Initial Research - Film Genres (What is Genre?)

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.