How does the concept of
genre apply to your Trailer?
Films are categorised based on similarities in the narrative
elements from which films are constructed, their genre. One way of categorising
film genres is by the target audience. In horror films, certain things often
happen, including a death near the beginning and frequent scary scenes and jump
scares. These are some of the conventions of horror films. Some examples of
sub-genres of horror are Slasher, Splatter, Zombie and
Supernatural/Psychological. There are some horror films that combine the genre
of horror with another genre. ‘Warm Bodies’ is a film combines the genres of
horror and comedy. ‘Shaun of the Dead’ also does this. When watching horror
films, the audience will have expectations regarding the content of the film
they are watching. Therefore, repetition and predictability in the film can
excite them. In contrast, audiences may take pleasure when there are
differences, such as when two different genres are combined in one film because
this isn’t what they would expect to see.
One genre theorist is Daniel Chandler. He believed that “conventional
definitions of genre are based on the idea that they share particular
conventions of content, eg. themes or setting”. Another is Steve Neale. He
believed that “genres are instances of repetition and difference; this is what
pleasure for the audience is derived from”. The comedy-horror film, ‘Warm
Bodies’ is a good example to use. The film combines two genres that you
wouldn’t usually expect to see together. This is done to gibe the audience
something new and different, and so the typical things that happen in horror
films are not repeated in every one. The audience could get pleasure from this,
as it is unique. However, they could also be left disappointed because they are
fans of the horror genre and were only expecting to see horror in the film. Rick
Altman was a genre theorist who proposed a semantic/syntactic approach.
Finally, the genre theorist, Graeme Burton, argued that films from a certain
genre will all contain recognisable characteristics and key elements. These are
the protagonists, stock characters, stock situations, icons, background and
décor, and themes. In Slasher films, there will be protagonists and small
characters who get chased by the antagonist, and always fall over when trying
to get away. This is called a stock situation. Icons in Slasher films include
masks and knives, used by the killers.
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