Genres and Generic Conventions

Genres and Generic Conventions

Action:

Action films are one of the main genre of films and tend to include a protagonist that overcomes physical feats in order to stay alive or save someone. Action films tend to get to the conclusion of the film through a series of gun fights, chase scenes and explosions. The protagonist of these movies tend to be male since these films tend to be aimed towards males and are designed to be exciting to watch.

Some example of action movies include…

·         James Bond films (e.g. Casino Royale, Skyfall)

·         Die Hard series

·         The Bourne Films (e.g. The Bourne Identity)

Comedy:

Comedy films are designed to entertain the audience by having an emphasis on humour. Generally this is accomplished by having realistic characters or personality traits exaggerated to make it humorous. These films tend to have a happy ending, but it can also be bad if the film is listed as “Black Comedy”. This genre is one of the main ones and tends to be aimed at both males and females. Some comedy films are spoofs of other films, for example the “Johnny English” films are based off the James Bond film series, but Johnny English films are aimed at a younger audience and tend to include the protagonist making a fool of himself.

Some examples of comedy movies include…

·         Johnny English

·         Anchorman

·         Hot Fuzz

·         Jump Street series

Thriller:

Thrillers are also a big genre and tend to include moments that invoke suspense, tension and excitement. They also tend to be adrenaline-rushing and fast paced. Thrillers tend to be realistic and normally the audience is meant to connect with the main protagonist. Generally plots consist of a villain that drives the narrative forward by putting obstacles in the protagonist’s ways that he/she most overcome in order to complete a certain objective or just stay alive. Throughout the movie the protagonist generally runs into sudden plot twist and sometimes the movie will end in a cliffhanger to leave the audience in suspense and therefore letting the audience make up their own mind on how it should have ended. Thrillers tend to go well with action or horror as well as having common sub-genres such as psychological thrillers, crime thrillers and mystery thrillers.

Some examples of thriller movies include…

·         The Silence of the Lambs

·         Seven

·         Inception

·         The Dark Knight Rises

Horror:

Horror is also a main film and tends to scare audience by dealing with their fears or nightmares. Plots tend to involve an evil force, event or supernatural element being put into the everyday world. Normally the horror genre include ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies, cannibals, and serial killers. These films always tend to have a scene that startle the viewer by having something jump out followed by a loud sound effect that makes the audience jump.

Some examples of horror movies include…

·         The Exorcist

·         Alien Series

·         Scream

Adventure:

Adventure films are a lesser known genre of film. Unlike action films, action scenes in adventure films showcase exotic new areas. These scenes tend to drive the narrative of adventure films forward. Generally adventure movie plots consist of quests for lost places, a jungle and/or mountain and/or desert. As well of this they normally portray a heroic character searching for the unknown.

Some examples of adventure movies include…

·         The Indiana Jones Series

·         Captain America: The Winter Soldier

·         The Lord of the Rings Series

·         The Hobbit Series

Drama:

Drama is one of the most well-known genres and is used regularly in both film and TV. Drama is the most realistic genre and shows how characters deal with emotions. Themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction and moral dilemmas are very common and show how the characters react and deal in the society the drama is set in. Dramas normally revolve around families. The Drama genre is broad and therefore is not aimed at males or females in particular.

Examples of drama movies includes…

·         The Shawshank Redemption

·         Forrest Gump

·         The Godfather

·         Schindler’s List

Romance:

Romance is a well-known genre and is aimed mainly at females. Plots for this usually revolve around two protagonists and generally shows love at first sight, but this genre shows issues with love as well such as forbidden love, love triangles and sacrificial love. The tone of these movies varies but a generic convention of romance films is that they have a happy ending.

Examples of romance movies includes…

·         Titanic

·         The Notebook

·         A Walk to Remember