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
Part 3
12. Una prospettiva storica
12. A historical perspective
Per apprezzare appieno il significato e il valore
dei generi cinematografici è importante
considerarli attraverso la storia del cinema - il
che significa chiedersi quando e come è nato un
determinato genere, la sua popolarità e la
variabilità della sua attrattiva di massa, se ha
subito cambiamenti e perché, se e quando è
diventato obsoleto e alla fine è scomparso, e se
le sue caratteristiche sono state incorporate in un
genere simile o diverso. Rispondere a domande
così complesse implica naturalmente un costante
riferimento agli aspetti di cui abbiamo già
parlato, ovvero i tratti essenziali di un genere
(nella Prima parte di questo Dossier) e le sue
funzioni economiche, socio-culturali e
comunicative (nella Seconda parte).
To fully appreciate the meaning and value of
film genres it is important to consider them
through the history of cinema - which means
asking ourselves when and how a particular
genre came into being, its popularity and the
variability of its mass appeal, whether it
underwent changes and why, if and when it
became obsolescent and eventually disappeared,
and whether its features were incorporated into
a similar or different genre. Answering such
complex questions naturally implies constant
reference to the aspects which we have already
discussed, namely the essential features of a
genre (in Part 1 of this Dossier) and its
economic, socio-cultural and communicative
functions (in Part 2).
12.1. La prospettiva evolutiva
12.1. The evolutionary perspective
Quando il concetto di "evoluzione" viene
applicato a un genere cinematografico, possiamo
vederlo apparire in un determinato momento
temporale in opposizione (o in concorrenza con)
altri film simili precedenti o contemporanei, dai
quali si differenzia progressivamente fino a
raggiungere una forma riconoscibile e originale.
Questa forma viene poi ripetuta con successo
attraverso una successione di film fino a
diventare una sorta di "canone" o "modello". La
popolarità di questo nuovo genere porta con sé
una serie di imitatori che trasformano l'originale
in uno stereotipo: in questa fase, diventa il
bersaglio di altre forme più innovative, che
fanno perdere all'originale il suo impatto. La
nuova forma si trasforma in un nuovo genere e
inizia un processo simile. Questa prospettiva
vede l'innovazione e la competizione come gli
agenti chiave, attraverso i quali un (nuovo)
genere raggiunge il suo status originale e lo
perde sotto la pressione di (nuove) forme più
potenti.
When the concept of "evolution" is applied to a
film genre, we can see it as appearing at a
particular moment in time in opposition to (or in
competition with) other previous or
contemporary similar films, from which it
progressively differentiates itself until it achieves
a recognizable, original form. This form is then
successfully repeated through a succession of
movies until it becomes a sort of "canon" or
"blueprint". The popularity of this new genre
brings along a number of imitators which turn
the original into a stereotype: at this stage, it
becomes the target of other, more innovatve
forms, which causes the original to lose its
impact. The new form turns into a new genre and
begins a similar process. This perspective views
innovation and competition as the key agents,
through which a (new) genre both achieves its
original status and loses it under the pressure of
(new) more powerful forms.
The evolutionary view thus identifies different
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