1. Genre

2. Genre means type Horror Sci fi Romance Drama Comedy Action Fantasy etc

3. Generic Conventions Die Hard is a generic action film because it uses action props such as guns and the narrative contains many fight scenes between hero and villain When you see things you expect to see in any type of film, lets say a horror, you seeing theGENERIC CONVENTIONS You recognise that a film is GENERIC because of the sheer number of times you have seen this genre of film use these CONVENTIONS

4. How to identify generic conventions You are looking for: Typical narratives (storylines): structure of the story/character types Typical Micro elements: lighting/costume/font/colour/props etc Typical themes: good vs. evil/crime and punishment/ achieving goals etc

5. Task Lets use the horror genre Make a mental list of al the things you expect to see in this genre You have just listed the GENERIC CONVENTIONS of the Horror Genre

6. Hybrid Some films are not simply a HORROR or a COMEDY They seem to use generic conventions from a number of different genres These are called HYBRIDS Shaun of the Dead: Romantic, Zombie, Comedy Can you think of others?

7. Typical or Challenging conventions You can normally prove that a film is GENERIC by giving Micro element examples But sometimes, films do these you dont expect that genre to do This is called challenging conventions It is good for films to do things that audiences dont expect, it stops the films from becoming repetitive and boring It is important that you can find things that a film does that you didnt expect. Dont just ignore these examples, tell us about them.

8. Audience select texts on basis of genre, often because texts are arranged at retail outlets by genre (just look at how dvds are categorised on amazon). Also, certain genres are considered appropriate to certain ages/genders in society, and choices are made accordingly eg teen movie, 'chick flicks'

9. Producers Market and publicise films according to genre because they know they will reach genre fans Will see what genres have done well at the cinema and try to repeat that success by making films of the same genre

10. Categorising films by genre is seen as both positive and negative. WHY?

11. Negative thing? On one hand, conforming to generic conventions and giving the audience what they want, can actually lead to the "they're all the same" judgement This is what happened to the traditional Hollywood Western and Musical because some films were success, other studios started to churn out lots and lots of them, the audience got bored and stopped watching. It is now only when a new Musical that challenges the typical generic conventions (Moulin Rouge or Sweeney Todd) comes out, that audiences are willing to watch.

12. Positive thing? On the other hand, genre provides structure which can allow a great deal of creativity, especially when a genuine reworking of generic conventions comes along Genre provides key elements for an audience to recognise, so that they may enjoy the film and be fully involved Genre allows for expectations to be met, resulting in a more fulfilled audience.