Film genres: features, functions, evolution
This Interactive workshop aims at exploring the origin of genres, their functions in cinema and their evolution, with particular emphasis on the latest developments. We first ask why we need genres at all and examine the variety of classification criteria that can be used. Then we focus on the specific features of genre films, analysing their conventions and their narrative structures. We then explore how different agents (from producers to audiences, from critics to film scholars) have used and still use genres, and highlight their economic, sociocultural and communicative functions. Finally, by taking a historical perspective, we explore how genres have evolved in the course of time and how modern cinema extensively use genre mixing and hybridization, thus pointing to the future of this important but complex category of film analysis. Part of the www.cinemafocus.eu research materials.
This Interactive workshop aims at exploring the origin of genres, their functions in cinema and their evolution, with particular emphasis on the latest developments. We first ask why we need genres at all and examine the variety of classification criteria that can be used. Then we focus on the specific features of genre films, analysing their conventions and their narrative structures. We then explore how different agents (from producers to audiences, from critics to film scholars) have used and still use genres, and highlight their economic, sociocultural and communicative functions. Finally, by taking a historical perspective, we explore how genres have evolved in the course of time and how modern cinema extensively use genre mixing and hybridization, thus pointing to the future of this important but complex category of film analysis. Part of the www.cinemafocus.eu research materials.
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I generi cinematografici: caratteristiche, funzioni, evoluzione
Film genres: features, functions, evolution
che evidenziano la presenza di molti oggetti che
entrano a far parte dell'atmosfera emotiva; uso di
luci contrastanti; e una recitazione eccessiva che
sottolinea le passioni che stanno sotto la superficie
delle cose. I thriller che coinvolgono un killer
(seriale) possono utilizzare immagini distorte e
suoni inquietanti per suggerire che il criminale è
psicologicamente disturbato.
atmosphere; use of contrasting lights; and an
excessive acting which underscores the
passions lying beneath the surface of things.
Thrillers involving a (serial) killer may use
distorted images and eerie sounds to suggest
that the criminal is psychologically disturbed.
La polizia bussa alla porta/The big combo (di/by
Joseph H. Lewis, USA 1955)
Secondo amore/All that heaven allows (di/by
Douglas Sirk, USA 1955)
4.2. La colonna sonora
4.2. Soundtrack
La colonna sonora è così intimamente connessa
allo stile generale di un film che spesso
sembriamo non accorgercene, sebbene svolga un
ruolo cruciale nella definizione dell'atmosfera: la
musica in stile "ballata" che spesso accompagna
l'apertura di tanti western, ad esempio, fa talmente
parte delle storie western che tendiamo a darla per
scontata. I film dell'orrore perderebbero molto del
loro impatto se rimuovessimo la musica e i suoni
che ci tengono in tensione, solo per essere
interrotti, a volte in modo del tutto inaspettato, da
altri suoni che ci fanno sobbalzare. Sebbene le
generalizzazioni non siano realmente possibili, nel
complesso possiamo dire che "i violini"
accompagnano spesso storie d'amore e altri tipi di
drammi romantici, mentre colonne sonore
elettroniche, anche sperimentali, vengono
utilizzate come per film di fantascienza.
Soundtrack is so intimately connected to the
overall style of a film that we often seem to be
unaware of it, although it plays a crucial role
in setting the atmosphere: the ballad-style
music which often accompanies the opening of
so many westerns, for example, is so much a
part of a western storyline that we tend to take
it for granted. Horror films would lose much of
their impact if we removed the music and
sounds that keep us on edge, only to be broken,
sometimes quite unexpectedly, by some other
sounds that make us jump to our feet. Although
generalisations are not really possible, on the
whole we can say that "sweeping strings" are
the usual accompaniment of love stories and
other kinds of romantic drama, while
electronic, even experimental soundtracks, are
used as the score for science-fiction films.
4.3. L'ambientazione
Lo spazio e il tempo, ovvero dove e quando si
svolge la storia di un film, sono particolarmente
importanti per alcuni generi, meno per altri.
Commedie e drammi, ad esempio, possono
svolgersi ovunque e in qualsiasi momento - nel
passato, nel presente e persino nel futuro, ma i
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4.3. Setting
The space and time, i.e. where and when, the
story of a film takes place are particularly
important for some genres, less so for others.
Comedies and dramas, for example, can take
place everywhere and at any time - in the past,
present and even future, but westerns focus on