and Way of the
Dragon became the norm in the action genre. By the
1980s Hollywood took over the action film genre as
actors such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold
Schwarzenegger had blockbuster films that everyone
had to see like Rambo. During the 1990s the action genre took a step up as CGI came about
and it made action films more exciting for the viewers as things unimaginable were
happening on their screens. During the 2000s action films became more of a franchise as
films had multiple instalments, films like the Fast and Furious franchise, the Dark Knight
Trilogy and The Expendables are great examples for this.

Throughout the years the action genre has developed and transformed in so many ways. It
has gone from western action movies to war movies to detective action movies, to mixed
martial arts movies and to Hollywood blockbuster movies worth millions. I believe that the
action genre could be considered as the genre with one of the most interesting histories as
it has an amazing transforming throughout the years.

Conor Mc Goldrick
HNC Diploma Creative Media Production
Faustina Starrett
Unit 11: Film Studies

In conclusion I find asking myself what next for the action genre and I believe that action can
expand and transform in ways nobody has imagined before, as we see throughout the life of
action we see it has changed in so many ways already. Quentin Tarantino once said I just
grew up watching a lot of movies. I'm attracted to this genre and that genre, this type of
story, and that type of story. As I watch movies I make some version of it in my head that
isn't quite what I'm seeing - taking the things I like and mixing them with stuff I've never
seen before
4
. I think this quote just backs up exactly how action could change in the future.
I think we should expect the unexpected when thinking of the action genre in the future.


4
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/q/quentintar454794.html