Although in all films, elements of one genre can be featured in another to a certain extent, some films can be classified instead, under a sub-genre (otherwise known as a genre hybrid).
With the expansion of the film industry, creators can find it hard to produce films that conform to and are exclusively labelled as being one particular genre. Some films therefore fall under the category of being a sub-genre. By combining conventions of different genres into their films, producers can generate wider audience interest. Examples of Sub-Genres:
Biblical - this particular sub-genre can be defined as a film translating events as described in the Bible, or that is set in Biblical times, even if it does not specifically adapt tales from the scripture, e.g. The Prince of Egypt
Biopic (Biographical) - a film which charts the life of, or portrays a key event in a historic orcontemporary individual's life, e.g. The Social Network, The King's Speech
Chick Flicks - denotes any (romance) film perceived to be aimed predominantly towards a female audience, e.g. Clueless, Mean Girls
Claymation - animated feature films using models created out of clay or plasticine molded around a wire mesh, e.g. Chicken Run
Contemporary Fantasy - set in the real - or slightly modified - world and in a present era but with a fantastical element such as magic or other dimensions acting upon it, e.g. Harry Potter
Dark Fantasy - e.g. Pan's Labyrinth
Disaster - e.g. San Andreas, Dante's Peak
Fairy Tale - screenplays which have adapted folkloric fairy tales, often loosely basing the film's narrative on these original stories, e.g. Snow White and the Huntsman, Maleficent
Film Noir - e.g. Strangers on a Train
Found Footage films - these films are primarily or wholly portrayed with footage taken, or that is later found by one of the characters within the narrative (camcorder), e.g. Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity, REC
Martial Arts - e.g. The Karate Kid
Melodramas/'Weepers' - e.g. Me Before You
Psychological - e.g. Inception, The Silence of the Lambs
Road films - films in which the main character(s) leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives, e.g. Mad Max
Rom-Com - traditional romance blended with elements of comedy, e.g. Notting Hill
Slasher - these films are generally centered around a (traditionally male) killer mercilessly killing off their victims in a brutal and gory manner, e.g. Scream, Psycho
Sports - e.g. Rush
Spy - e.g. Ronin
Superhero - e.g. The Avengers, Iron Man
Video Game - screenplays which have been adapted from popular video games, e.g. Pixels
Zombie/Apocalyptic - these films typically include zombies and/or covers the story of a lone protagonist or group of survivors following the downfall of civilisation, e.g. Warm Bodies, Planet of the Apes
Genre is defined as 'a style or category of art, music, or literature', and describes and categorises different types of media texts. Genre is important for both consumers and media producers; whereas media producers create media texts for a specific audience, consumers can make choices about different media texts they wish to consume. If a media producer aims to gain an audience for a particular genre, they will need to take into consideration the codes and conventions of that particular genre in order to include them in the media text that they are creating.
In terms of film, genre is dependent on a variety of factors, including it's story line, director and audience expectations etc. Establishing the film's genre can also help producers determine its overall target audience based on their personal and film interests. Film Genres:
Action - e.g. Taken
Adventure - e.g. Indiana Jones
Animation - e.g. Toy Story, Shrek
Comedy - e.g. The Hangover, American Pie
Crime & Gangster - e.g. Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather
Drama - e.g. Atonement, The Reader
Documentary - e.g. March of the Penguins
Erotic - e.g. 50 Shades of Grey
Fantasy - e.g. The Lord of the Rings
Historical - e.g. 12 Years a Slave
Historical Fiction - e.g. Titanic, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Horror - e.g. Insidious, The Shining
Musicals - e.g. Grease, Hairspray
Mystery - e.g. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Romance - e.g. The Notebook
Science Fiction - e.g. Star Wars, Avatar
Seasonal (Christmas/Halloween etc.) - e.g. Hocus Pocus, Love Actually
Thriller - e.g. Gone Girl
Western - e.g. The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, The Magnificent Seven
Although there are a variety of widely regarded (and therefore, easily distinguishable) film genres produced by the media, some elements of each genre can be dispersed across other genres, making some films fall under more than one genre category. For example, the 1978 film Grease is primarily considered a musical, however also falls under the romance genre due to the ongoing romantic story line between Danny and Sandy throughout the narrative.
Genre Conventions:
Genre codes and conventions allow the audience/consumer to identify the overall type of film that they are going to watch, allowing them to make conscious decisions as to whether or not they will watch the film. Conventions are elements that are typically found in a specific genre of film. For example, horror films are generally considered to have dark lighting, themes of good vs. evil and to provide an overall sinister, ominous atmosphere, making it immediately identifiable as a horror film. Mise en scene plays an important part in conveying genre.
Genre conventions are often specific to that particular genre. Nevertheless, as stated, some genres can overlap and will therefore contain conventions of multiple genres (depending on which genre category the film falls under). Some producers also decide to subvert some genre conventions, despite their films still falling under that one particular genre.
Identifying Genre Conventions:
Typical Narratives - some genres are identifiable through the narrative structure of the film, as well as the types of characters included.
Typical Micro Elements - genres can be identified through mise en scene, such as through the use of lighting, costumes, colour, props, settings, typography (titles) etc.
Typical Themes - different genres can contain themes that others do not, including good vs. evil, crime and punishment, drugs and drug misuse etc.
What is film distribution?
There are three key stages of film distribution; the promotion and marketing of a product, film sales during cinema release, as well as being responsible for the production of film copies available to the public (after the films theatrical release). Distribution refers to everything that happens in between the production and exhibition stages of a film.
This involves;
acquiring the legal rights to a film
negotiating timing of the films release and the number of prints/files required for production
the production and distribution of prints/files to cinemas
the marketing and promotion of a film, this includes promotional partnerships (also known as tie-ins), for example McDonald's Happy Meals
the exhibition of films in foreign (non-native speaking) countries - subtitled and dubbed
arranging and payment for a films age certificate
acquiring the DVD and Blu-Ray distribution rights
the production and distribution of DVDs and Blu-Rays to stores
An example of a diagram showing how film distribution works
Why do film distributors promote their products?
The promotion of a film is a critical part of ensuring a substantial financial gain in comparison to the initial budget used in order to create it. Marketing and promotion allows distribution companies to reach out to their main target audience (consumers), therefore guaranteeing that they gain as much profit as possible for their films; the intention of film production and distribution companies is to create hype around their products on the run up to the films theatrical release. By creating hype around their films, distribution companies will increase the overall revenue income that the product makes during its exhibition stage significantly, which will in turn create a larger profit in which they can invest into future feature length projects. Furthermore, this will cause the distribution companies to grow financially as well as in popularity which is its ultimate goal.
Film promotion is particularly important in low budget independent films in comparison to products produced by big Hollywood conglomerate companies such as Disney who are often guaranteed significant financial gain due to its popularity, regardless to the amount of marketing strategies they use in order to promote their films. The expenditures of marketing and promotion in the majority of Hollywood films often equals or even exceeds the initial costs of production. On the other hand, independent film companies may spend less on the marketing and promotion of their products due to having much smaller budgets to cover production costs, and therefore generally struggle to create a large overall revenue for their films. Consequently, independent film companies are compelled to target a much smaller local audience compared to that of a conglomerate who constantly targets a worldwide, tent pole audience.
How do distributors promote their products?
Film distributors can promote their products in a variety of different ways in order to ensure a build up of anticipation within potential consumers for its theatrical release. These methods of promotion fall under two categories; digital and heritage marketing.
Heritage Marketing: This refers to the traditional methods of marketing film, for example through billboards, posters, trailers and premiers. These methods were popular before significant developments in technology occurred and digital marketing became increasingly available and fairly cheap for distributors to use, however these heritage methods of marketing are still popular and used to promote a vast majority of films. Methods of heritage marketing also include teaser trailers which act as a pre-launch campaign for a film; they are typically released six months before the initial release of the full trailer (which are generally released two months before the films initial theatrical release) and consist of small cryptic and challenging advertisements which anticipate a larger full-blown crusade for the film's launch. The fact that they are released long in advance of the films theatrical release "teases" the audience and in turn builds up anticipation for when the film comes out.
Heritage marketing is also referred to as 'push marketing' as it pushes the promotion onto the audience in order to attract attention to their film, consequently causing anticipation towards the lead to a release of a film. Examples of Heritage Marketing for James Wan's 'INSIDIOUS':
2010's 'INSIDIOUS' trailer
An example of a teaser trailer for James Wan's 2010 film 'INSIDIOUS'
As you can see, a teaser trailer is a condensed version of the main theatrical trailer, consisting of enigmatic short clips designed to cause anticipation within the audience for the upcoming release of the film
Digital Marketing: Digital marketing refers to the promotion of a film online and digitally, often through social media. Examples of popular social networking sites commonly used during the promotion and distribution stage are Twitter, Facebook. YouTube and Instagram. Digital methods of marketing are currently the most popular and effective ways for film distributors to promote their films due to the recent rise in technological development and advances, as well as it offering a logistics-light, efficient dynamic and cost effective promotion strategy for distributors to promote their films. Digital marketing methods allow distributors to reach a global audience due to the low initial budget required to do this, and as well as through social media, distributors are able to create websites and post trailers online in order to attract international audiences.
There are two promotional strategies to digital marketing; Push Marketing: this refers to the idea that distributors can "push" their products onto consumers. For example, distributors can create their methods of digital marketing specifically with the intention for it to come into contact with consumers. Pull Marketing: on the other hand, the "pull" marketing strategy is where the audience engages themselves with the promotion. Pull marketing refers to the audience locating and seeking out the marketing themselves. For example, through sourcing websites and searching on YouTube independently for trailers or cast interviews.
An example of a digital marketing method through the social networking site Twitter in order to promote 'INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 3'
What is viral marketing?
Viral marketing refers to marketing solely through social media; it is the slow releasing of information about the film on the internet. There are many advantages to distributors using viral marketing in order to promote their films, including its low costs, higher credibility and its higher efficiency. Viral marketing allows distributors to promote their films to a worldwide international audience at a low cost. Its purpose is to build hype around their films, keeping fans interested in its upcoming release. For independent films particularly, viral marketing is the most cost effective way of promoting their films due to low budgets and therefore high production costs.
Distributors use viral marketing primarily to keep audiences interested in watching the film, although they also make the audience feel as though they have to 'earn' more information about it, sometimes creating interactive movie campaigns where people have to get involved. An example of how the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises encouraged potential consumers to gain extra film information/content was by creating a fictional file for a criminal investigation which was posted online onto the films promotional website; www.thedarkknightrises.com.
Considered one of the most extensive, complex interactive film campaigns yet, Warner Brothers created a fictional
My name is Jessica Underwood and I am a Year 13 sixth form student at Chenderit School, studying A2 Media Studies alongside English Language & Literature and Art Textiles. This is my A2 Media coursework blog, where I shall document each stage before, during and after the completion of my final product (as well as two ancillary products). I found last year that blogging was an effective way of documenting the progression from the research stage to the production and post-production stages of my coursework, and I therefore thought it would be suitable to use this particular platform again.
