When looking at the uses of having different genres of films there are many advantages for all. In our film we used the horror genre as we felt that this is the best and easiest to portray.
Firstly genre has many different advantages for the production companies involved in making the films. It firstly allows them to follow specific conventions used in older and popular films which means that they can predict the success of there own film and ensure that there will be an audience. They can also find funding easier as they can find a company willing to fund a particular genre of film. An example of this from our own work is how we decided to use Hammer as our production company as they are known for giving large funds and having successful horror movies meaning that we could expect success for our own. Julia Kristeva's concept of intertextuality describes this as it suggests that media texts are influenced by those that have gone before them. Another advantage for the production side is that there are certain actors known for there work in certain genre of movies meaning that they come with a certain amount of fan base giving a wider audience to the film. With the horror genre it is likely that an unknown actor will be used so that the audience has no previous opinion of them allowing them to fully engine with the storyline of the film itself instead of a previous character the actor might have played. Genre also allows the production companies to follow conventions regarding setting and props meaning that they can easily and quickly illustrate the genre of the film to the audience. When producing our film by having so much research on the horror genre from films found on youtube etc, meant that we could effectively recreate the genre in our own way while still knowing that we will get a successful audience.
Genre also allows the audience some advantages for example the most obvious one being that they will instantly know if this is the sort of film they are in the mood to watch. All different people have all different interests and by having different genres of films this allows the audience to determine if a film is for them by finding out the genre. Because of all of the established themes within each genre it also allows the audience an idea of what to expect, so for example in a horror the audience can expect suspense and tension or in a romantic comedy they expect to see love and comedy. This gives the audience the opportunity to look forward to the features in the film before they see it and builds up anticipation. Genre also allows the audience to be surprised by the conventions that are challenged once again with the horror genre as an example as they are constantly pushing the boundary's and taking risks with what they show.
With regards to film distributors genre means that films are far easier to market because the audience will automatically have a good idea of what they are getting when they see the genre of the film. There are also very similar ways used to advertise films with regard to genre for example with action films a lot of the action will be shown in the television advert meaning that new distributors of this film can follow this structure and end up with successful advertising. If a film uses a well know actor connected to the genre this allows the distributor to market the film. An example of this is Hugh Grant who is well known for his work in romantic comedies. It is also easier for the distributors to know how to approach the audience as there will be specific ways in which the audience of different genres are most likely to take an interest when approached by advertising.
In our own film genre was very useful especially where research was concerned. This meant that instead of searching through films in general we could look easily at specifically the horror genre and find out the different techniques used to product and distribute this genre of film. Our work is intertextual because we took features and conventions from other films and challenged or used them in our own. An example of this is how we used fade to blacks to transition between scenes which we found was common in films such as 'Se7en' and 'American Horror Story' which fits Neale's theory that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference.'. Other conventions we found and used in our horror film opening were child actors as the object of fear, fast pace and a deserted and night time setting. This follows Lacey's repertoire of elements which states genres are broken down into setting, character, narrative, iconography and style.'
No comments:
Post a Comment