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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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cinemafocus.eu

I generi cinematografici: caratteristiche, funzioni, evoluzione

Film genres: features, functions, evolution

dalla concorrenza. Uno studio potrebbe (e, in un

certo senso, il moderno sistema di produzione

può ancora) fare affidamento su attori sotto

contratto, registi, personaggi, processi tecnici

("Technicolor", "Cinerama") e sui propri nomi

commerciali (un a distribuzione "United

Artists", una produzione "Paramount" ... - si

veda il video in basso a sinistra). L'utilizzo di

queste risorse potrebbe (e può), da un lato, far

risparmiare sui costi, ad es. evitando di produrre

campagne pubblicitarie completamente nuove,

e, dall'altro, fornire una continuità con i film

precedenti che può essere sfruttata attraverso la

familiarità del pubblico. Questo è uno dei motivi

per cui, piuttosto che porre l'accento sul genere

di un film (i generi, per definizione, non

possono essere protetti da copyright), i

produttori preferiscono molto spesso creare

serie, cicli, sequel, remake, ecc. Utilizzare

personaggi protetti da copyright come Indiana

Jones, Rambo, Conan e la vasta gamma di

"supereroi", da Batman e Superman in poi, si è

rivelato estremamente redditizio, così come i

nomi ricorrenti nei titoli, come Die Hard, Lethal

Weapon, Star Trek, Predator, ecc. (si veda il

video in basso a destra). Indiana Jones fu

presentato al pubblico per la prima volta come

"il nuovo eroe dai creatori di JAWS e STAR

WARS", sottolineando così il marchio dei

produttori (i "creatori"). E lo stesso accade

quando si promuove un film mettendo in risalto

gli attori, i registi e gli sceneggiatori di

precedenti film di successo. Negli ultimi

decenni, inoltre, questo processo è diventato

ancora più sofisticato, in quanto il film stesso è

solo una sorta di "prodotto-base" al centro di

miriadi di prodotti aggiuntivi o collaterali, dai

CD e DVD ai dischi karaoke, dai videogiochi e

giocattoli ai vestiti e persino al cibo e alle

bevande - tutti recanti il marchio di base del

franchising.

emphasis on the genre of a film (genres, by

definition, cannot be copyrighted), producers

very often prefer to establish series, cycles,

sequels, remakes, etc. Using copyrighted

characters like Indiana Jones, Rambo, Conan,

and the wide range of "superheroes", from

Batman and Superman onwards, has proved

extremely profitable, as have been recurring

names in titles, like Die Hard, Lethal Weapon,

Star Trek, Predator, etc. (watch the video below

right). Indiana Jones was first introduced to the

audiences as "the new hero from the creators of

JAWS and STAR WARS", thus stressing the

brand name of the producers (the "creators").

And the same happens when a movie is promoted

by highlighting the actors, the directors and the

screenwriters of previous successful films. In the

last few decades, moreover, this process has

become even more sophisticated, as the movie

itself is only a sort of "core product" at the centre

of myriads of additional or side products, from

CDs and DVDs to karaoke discs, from

videogames and toys to clothes and even food

and beverages - all bearing the basic trade mark

of the "franchise".

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