Genre

Genre is term that Glen Creeber, Jane Feuer and Steve Neale all pointed out, is a French word, meaning ‘type’ or ‘kind’ and emerged following the 19^th century’s mass production of art- mainly literature. They stated that “genre studies can be broken down into different ‘types’ or ‘kinds’, i.e. a group of texts can be linked together by similar generic characteristics” (Creeper, 2004, p.78).

Overall, genre functions by organising and categorising texts within a framework of bounded rules.

Narrative-similar plots and structures with predictable sequences, situations, obstacles, conflicts and resolutions.

Stock Characters- similar types of characters (sometimes stereotypical) roles, personal qualities, motivations, goals and behaviour.

Setting and Location- geographical and historical.

Iconography – a familiar stock of images or motifs.  Primarily but not necessarily visual, including décor, costume and objects, certain ‘typecast’ performers (some of whom may have become ‘icons’), familiar patterns of dialogue, characteristic music and sounds.

Filmic Techniques- Stylistic or formal conventions of camerawork, lighting, sound recording, use of colour, editing, etc. (views are often less conscious of these conventions than those relating to content.

As genres rely on the audiences’ understanding of codes and conventions, the over-usage these codes create the risk of the content becoming predictable. However, saying this, going too far off the expected codes and conventions could cause audience dissatisfaction as the text doesn’t fulfil the generic expectations. Therefore, media producers have to balance ‘repetition and difference’ (Neale).

This might suggest that every text that is created can easily be fit into a genre, however this is not the case, most of the time, many texts can fit into sub-genre’s.

For example within the comedy genre- there can be various types:

• Romantic Comedy
• Examples: Roman Holiday, When Harry Met Sally, Love, Rosie
• Anarchic Comedy
• Examples: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Blazing Saddles, Animal House.
• Action-Comedy
• Examples: Beverly Hills Cop, Rush Hour, Hot Fuzz.
• Black-Comedy
• Examples: Fargo, Harold and Maude, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
• Horror-Comedy
• Examples: Beetlejuice, Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead.
• Dramedy
• Examples: Little Miss Sunshine, The Royal Tenenbaums, Lost in Translation.
• Parody/Spoof
• Examples: Life of Brian, Naked Gun, Scary Movie.

Each one of these genres has a whole host of codes and conventions of their own. For example, a romantic comedy has a softer, more pleasant approach, whereas an action-comedy will include more violence but use comedic relief to make the scenes less tense/ vulgar.

Fixed genres:  while these genres might change slightly over time, they are considered to be fixed because they remain fully true to the codes and conventions This is because of

• Cultural Significance (tradition)
• Relationships to history/ historical events.

Non-fixed Genres: Most genres do change over time. Film like all art, reflects and negotiates the real world. As such, the genre texts shift with shifts in culture.

Hybrid Genres: These are texts that deliberately mix the codes and conventions of more than one genre. For example, Peaky Blinders contains a broad mixture of crime, mystery, drama, action, romance, etc. This means that there is a broader spectrum of viewing pleasures for the audience.

Genres are never static but are always going through a constant cycle.

Stage 1: Experimental Stage

• The conventions of a genre are defined and established. For example, horror films in the 20’s and 30’s all cantered around monsters and set up traditions such as narrative or makeup.

Stage 2: Classical Stage

• One the conventions have been established; they are cemented through repetition. For example, horror films develop similar storylines, ways of shooting, use of actors, characters and visual similarities.

Stage 3: Refinement Stage:

• Here, genres need to adapt because audiences become familiar with it. For example, it’s no longer the monster that are scary, but the new mysterious neighbour. New extreme methods need to be used to create shock.

Stage 4: Self-referential Stage:

• Audience familiarity with conventions make it almost impossible to do it ‘straight’. Therefore, parody and deconstruction become common. For example, Scream or Cabin in the Woods.

No Genre/ Anti-genre:

Some media texts cannot be categorised because they do not follow any obvious conventions. Genre relies on multiple texts to follow the conventions. If there is only one example, it is yet to be put into a genre.