chapter 9: genre

Question 1

genre

Answer 1

kind or type, indicating a certain type of movie

Question 2

what are some genres of fictional storytelling cinema

Answer 2

science fiction, action, comedy, musical, western

Question 3

what does genre rely on

Answer 3

familiarity and variation

Question 4

what are genre conventions

Answer 4

semantics and syntax

Question 5

semantics

Answer 5

iconography (images, characters, sets, locations, atmosphere)

Question 6

syntax

Answer 6

constitutive relationships between plot elements – underlying structures that connects semantics.

Question 7

what are the principles of genre

Answer 7

• there is no ‘classic’ genre, there has always been genre-hybridity
• genres never really ‘die’, they rise and fall
• genres must evolve – we call this genrification
• genres have a ritualistic & ideological component

Question 8

reflections

Answer 8

assuming that genre reflects social attitudes

Question 9

when was western established as a genre

Answer 9

1910s

Question 10

in early westerns, what was the central theme

Answer 10

civilized order and lawless frontier

Question 11

how is a western defined

Answer 11

subject, theme, iconography

Question 12

how is horror defined

Answer 12

the emotional effect it tries to arouse, shock, disgust, repel

Question 13

what does the horror genre rely on

Answer 13

character convention of a monster

Question 14

what two genres emerged during silent film making

Answer 14

horror and western

Question 15

why did the musical genre emerge

Answer 15

technological innovation

Question 16

what were the two major subgenres of musicals

Answer 16

backstage musical and straight musical

Question 17

backstage musical

Answer 17

which focuses on singers and dancers who perform for an audience within the story world

Question 18

straight musical

Answer 18

where people may sing and dance in situations of everyday life, tend to be romantic comedies

Question 19

what are characteristics of the backstage musical

Answer 19

dressing rooms, wings of a theatre, flats and backstops of the stage, orchestra and dance floor

Question 20

classical musicals rely on ___ while modern musicals tend to be ____.

Answer 20

long takes, cut very quickly

Question 21

what is a common plot in sports films

Answer 21

an underdog making it despite the odds, athletes who get injured or have a disease

Question 22

what are character conventions in sport films

Answer 22

the tough coach, the dedicated but flawed athlete, the adversary, the mate

Question 23

ritual

Answer 23

Hollywood responds to societal pressure and thus expresses audience desires. Hollywood answers to the demands of the audience

Question 24

ideological

Answer 24

each individual genre is a specific type of belief, or untruth whose most characteristic feature is its ability to masquerade as truth. Hollywood takes advantage of spectator’s psychic investment and manipulates audiences into Hollywood’s own positions

Question 25

what are the common structures of westerns

Answer 25

the classical plot, the vengeance variation, the transition western, the professional western

Question 26

the classical plot

Answer 26

hero enters society, society is seen as timid while villain is strong, hero seen as special compared to society and must come to defense of community, hero succeeds, but rides on into the sunset at the end

Question 27

the vengeance variation

Answer 27

hero is part of society, society is again weak, villains strong and cannot be punished, Hero seeks vengeance and must leave society. Is seen to have a special power and is persuaded by a member of the community to give up his vengeance, he does, and then circumstances call for a final showdown and the villain is killed and he re-enters society

Question 28

the transition

Answer 28

portrays Native Americans and African Americansmore sympathetically, the Transitional Western follows the same basic plot as classical Westerns, with White townspeople as the bad guys and ‘Indians’ as the good guys

Question 29

the professional

Answer 29

cowboy no longer serves the community but his own moral code, this binds him to other like-minded & self-interested cowboys who become their own community in miniature, Honor among thieves’

Question 30

what are conventions of the war film

Answer 30

masculinity, brotherhood, us against them, collective identity v individual heroism

Question 31

what are the two types of war films

Answer 31

war positive and anti war