When a corpus of a genre is established two things tend to happen: 1. A list of films is compiled that respond to a simple tautological definition of genre (ie. Western = film that takes place in the west, cowboys, etc) 2. Critics, theoreticians that stick to a cannon that has little do with the [...]

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1. As a marketing device – to draw audiences to the theater – if one person enjoyed “Spider Man” then they will most likely want to see “Hulk“, therefore investors are more keen to invest…. 2. Reference tool – people understand (implicitly) more or less what is at stake with a particular genre because they [...]

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What elements can we refer to when we need to differentiate between genres? 1. Subjects and themes 2. Presentation (in the musical for example – musical = signing + dancing) 3. Emotional effect (horror = fear, comedy = laughter) 4. Genre conventions of narrative and style 5. Plot elements 6. Thematic meanings (example: road movies [...]

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1. Lacks a scientific precision in its definition 2. They developed in an informal way 3. Everyone (critics, producers, audiences, actors) have contributed to the formation of genres and to the shared sense that some films may relate to others 4. Genres change over time (directors and actors may add a twist to their work [...]

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