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Genre Analysis​

 By Rhys Groves​

So, what is genre?

Genre is the word used in the film industry to describe various categories that films, and TV shows, can be put into. Examples of genres include Horror, Comedy and Action. Each genre has its own unique characteristics which allow it to be recognized as a particular genre.

Benefits of Genre​

A major benefit of genre's is that it offers the audience an expectation. In other words the audience will know what to expect from a film in a particular genre. For example i know that when i go to watch an action film, there are going to be big fight scenes, chases across cities and unrealistic hollywood drama. An example of this is the Fast and Furious franchise. The Fast and Furious franchise centres around a number of characters that are involved in illegal street racing and more recently bank heists. This series of films is a big hit with audiences across the world, this could be attributed to the big stars that have joined the cast, as well as the big stars that the franchise has made. Across the current 7 films, just under $3.9 Million has been made from the box office, from a total of around $759 million production budget.

Also you could use a genre, like horror, to disguise a films real meaning. For example in the 1920's it was illegal to be a homosexual so you obviously couldn't display homosexuality in films. But if you disguised the plot of the story into the horror genre then the film could be shown. This is known as 'queer horror' and can be seen in the 1932 film The Old Dark House(James Whale). In the film there is a 'scene that conveys a campy style with both men behaving as if they were effeminate caricatures'. This is when 'Both men wear more make-up than Mary Shelley, they dress fancily, and they talk and act dramatically and hyper-sensitively, in an “unmanly” manner'.​

Having films put into genres is also a good strategy to use to reduce the risk of a film from failing. This is because different genres/sub-genres are popular at different times. So for example the comedy genre was the most popular genre in 2006 with   140 films produced, a total of around 32% of the market share. Whereas the adventure genre wasn't as popular with only 32 films just over 19% market share. With genre's, film makers know which genre of film is popular, and can therfor maximise profits whereas without genre's they would most likely loose money on the majority of films. This can be seen in the times of the year when films are released, for example horror films are usually released either in the 'dump months' or in early October. This is because October is the month of Halloween so horror films would be expected to be more successful in this period.

Another good thing about genre is that over time it gradually changes. This is good because otherwise films with the same basis and plot would be released all the time and therfor there would be no reason to look back on films that were made 20 years ago for example. But as genre's do typically change over time, there is a good reason to be looking back on films that were made decades ago to compare how different they are to films released now. For example the world renowned film that defined the horror genre, as well as Alfred Hitchcock's career, Psycho, was released in 1960 and is still well known today and is still thought to be one of, if the best horror film to date.

Another great thing about genre's are that you can use them as a way of working through your fears. For example if your scared of ghosts, blood and gore, then you would watch a horror movie such as Paranormal Activity(Oren Pelli) or Halloween(John Carpenter).

Problems of genre

The main problem being that it limits films into a category. An example of this would be a films plot about ghosts would be classed as a supernatural horror film, therfor it would be strange and possibly ruin the movie if it were to branch into a drama as well. There are only around 130 such films, the most popular being Crimson Peak(Guillermo del Toro). Although the film is popular among the audience, as of yet it has only made just over $50 million with 5 days left in cinemas, from a production budget of $55 million.

Also much like the benefit of genre's offering expectations, people also expect different thing from a particular genre. For example the 3 students in my media class expect 3 different things from the horror genre. This being because we each have different preferences and various other things, so although we all like watching horror films, I might like a film that the others don't, and vice versa. This can also be seen in how popular different genre's of films are. For example the most popular genre in 2012 was action/adventure whereas musicals were among the worst performing genre. On the other hand in the 1930's to 1950's the opposite could be said. The most popular musical, according to The Guardian, is Oliver!(Carol Reed) Released on the 27th September, 1968. From a budget of only $10 million, the film apparently made around $77 million, a huge success for the time.

History of horror

Horror first originated from the adaptation of gothic horror literature. The most famous gothic writers include Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker.

The first depiction of horror in films was in some silent shorts created by the film pioneer Georges Méliès in 1896, the most popular and best known being Le Manoir du Diable. Which is sometimes credited as being the first ever horror film. Around 1910, Edison Studios created a film version of Frankenstein, following the film adaptation of the novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1908.

During the first world war there was an influx of German film makers that hugely influenced films in the horror genre. Mainly a film called The Man Who Laughs(Robert Wiene) was a hugely influential film at the time.

Then Hollywood came in and took over the industry, namely Universal, With there first hit film Dracula(Tod Browning). Quickly followed by Frankenstein   (James Whale)and The Old Dark House(James Whale) This is when the word Horror became more commonplace.

In the 1950's there was a huge advance in technology, this then changed the tone of horror films away from Gothic towards more contemporary concerns. This is when the UK became a huge producer of horror films. The Hammer Company was the first to solely focus on Horror films.

Later in the 1950's and 1960's the slasher genre was created and then was sealed with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

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