Genre Task

Genre Task

Using the theories and ideas put forward by some/all of the academics covered, create a multi media film/tv guide to a genre of your choice. Aim to provide examples that show:

• Use of generic conventions (Narrative, character, iconography, mis-en-scene, etc)
• Examples that evidence audience pleasures 
• Examples that demonstrate problems in categorization (elements that perhaps aren't typical) 

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Key Academics Theories:

• Daniel Chandler: Chandler sees genre as too restricting. Genres are typically based on a type of text which classifies different types of media. It is impossible for a piece for a piece to belong to no genre at all. Chandler states that defining genres can be problematic, but even if we were to abandon genre, people would still categorise texts in real life. Genre creates order. Creating categories helps us fill the need to organise everything around us. 

• John Fiske: Fiske states that generic conventions embody the critical ideology concerns of the time in which they are popular, meaning he saw genre as a convenience for producers and the audiences idea that genre is useful to all institutions.

• Rick Altman: Altman states that genre offers the audience a set of pleasures such as:

1. Emotional Pleasures: Does the text make the audience happy, sad, nostalgic? 
2. Visceral Pleasures: 'Gut' responses, such as excitement, fear, laughter, etc.
3. Intellectual Puzzles: Does the text make the audience think?

• With all these ideas in mind, is it clear as to why we might use genre to serve out needs? For example, seeking horror for safe thrill, comedy to lift our mood. Altman also states that there are many problems with genre, for example; it gets too repetitive, it gets negative reviews based on their genre, the genre may die/evolve/change.

• Jane Feuer: Feuer states that works of literature, films, and television can all be categorized. She also says that the reasoning behind genre study is to give reasons for a genre. Another point she makes is that genres are not created by those involved in the film making process but by film theorists

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Slasher Films

Slasher films are a subgenre of horror films typically involving a violent psychopath stalking and murdering a group of people, usually with bladed weapons. The subgenre hit it's peak throughout 1978-1984 in an era commonly known as the golden age of slasher films. 

The act of watching people inflict violence upon one another dates back to Ancient Rome, but the earliest recorded accounts were horror plays produced at the Grand Guignol during the 19th Century. Early film influences of slasher films include George Archainbaud's Thirteen Women (1932) and The Terror (1928), based on the play by Edgar Wallace. Though, despite these movies influencing films that would come later, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is popularly known as the movie that started it all, beginning an era of slasher horror films that would terrify children and adults. 

1. Use of generic conventions

Conventions, in short words, are accepted ways of using media codes. There are conventions used everyday in commonplace things, such as the way a fast food worker greets you; they always have the same fake happy tone, wish you a good day then ask for your order politely. Conventions are also genre specific. Different types of conventions include form conventions, story conventions and genre conventions. In film/tv we can find genre conventions. Genre conventions consist of the narrative, characters, mis-en-scene (props, costume, lighting, etc). Conventions are what makes the text the genre it is, without them there would be no way of classifying it. Conventions help judge the exact genre/subgenre the text fits into.

Throughout slasher movies, you can clearly tell that there is a certain theme to them. This theme is what makes a slasher movie a slasher movie, without the generic conventions that we see in a typical slasher it would lose the title name and become a regular horror movie. Some of these typical conventions we see are the narratives/storylines. Take a moment to think about all of the slasher movies that you have seen, then think about how similar the storylines are to one another. For example, Friday the 13th; a 6'6" machete wielding man in a hockey mask stalking and hunting down a group of innocent teens one by one. Then we have A Nightmare on Elm Street, which follows a similar storyline; a burnt serial killer who haunts your nightmares while wearing a glove with blades on the end of the tips hunting down a group of innocent teens via their dreams and killing them one by one. Although the two movies differ in many ways, they share a similar narrative that lots of other slashers have in common.

Another example is the characters. In all genres there is always a pattern that the genre follows, and for horror it would be: 

• The antagonist: The antagonist is the villain in slasher movies, for example; Michael Myers in Halloween. 

• The Protagonist:  The protagonist is the leading character in films, or the hero in most cases, for example; Sydney Prescott in Scream. 

• The Jock: The jock is the tall, big headed, self absorbed male, for example; Barry in I Know What You Did Last Summer  

•  The Blonde: The blonde is a character who is not always blonde, but is just over all dumb. The blonde is usually one of the first to die. For example; CiCi in Scream 2 

• The Skeptic/The Nerd: The skeptic and the nerd are usually the same people. They are smart enough and knowledgeable enough to know that you never open the front door when someone knocks at it at 2am. For example, this would be Randy in Scream. 

• The couple: This would usually be the jock and the blonde, and they'd usually end up in a, what they think is a secure and secret place, which would resort in them dying. For example, this would be Jules and Curt in The Cabin in the Woods.

These characters are vital to the slasher sub-genre because the stereotypes portrayed are what makes the movie enjoyable. There are many other conventions that make the slasher sub-genre exactly what it is. Things such as blood, dark colors, scary settings, and sound motif. All of these contribute to the making of the genre. 

We can apply John Fiske's theory to this, because he states that genres are made up entirely of the conventions we see throughout the text. He is right in this instance, because without the typical conventions we see in a slasher it may as well just be a basic horror movie.


2. Examples that evidence audience pleasures 

The Texas Chainsaw 

Massacre (1974)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is an American horror film inspired by the real life murders committed by Ed Gein. The film follows the story of a girl, her brother and her friends travelling out to visit their late grandfathers grave after hearing rumors that it was vandalized. The group is then later attacked by a family of cannibals, one of whom is the infamous serial killer Leatherface, who remains one of the most popular slasher icons. This film was said to be based on a true story, but it infact was not. It was only inspired by past events.

This film includes many of the conventions we would expect to see in a slasher film. The narrative follows the journey of a group of teens who stumble across a family of cannibals, one of which is a mask wearing, bladed weapon wielding serial killer which resorts into a majority of the teens being murdered and skinned for parts. 

We can apply Rick Altman's genre theory to this to evidence audience pleasures. The reason people watch horror movies is for the safe thrill and to be frightened. People watch this type of entertainment for the effects; the effects being a good scare, which is also fun at the same time. According to a 2004 paper in the Journal of Media Psychology by Dr. Glenn Walters, the reason people watch horror movies is for the terror, suspense, shock and gore. Which personally, I believe is true. The reason I watch horror movies isn't just for the good story line, but for the scares. Being frightened by a horror movie is a completely different thrill than being scared in real life. Mainly because you know that you're not in the situation yourself. Back to Rick Altman's theory, he believes that genre offers a set of pleasures such as:

• Emotional Pleasures: Does the text make the audience happy, sad, nostalgic? 
• Visceral Pleasures: 'Gut' responses, such as excitement, fear, laughter, etc.
• Intellectual Puzzles: Does the text make the audience think?

Slasher films offer all of these. For example, watching a horror movie would make the scared (emotional pleasures) but it would also make them on edge and fearful at the same time (Visceral Pleasures), and while watching a scene you think to yourself "Why are they doing that?!" and "Don't open that door!", and other thoughts just like that. This usually happens during the scene involving The Blonde's death. 

While watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Rick Altman's genre theory clearly applies. This movie and its scares and on-edge scenes provide emotional pleasures, visceral pleasures, and intellectual puzzles. While watching the movie, scenes like this: https://youtu.be/I31nPdxjM7g, make people scared, leaving them with a fearful gut feeling and leaving them thinking "Run! Faster! He's behind you!". This is the purpose of the conventions, they are supposed to make you think and feel these things.

3. Examples that demonstrate problems in categorization (elements that perhaps aren't typical) 

Sometimes genres can be problematic, for example, with slasher films; Slasher films mostly have similar narratives (teens being stalked and hunted down by masked murderer) but the problem with this is that it can become repetitive. When I say it may become repetitive I'm not referring to movies withing the same franchise, I'm referring to different movies. For example, Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream—the main movies that come to mind when you say slasher. All these movies are great in their own ways, but a reason why some people may not like them is because they are too similar. The movies always involve dumb, clueless teens struggling to fight against a man with a weapon, and this is the problem. Yes, these are key parts to what makes a slasher film a slasher film, but that's why genre is sometimes labelled as problematic. 

Another reason why it can be labeled as problematic is because people judge a book by it's cover, or in this case, a film by it's genre. People criticizing movies just by their genre alone happens to often in today's world. For example, the moment my dad found out about the new Halloween film he already determined that it would be "crap" because he doesn't believe modern horror movies are as good as they once were. Fast forward months after this, right after its release and after my dad finally gave in and watched the movie, he said that it wasn't a bad move and was better than he expected. This is what I was referring to when I stated that too many people judge a movie based on its genre. 

Another problem we can discuss revolves around David Chandler's theory that genre is too restricting. He believes that genre is too restricting but it would be impossible to abandon it because, even if we were to completely wipe it off the face of the earth there would still be the need to organise categories to satisfy and fill our needs. We can also apply Rick Altman's genre theory to this topic, because he also states that genre classification has it's problems. One of the problems he mentions is that genre is predictable. This is true to all genres. Romcom's and horror aren't the only predictable genres, there's predictable elements within all genres.

Slasher movies are one of the genres that sit at the top of predictability table. Just by watching the first 15 minutes of a horror movie you can already determine the plot and the ending, maybe even what characters live and die. This is one of the problems with slashers, they're too predictable. Think about every slasher you've watched, you probably thought half way through "yep, she's gonna be the last survivor" because they are just so predictable.

The Scream franchise plays into predictability to a large extent. Before even watching the movie you already know that Sydney is going to have all her friends killed off, she's going to have a 1v1 battle with the killer, she's going to unmask them and live her ife in fear of the killer returning. It's what happens every movie.