Film Genres
Related: film - genre - genre theory
Theory: Steve Neale - Robert Stam - Rick Altman
Rick Altman's ambitious “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre” (1984) proposed studying genre by combining the semantic view of genre study (“definitions that depend on a list of common traits, attitudes, characters, shots, locations, sets, and the like,) with the syntactic (“.. . definitions that play up instead certain constitutive relationships between undesignated and variable placeholders”), an approach that he has since revised and expanded in his recent Film/Genre (1999). --Generation Multiplex: The Image of Youth in Contemporary American Cinema () - Timothy Shary
By genre: anime | art films | art house films | avant-garde films | banned films | blockbuster | comedy | cult film | documentary film | early film | erotic film | Euro trash | experimental film | exploitation film | film noir | gay film | giallo | horror film | indepedent film | midnight movie| narrative film | paracinema | postmodern film | science-fiction film | silent film | slasher film | transgressive film | violent film | western film | women in prison film
Definition
In general there are three types of film genres:
- Those of setting, such as westerns or science fiction films
- Those of mood, such as comedy film or horror film
- Those of format, such as musicals or non-fiction
Some have argued that there is a distinct difference from film styles, which describe filmic conventions which can be applied to any genre.
A genre is always a vague term with no fixed boundaries. Many works also cross into multiple genres. In this respect film theorist Robert Stam has noted:
Many genres have built in audiences and corresponding publications that support them, such as magazines and websites. Films that are difficult to categorize into a genre are often less successful. As such, film genres are also useful in areas of marketing, criticism and consumption.
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematic_genre
Problem of definition
A number of perennial doubts plague [film] genre theory. Are genres really 'out there' in the world, or are they merely the constructions of analysts? Is there a finite taxonomy of genres or are they in principle infinite? Are genres timeless Platonic essences or ephemeral, time-bound entities? Are genres culture-bound or transcultural?... Should genre analysis be descriptive or proscriptive? (Robert Stam 2000, 14) via http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html [2004]Grouping by period or country (American films of the 1930s), by director or star or producer or writer or studio, by technical process (CinemaScope films), by cycle (the 'fallen women' films), by series (the 007 movies), by style (German Expressionism), by structure (narrative), by ideology (Reaganite cinema), by venue ('drive-in movies'), by purpose (home movies), by audience ('teenpix'), by subject or theme (family film, paranoid-politics movies). (Bordwell 1989, 148)While some genres are based on story content (the war film), other are borrowed from literature (comedy, melodrama) or from other media (the musical). Some are performer-based (the Astaire-Rogers films) or budget-based (blockbusters), while others are based on artistic status (the art film), racial identity (Black cinema), locat[ion] (the Western) or sexual orientation (Queer cinema). (Robert Stam 2000, 14).
Film genre history
Even in the early days of film history, the audience appetite for new content was voracious. A film distributor would often have to deliver to an exhibitor over a hundred films a year to keep the theaters fresh. This constant demand for new material led to the necessity of imitation. As stories were reworked and reshot, what began to emerge by the end of the 1910s, and certainly was noticeably present by the mid 1920s, was the use of conventions as a kind of short-hand for the information that was pushing a story along. The audience had seen hundreds of Westerns and no longer needed the same extensive setup for the showdown. The convention was created where, when two men face each other on the street and menacingly look at one another, you can be sure bullets will fly. These conventions included anything from the good guy in a white hat and the bad guy in a black hat, to the actual edited construction of a film sequence.
While Western films are an easy example, many other genres developed equally complex sets of conventions. The eerie music in a slasher film, the loss of the girl due to dishonesty in the romantic comedy film, and the spontaneous burst into song in the musical film all are some of the more explicit conventions that we no longer consider except in satires of a genre.
As genres pass the point of maturity, they often go into a stage of deconstruction. With respect to the Western: Little Big Man realigned the conventions in a politically correct way (or more to the point, reversed the cowboy and Indian relationship), Blazing Saddles turned the conventions into humor, and Unforgiven reversed every convention for the sake of tragedy.
Much debate continues about what makes a genre and what doesn't, as well as the way genres are constructed or deconstructed. Duke University's Program in Film in Video holds an annual symposium at USC to explore this very issue. Entitled "Genre Matters", the one-day symposium brings together leaders in film theory, academicsa, producers and directors - in discussion of various subgenres of cinema. The 2003 event took place May 9th. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematic_genre [2004]
Genre (IMDb)
Love westerns? Comedies? Film noir? Click on the genre links below to go to the biggest and best collection of films sorted by their type.
Action - Adventure - Animation - Comedy
Crime - Documentary - Drama - Family
Fantasy - Film-Noir - Horror Music
Musical - Mystery - Romance - Sci-Fi
Short - Thriller - War - Western
What's a genre? A genre is simply a categorization of certain types of art based upon their style, form, or content. Most movies can easily be described with certain umbrella terms, such as Westerns, dramas, or comedies. Of course, some films defy such ready qualification, so realize that these are generalizations. --http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Genres/
DVD Genre Taxonomy (Amazon)
Action & Adventure Westerns, Espionage, Hong Kong, James Bond, War...
African American Cinema Breakthrough Cinema, Blaxploitation, Comedy...
Animation Feature Films, Stop-Motion, Comedy, Anime, Animators...
Anime & Manga Feature Films, Tenchi, Ranma, Sailor Moon...
Art House & International By Country, European Cinema, Latin American Cinema, Asian Cinema...
Boxed Sets New Releases, Miniseries, Film Collections...
Christian Biographies, Documentaries, Animation, Music, Christmas...
Classics Classic Drama, Classic Comedy, Musicals, Silent Movies...
Comedy Classics, Screwball, British, Spoofs, Romantic...
Cult Movies Camp Classics, Exploitation, Animated, Psychedelic...
Documentary IMAX, National Geographic, History, Science...
Drama Romance, Contemporary, Crime, History...
Educational Foreign Languages, Test Prep, Standard Deviants, National Geographic...
Fitness & Yoga Aerobics, Pilates, Tai Chi, Kickboxing...
Gay & Lesbian Comedies, Documentaries, International Films...
Hong Kong Action Recent Hits, Landmark Action Films and Stars...
Horror Classic Monsters, Slashers, Cult Favorites...
Kids & Family Disney, Animation, Muppets, Family Adventures...
Independently Distributed Indie movies, Sports, Music Videos, Documentaries...
Military & War War Dramas, Military Documentaries, Action War Movies...
Music Video & Concerts Rock Concerts, Music Videos, Documentaries, World Music...
Musicals & Performing Arts Movie Musicals, Opera, Broadway, Jazz...
Mystery & Suspense Film Noir, Espionage, Thrillers...
Romantic Comedies Contemporary Hits, Romantic Duos, Classic Favorites...
Science Fiction & Fantasy Anime, Star Trek, Post-apocalyptic, Special Effects...
Special Interests Fitness, Nature, Travel, Sports, How-to, Cooking...
Sports Baseball, Basketball, Football, Wrestling...
Television A&E, HBO, PBS, TV Series, Miniseries...
Today's Deals Great deals in all genres...
Westerns John Wayne, Classic Adventures, Spaghetti Westerns... --http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/404276
Horror film genre is a maligned genre
Is there a more maligned genre than the horror film? Any celluloid grouping more spat upon than the poor self-assuming chiller? I think not. Oh yes, they'll champion the artistry of the western, and heap praise on just about every film noir that ever darkened the heart of man, but mention your affection for the horror film and watch those ingratiating smiles develop into something more insipid, more condescending. "Horror? Pah! Where's the artistry in bloodletting? Show me the quality drama in teenagers getting decapitated left right and centre. Go on: show me"... You might as well tell 'em you love The Sound of Music... It gets worse: there's the argument that horror films are socially and morally irresponsible, even influencing some people to emulate the murderous techniques of the characters depicted on screen. This criticism is wrong; if anything, horror films have the opposite effect on intelligent minds (sick minds will commit atrocities without the aid of horror films - their decisions based on what is churning around in their already sick minds, rather than what they witness on the silver screen). Horror films provide a release for all the pent up emotion caused by modern living (and we're all prone to that). Watching horror films allows us to meet our private fears head on, share them with others in the audience, and purge the dread by confronting it. It might seem like a cliché, but there's no denying the truth of it. --Noel O'SheaFilm Genre Reader III (2003) Barry Keith Grant
From reviews of the second edition: "The fascinating, well-chosen essays in this volume represent almost all of the recent (and often competing) trends in film scholarship and present significant revisions of earlier genre theories and analysis. Grant shows that the generic core, however constituted and established, is but one atom in a complex structure of film experience, response, and meaning." --Choice
"A terrific collection of essays on film theory and genre criticism. . . . With its numerous stills and an excellent bibliography, this work is ideal as an academic text or as an informative read for film buffs." --Bloomsbury Review
From reviews of the first edition: "The most pedagogically useful text on genre analysis because of the comprehensive nature of its scope." --Film Quarterly
"Ought to be considered by anyone teaching a course on theory and criticism of the American cinema." --Communication Booknotes
Since 1986, Film Genre Reader has been the standard reference and classroom text for the study of genre in film, with nearly 20,000 copies in print. Barry Keith Grant has again revised and updated the book to reflect the most recent developments in genre study. This third edition adds new essays on teen films, the question of genre hybridity, and neo-noir and genre in the era of globalization, along with an updated bibliography. The volume includes over thirty essays by some of film's most distinguished critics and scholars of popular film, including John G. Cawelti, David Desser, Thomas Elsaesser, Steve Neale, Thomas Schatz, Paul Schrader, Steve Neale, Vivian Sobchack, Janet Staiger, Linda Williams, and Robin Wood. --Book Description