GENRE THEORY

NOTES

Donnie Darko genre bending?

is starwars a western?
desert, standoffs
hero, good vs. evil
clothing?

genre is massively important in film industry - marketing, putting in boxes. every film that's released, have you seen that new horror film? categorised, organised, find and watch and choose
genre audience connection, choose what to watch , niche audiences to market to - promoting is all about safety because films are expensive - you'll at least appeal to someone
the expanse on Netflix. good

hybrids break boundaries

codes and conventions
things normally found in that genre
things that create meaning

codes - technical and symbolic, the thing
technical - equipment being used to tell a story, how it's made (shaky camera, jumpscares)
symbolic - under the surface, moods and feelings (creepy feeling, sad feeling)
music fits both tech and symbolic

conventions - accepted way of doing something generally, is the thing typical
eg. magazines look like magazines, newspapers look like newspapers etc.
how it's conventionally used vs. how it is used etc. (shaky camera is a convention of horror)

western codes
browns, yellows, oranges
costumes
horses
dusty, desert, saloons
American Wild West

western conventions

why do we watch them?
human revenge stories, lawless, about the narrative
redefining the genre, moral grey areas, not good vs. evil, more realistic

 our genres
action, scifi, comedy

attack the block is a hybrid
conforms and goes against
no love interest character
group (although Moses is the leader, protagonist)
set in the present, set in England, not high budget

theory
universities, professors etc
nobody planned the media, sat down and said media is going to be this
organic way over years
oh god look at this thing we've made
tells us about human beings because we did it
categorising and breaking down
for future media

important theorists

Daniel chandler - genres are a set of elements shared between texts/films
ATB has this - multiple genre conventions

Deborah knight - satisfaction is guaranteed with genre, prolonged anticipation for things you know are going to happen - safety net, you know what's going to happen and seeing how we get there is pleasurable
attack the block ends like an action film, he beats the monsters. conventional to action, not scifi. BUT we get there in a different way and he's arrested. unconventional to action. Moses plot armour 

Steve neale - no pleasure without difference, pleasure is derived from repetition and difference - you like to see the same things in a genre but done in different ways - pleasure is derived from the differences
ATB is unconventional - antihero mugging someone at the start. gets arrested at the end, no clean victory. no scientist character but you do have the posh guy, realistic in some regards/respects

Jonathan culler - connection between creator and audience, certain expectations to meet, allowing compliance and deviation - can change things or repeat them to establish a connection with your audience and speak to them through your film (you are a reader if you watch a film) - you expect things in the unspoken contract, the creator delivers on that expectation or subverts it - like a conversation
ATB marketed as an action, not a sci-fi. wider audience for action. its also a social commentary/comedy - not technically an action film, peril isn't throughout, moments of comedy without peril  
ATB is low budget and British, and independent, not just trying to tick boxes - social commentary usiual;y found in British independent films rather than Hollywood (council estate commentary, race commentary) see: Edgar wright films. people were probably disappointed with the lack of action, sci-fi etc because it did bad at the box office 

roles - who has the hero? antihero? damsel in distress? villain? etc.

TYING IT ALL UP

very rough summary of ATB genre.
ATB is a hybrid of action, horror, comedy, sci-fi and social commentary. It was marketed mostly as an action film, however despite this it has elements mores of comedy and social commentary. it has conventions of each genre, however subverting others. For example, it has fight scenes like an action film would have. We can find codes of the action genre, such as blue lighting which is created by using gel thingies slotted over the camera lens. It also has a male lead, which is very conventional to the genre. The presentation of masculinity is a Whole Thing in action films but I won't go into it yet.
It uses tracking shots along corridors which is a big convention of the sci-fi genre.

It also uses flickering lights, which works for either sci-fi or horror. it has moments of comedy as well which play into conventions of both action and comedy - action films often have a few jokes peppered in. ATB also has jumpscares, a solid convention of the horror genre that is sometimes shared with both action and sci-fi. characters being picked off one by one, when they're alone, is also a convention of the horror genre. big monsters are a convention of horror and action, but sometimes action films (like war of the worlds) are based around alien invasions.

ATB conforms to each of these genres a bit, but subverts certain parts of them all as well. it's a hybrid, which are notoriously difficult to market and don't tend to do too well. people often leave feeling quite disappointed with the film, because they had certain expectations that were left unfulfilled. they may feel, as culler says, that their 'contract' was not honoured.