thriller and genre inc genre theory blog version

So… What is genre?

And why does genre happen?

And why are some genres more successful than others?

Starting with the last question…

• Some genres are successful because the conditions for the genre’s existence exist

(i.e. some people’s interests are served by its labelling)

Whose interests do generic ideas serve?

Genre Theory: a “regulated variety”

(Neale, 1980)

• Genre theory is to do with a circulation of expectations between industries, media texts and audiences. This leads to a “regulated variety”

Hartley, 1999

“A contract between producer and audience which ‘disciplines’ choices and reduces desires.”

Barry Keith Grant, ‘Experience and meaning in Genre films’

• “Surely one of our basic ways of understanding film genres, and of explaining their evolution and changing fortunes of popularity and production, is as collective expressions of contemporary life that strike a particularly resonant chord with audiences.”

• “For eg. The 30s musicals are on one level “explained’ as an Escapist Depression fantasy;

• Film noir in the 40s expressed first the social and sexual dislocations brought about by WWII and then the disillusionment when it ended;

• The innumerable science-fiction films of the 50s embodied cold war tensions and nuclear anxiety new to that decade.”

Can you think of recent films which could define the 00s and society’s anxieties?

Genre as ideological?“The Genre film offers a lesson in how to act within society and how to deal with current problems and anxieties. But it does not offer neutral ways of dealing with social problems; instead, it prescribes a preferred set of values.”

Can you think of what kind of values would be predominant? Think of current films to refer to specific examples.Remember the early point we made: genre serves the interests of several parties… How could this become problematic if a writer wants to emphasize a different set of values?

Genre as ideological?“The Genre film offers a lesson in how to act within society and how to deal with current problems and anxieties. But it does not offer neutral ways of dealing with social problems; instead, it prescribes a preferred set of values.”

• Preferred set of values in today’s films:– Those of capitalist ideology with its

emphasis on the individual:• The individual’s right of ownership, private

enterprise, and personal wealth;• The nuclear family with traditional gender roles;• The necessity of conforming to moral and social

laws• Etc.

Assumptions made around Genre for critique (ie you need to engage in the

debate)

• Genres are defined by producers and easily recognizable by audiences

• Genres evolve• Genre is ideological• Texts belong clearly to a particular genre• Genres are not specifically located in history

All theorists agree…

• … about the ‘slippery’ and ‘fluid’ nature of labeling texts in this way.

• But the exception to the rule is the pure genre text…

• And of course, the AUTEUR film

From Micro to Macro

• Study the micro elements on your given picture: mise-en-scene (lighting, props, costumes, colours etc)settingcharacter typesactors used

Then come up with the big picture (macro level):

Can you attach a genre to the still from a film?

The creative task

• Construct and storyboard a 2min sequence of rendez-vous in a particular genre.

• Use post-its

• Aim for 14-20 frames

Genre

All genres are made up of key elements including:

ProtagonistsPlots and situations

Icons (objects or star)Backgrounds

There is a name for these key elements…

Genre

Generic Conventions – the features that you would expect

to see in a particular genre.

e.g. The generic conventions of a horror film include isolated settings, storms, teenage

protagonists, murder, darkness, etc…

Film Genres

Film Genres

Horror Musical Thriller

Comedy

Crime

Action

Western

Fantasy

Romance

Adventure

Disaster

Science Fiction

Chick Flicks

Gangster

British film

Drama

Disney

Animation

Teen

Star Association - When an actor/actress becomes an icon for a

particular genre

Star Associated

Genre

Examples

Hugh Grant Romance Notting Hill

Love Actually

Jim Carrey Comedy Ace Ventura

The Mask

Jennifer Aniston Romance Along came Polly

The Good Girl

Adam Sandler Comedy Happy Gilmore

The Wedding Singer

Fred Astaire Musicals Singing in the Rain

Hello Dolly

Sean William Scott Teen Road Trip

American Pie

Will Smith Science Fiction

Men in Black

I Robot

Angelina Jolie Action Mr & Mrs Smith

Tomb Raider

Examples of poster terminology

Examples of poster terminology

Title Block

Central Image

Characters

StarsRule of 3

TaglineGenre – Crime/comedy

Mark of Quality

Typical Characters – Police officers. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are star associated with the comedy genre e.g. Shaun of the Dead, stereotypical characters

Typical Narrative – On a mission to save the city of London from another terrorist attack.

Typical setting – The City

Icons – guns, smoke

Titanic

Most films are “hybrids”

• They span more than one genre

• They might ‘rework’ conventions in some way

(see later on in lesson)

The Hit Making Software…

So what do we think…?

• How useful is genre?

• Is it useful to have a genre brief?

• Is it a hindrance to creativity?

• Do some research and look at who

the winners are…

http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

http://www.filmsite.org/bestpics2.html

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/

What have you learnt about the Thriller genre?

• Five minutes to jot down all you can think of including generic conventions and subgenres with examples.

Consider the list of conventions below in your analysis and technical construction of a thriller: (1)

• The narrative centres around a crime eg. a theft or a murder.

• The protagonist is fallible and has an 'Achilles heel' that is exploited by the antagonist. The title of the thriller may relate to this weakness eg Vertigo and Insomnia.

• The protagonist will be seen 'in peril' in one or more scenes before the resolution.

• The antagonist ensnares the protagonist in an increasingly complex web, until the protagonist feels isolated and helpless.

• The narrative presents ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen.

• Micro elements combine in a build up of suspense.

Consider the list of conventions below in your analysis and technical construction of a thriller: (2)

• Themes of identity are common: mistaken identity, doubling/doppelgangers, amnesia.

• Themes of seeing, reflection and mirroring. Manipulation of perspectives and optical illusions are common.

• The audience of a thriller is placed in the ambiguous position of voyeur.

• Voyeurism can also be a theme and the objectification of female characters is common especially in earlier thrillers

• A series of/ one important enigma(s) are/is set up in the opening sequence of the film, is further complicated during the first part of the film and only resolved at the very end.

Charles Derry is one of the few theorists who has tried to systematize the genre and shift the focus to films other than Hitchcock’s. Derry defines the suspense thriller “a crime work which presents a generally murderous antagonism in which the protagonist becomes either an innocent victim or a nonprofessional criminal within a structure that is significantly unmediated by a traditional figure or detection”

Derry’s broad definition means that films as different as Vertigo (1958) and Fatal Attraction (1987) fall under the same label and that is why he further recognises six major sub-types.

1. The Thriller of Murderous Passions

Organised around the triangular grouping of husband/wife/lover. The central scene is generally the murder of one member of the triangle by one or both of the other members. The emphasis is clearly on the criminal protagonist….(and)…the criminal motive is generally passion and greed.

2. The Political Thriller

Organised around a plot to assassinate a political figure or a revelation of the essential conspiratorial nature of Governments and the oppositional acts of victim-societies, countercultures, or martyrs.

3. The Thriller of Acquired Identity

Organised around a protagonist’s acquisition of an unaccustomed identity, his or her behaviour in coming to terms with the metaphysical and physical consequences of this identity, and the relationship of this acquisition to a murder plot.

4. The Psychosomatic Thriller

Organised around the psychotic effects of a trauma on a

protagonist’s current involvement in a love affair and a

crime or intrigue. The protagonist is always a victim –

generally of some past trauma and often of real villains who take advantage of his or her masochistic guilt.

5. The Thriller of Moral Confrontation

Organised around an overt antithetical confrontationbetween a character representing good or innocence and a character representing evil. These films often are constructed in terms of elaborate dualities which emphasise the parallels between the victim and the criminal.

6. The Innocent-on-the-run Thriller

Organised around an innocent victim’s coincidental entry into the midst of global intrigue. The victim often finds himself running from both the villains as well as the police.

Hybrid