Genre
Genre is the term used for the classification of media texts into groups with similar characterisitics.
(From the book: AS Media Studies: The Essential Introduction)

One example of a film genre:
Gangster
Codes and conventions: Car chases, guns, Heroes, Villains, violence, urban setting, mafia, italians, beautiful woman.
(From the book: AS Media Studies: The Essential Introduction)
Horror
Codes and conventions: Music - scary, major chords, creepy, sound - footsteps, creeks, deep breathing. Lighting - dull, dark, red, shadows. Abandoned places, cobwebs, guns, blood.

Favourite Film: The Sweetest Thing

Codes and conventions: funny, happy music, minor chords, pretty girls, cute boys, romance, restaurants, bedrrom, street, high lighting, bright happy places.

10 Favourite Films

1.War of the worlds
In this i like the way that it is packed of action and you really get into it, wantign to knwo who survives and what has ahppened to the people. Wierd storyline and icnography makes the film unusual and memorable.
2. Titanic
An all time classic, I like the way that the film is based on a true story. It is well action packed. As its a true story you are more interested to see what actualy happend in the film and you feel sympathy for the characters. Most peopel have seen the film and have enjoyed it so you can talk about it with friends and family.
3. Sex and the city
4. Not another teen movie
5. The sweetest thing
6. Parent trap
7. Step brothers
I like these three as they are really funny and are great film to watch with your friends and have a laugh. You can also relate chick flicks liek these to your own lives.
8. I am legend
9. The Day after Tomorrow
These two films are also action packed and are very unusual films that allways stay in my mind. I like how the films have a sense of realism but are not realistic for example in "I am legend" there is a disease which came about when tryign to create a cure for cancer, these days peopel are tryign to find a cure for cancer and anythign could happen like this but is very unlikely. In "The Day After Tomorrow" there is an ice age which people in real life do actualy fear of happening.
10. Dr dolittle
This film is very funny and un realistic but always stays in my memory. A Dr can talk to animals which can not happen in real life but in a way peopel would like this to happen and people do feel close to their pets.

Favourite Genre

Even though I like a wide variety of genres, my favourite genre is chick flicks because I liek to have a laugh while watchign the film and relate it to my life.

Is there a style of filmmaking you prefer?

I prefer realistic in films as you can relate them to your own life but I still like films that are not relaistic.

Do you like films to have a certain structure?

No. I liek all kinds of structures in films. A variation in different filsm just interests me.

Why is genre important to audiences?

Audiences sometimes watch films dependign on its genre and it gives audiences expectations of films.

Why is genre important to producers?

it helps them choose all the right codes and conventions to use, to fit in with the film genre. They can also then advertise the film as a percific genre and get audiences interested as they find out what they want to see. They could also see which film genre is most successful and create them types of films so there film becomes more successful.

Why is genre an important factor of film making?

Genre is a very important factor of filmmaking as it helps the producers make a better film. Once they have selected a genre for the film they can then use better codes and conventions for the genre so that the film works well. They could even research to see which is the best genre and then use that genre as it would be the most successful. Audiences sometimes choose whether they watch a film or not depending on the genre, they do this because if they have seen films with a perticular genre and enjoyed them they will most probably enjoy other films with the same genre. After watchign films with similar or the same genres, the audience also have expectations of the film as they have become familiar with the codes and conventions, for example in a horror film there is alot of dark lighting and creepy music and now when the audience see these codes and conventiosn they know something bad is going to happen. Familiarity through repatition is therfor one of the key elements in the way audiences understand and relate to media texts. One of the main functions of the mainstream media is to make a profit, so media producers have to create texts that audiences will want to consume. This is made much easier when a genre is put into place.

8 Films with Hybrid Genres

Club Dread - comedy/thriller

Scary movie - comedy/thriller

I am legend - action/thriller

White chicks - Action/Comedy

Spiderman - Action/Romance

Shawn of the dead - Action/comedy

White Chicks - Comedy/crime

Why do audiences like hybrid films.

Audiences have expectations of different films depending on there genres. When there are mixed genres there are even more expectations and mystery to whether the codes and conventions of one genre or the other will appear. This gives the audience something to get excited about and something to look forward too. Mixed genres could also have larger taget audiences for exapmple, females tend to like romance films and males tend to like action films. If the film was a hybrid and was action/romance then both males and females might want to watch it. This is important because the film producers weill make more money.