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
cinemafocus.eu
Gli approcci semantico-strutturali allo studio dei
generi considerano non solo gli elementi semantici
(che abbiamo elencato come convenzioni di
genere), ma anche i modi in cui tali elementi sono
intrecciati, così che, in un particolare genere,
tendono ad essere trattati nel stesso modo, cioè ad
essere organizzati in una struttura simile. Abbiamo
già visto all'opera questo principio nel descrivere
le strutture narrative e abbiamo considerato come i
film appartenenti allo stesso genere sembrano
essere organizzati lungo linee di sviluppo della
storia molto simili. Ora parleremo più in dettaglio
di come la rete di relazioni tra gli elementi
semantici (la sua sintassi) aiuti a stabilire i
significati complessivi veicolati dal film.
Prendendo ancora come esempio il western,
abbiamo visto che motivi semantici ricorrenti
includono spazi (naturali - come deserti,
montagne, canyon, ecc. e umani - come saloon,
banche, stazioni ferroviarie, ecc.), personaggi
(cowboy, "indiani ", sceriffi, agricoltori, ecc.),
oggetti (come pistole, carri, carrozze, ecc.),
situazioni (come attacchi indiani, combattimenti
tra eroi e cattivi, sparatorie, ecc.), ma anche, e
soprattutto, lo spazio e le impostazioni temporali,
in particolare, e in senso lato, il (Far) West
americano nella seconda metà del XIX secolo. (È
interessante notare che, anche se abbiamo citato
L'ultimo dei Mohicani e Pocahontas come film
ambientati negli Stati Uniti orientali nel 18°
secolo, non esiste un genere cinematografico
"orientale", principalmente a causa del fatto che
non ci sono mai stati abbastanza film per
giustificare l'adozione di un altro genere specifico
- un fattore importante che riprenderemo in
seguito, quando parleremo di come i generi
nascono e si evolvono.)
Sebbene i motivi semantici sembrino sufficienti a
giustificare l'esistenza di un genere riconosciuto e
consolidato come "il western", anche gli elementi
sintattici e strutturali di questo genere concorrono
a renderlo originale, soprattutto quando ci si
sofferma sui rapporti che sono tipicamente creati
tra motivi e che conferiscono a ciascun film il suo
"sapore" complessivo di western. Tali relazioni
non sono semplicemente segnalate per la mera
presenza di oggetti fisici, personaggi e situazioni,
ma sono soprattutto veicolate attraverso le
relazioni tra i personaggi, i tratti psicologici dei
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(which we listed as genre conventions), but
also the ways in which such elements are
woven together, so that, in a particular genre,
they tend to be treated in the same way, i.e. to
be organized in a similar structure. We have
already seen this principle at work in
describing narrative structures, and have
considered how films belonging to the same
genre appear to be organized along similar
lines of story development. Now we will discuss
in more detail how the network of relationships
between semantic elements (its syntax) helps to
establish the overall meanings conveyed by the
film.
Taking once again the western as an example,
we saw that recurring semantic motifs include
spaces (natural, like deserts, mountains,
canyons, etc. and human, like saloons, banks,
railway stations, etc.), characters (cowboys,
"Indians", sheriffs, farmers, etc.), objects (like
guns, wagons, coaches, etc.), situations (like
Indian attacks, fights between heroes and
villains, gunfights, etc.), but also, and most
importantly, its space and time settings,
specifically, and broadly speaking, the
American (Far) West in the second half of the
19th century. (Interestingly, although we
mentioned The last of the Mohicans and
Pocahontas as films set in the eastern U.S.A. in
the 18th century, there is no "eastern" film
genre, mostly due to the fact that there have
never been enough movies to justify the
adoption of another specific genre - an
important factor which we will take up again
later, when discussing how genres are born
and evolve.)
Although the semantic motifs would seem to be
sufficient to justify the existence of a
recognized, established genre as "the western",
the syntactic, structural elements of this genre
also concur to make it distinctive and original,
particularly when we focus on the relationships
that are typically created between motifs, and
which give each film its overall "flavour" as a
western. Such relationships are not simply
pointed out owing to the mere presence of
physical objects, characters and situations, but
are mostly conveyed through the relationships
between characters, the psychological traits of