Research the usefulness of genre as a critical tool for

understanding how meaning is created in a cinematic medium.

This essay will weigh up the evidence to illuminate whether or
not genre is a useful tool when understanding how meaning is
created within the cinematic medium. Firstly we must
understand what is meant by Genre, coming from the Latin for
kind or class genre attempts to categorise literature,
films and other art forms into distinct general types, much
the same as scientists do when categorising species. For
Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress, 'genres only exist in so far
as a social group declares and enforces the rules that
constitute them' (Hodge & Kress 1988, 7)
So who are these social groupings who decide in which genre a
film lives, and who is correct. We can see three distinct
groups of people categorising film into genres, the film
producers, and film critics and the films audience. Film
producers may use genre as a way of marketing their film to a
certain audience, for example an Action film may be targeted
towards men while Romantic comedies may cater to women. This
is not a hard and fast rule, but serves as a great tool for
film producers to sell their film. Film critics may categorise
the film they are reviewing for similar reasons, to simplify a
film to an intended audience who may be swayed to watch a film
or otherwise depending on its genre. In this way it could be
said that genre is in fact a useful tool when looking at
meaning in the cinematic medium. As a way of summarising a
film, rather than extrapolating its meaning.
When thinking of genre and its usefulness to its audience, it
may become much more subjective, two people may go and see the
film Psyco (1960, Alfred Hitchcock), one may have experienced
it as a thriller, the other may have categorised it as a
horror. This highlights the elasticity of genre and how its
lines can be blurred. In this way, we cannot see genre as
containing hard and fast rules, but as a loose system which
may shed some light on the general content of a film, yet will
not explain the meaning of a film.
It will be useful to look at the ways in which one can
categorise a film into a genre, examples include by time
period, by style, by actor, by subject, by audience, by
artistic status, by racial identity, by setting, by sexuality
or even from other media, including musical, dance etc.

Aaron ONeill

HND Moving Image Y1

When looking at these vastly different ways of categorising

film into genre, we can see problems arise as a film may fit
into many of these genres, take 12 Years A Slave (2013) by
Steve McQueen. It is set in antebellum United states by
time period, it can be considered a drama, it is directed by
someone whose also a famous artist, so it could be considered
an art piece. We can call it a black cinema film as its a
story of slavery and is directed by a man of African race.
This example shows that it is impossible relay on genre as a
critical tool for understanding how meaning is created in a
cinematic medium. We must rely on a web of genres to even
attempt to extrapolate the meaning out of the cinematic piece.
Therefor it is of limited use when one wants to know the
meaning of a film, it is the case that one must watch the film
or read various detailed reviews to glean any meaning from a
cinematic piece.
To further illustrate genres limitations when understanding a
films meaning we can look at the western genre. Lets take the
real life character of the famous train robber Jesse James. We
can look at three films, with similar characters, story and
setting. They also follow codes and conventions of the western
genre. Yet we get three completely different meanings from
these cinematic pieces. This is because, stylistically, they
have been approached in different ways by the various
directors. This stylistic difference is not accounted for by
the general genre of Westerns. In Jesse James (1939)
directed by Henry king and starring Henry Fonda, we witness a
drama in which Jesse is portrayed as a working class hero, a
reluctant man forced into a world of crime. In American
Outlaws directed by Les Mayfield and starring Colin Farrell,
we see Jesse as a quick witted action man with a sly sense of
humour. In The assignation of Jesse James by the coward
Robert Ford directed by Andrew Dominik and starring brad
Pitt, we see Jesse as a cold, dangerous, contemplative
psychopath. This example, using three Westerns could be
exchanged with many films from many genres, highlights the
pitfalls of using genre as a means to critically understand a
films meaning.
Film producers may choose to select a certain genre of film to
enhance the meaning of a film, the genres codes and
conventions can dictate which sets, props, actors, costumes
and lighting they will use, all these aspects can help to
flavour a film and add depth to its meaning. It can inform the

Aaron ONeill

HND Moving Image Y1

directors technical choices, the shots used, the music used,

and the language of the film. This serves as a framework from
which a film maker can flesh out the meaning of a film. In
this way, genre can be considered useful when looking at its
usefulness as a critical tool for understanding the meaning of
a cinematic piece of work. That being said, when looking at
the limitations of genre as a way of illumination meaning, we
must be cautious as viewers and film makers of relying too
heavily on genre to help understand a films meaning.

References
Aaron ONeill

HND Moving Image Y1

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Cms.uchicago.edu, (2015). Tom Gunning | Department of Cinema and Media
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Einser, C. (2015). Academic Writing Success | Academic Writing Coach Reviews.
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Staff, S. (2014). Why Your Screenplay Genre Matters - ScreenCraft. [online]
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Aaron ONeill

HND Moving Image Y1