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
film preesistenti che già presentavano alcune
caratteristiche che sarebbero state adottate nel
nuovo genere? Ad esempio, melodramma
musicale e commedia musicale hanno poco in
comune, eppure ci sono dei rapporti
preesistenti che li accomunano: in questo caso,
la presenza della musica come veicolo per dare
forma a uno spettacolo. Quello che oggi spesso
consideriamo come un classico dei primi
musical come La canzone di Broadway (di
Harry Beaumont, USA 1929) non era
considerato un "musical" quando fu lanciato.
Affinché il genere "musical" emerga come
etichetta indipendente, però, è necessario che
vi siano una serie di film che vadano oltre il
materiale tipico (cioè la musica) e aggiungano
nuovi temi/argomenti collegati a quel materiale
in modo tale che il suo nome (musical) possa
essere usato come etichetta generica: in questo
caso, l'uso specifico della musica come
elemento unificante e strutturante per
esprimere amore e romanticismo in una
coppia. Ma affinché questa nuova etichetta
(musical) venga assegnata a determinati film, il
pubblico deve diventare così consapevole delle
strutture che legano tali film in un'unica
categoria da iniziare a identificarli attraverso il
concetto strutturale. In altre parole, gli
spettatori devono iniziare ad avere aspettative
legate all'etichetta "musical" (come
personaggi, trame, relazioni, stile, ecc.) che
attribuiscano significato a determinati film
sulla base di questo processo. Così, un film di
Astaire-Rogers diventa un "musical" nel
discorso pubblico perché il pubblico inizia ad
aspettarsi una storia d'amore espressa
attraverso il canto e la danza (si veda il video
in basso a sinistra).
Allo stesso modo, il termine "western" è stato
usato per molto tempo in associazione con una
vasta gamma di altri generi, come "film
romantico western", "commedia western",
"melodramma western ", ecc. - tutti film in cui
la pa'aggettivo "western" era usato per
qualificare commedie, melodrammi, ecc., che
condividevano alcuni motivi western
superficiali come personaggi, scene o
iconografia. È stato solo quando un numero
consistente di film ha iniziato a prendere come
66
would be adopted in the new genre? For
example, musical melodrama and musical
comedy have little in common, and yet there
are some pre-existing relationships that they
share: in this case, the presence of music as a
vehicle for giving form to a performance: what
we now often consider as an early musical
classic like The Broadway melody (by Harry
Beaumont, USA 1929) was not considered a
"musical" when it was launched.
In order for the genre "musical" to emerge as
an independent label, however, there must be a
number of films that go beyond the typical
material (i.e. music) and add new
themes/topics connected to that material in
such a way that its name (music) can be used
as a generic label: in this case, the specific use
of music as a unifying and structuring element
to express love and romance in a couple. But
for this new label (musical) to be assigned to
certain films, the audience has to become so
aware of the structures binding such films in a
single category that they start identifying them
through the structural concept. In other words,
viewers must begin having expectations tied to
the label "musical" (like charaters, plots,
relationships, style, etc.) that they attribute
meaning to certain films on the basis of this
process. Thus, an Astaire-Rogers film becomes
a "musical" in public discourse because
audiences start to expect a love story
expressed through singing and dancing (watch
the video below left).
Likewise, the term "western" was used for a
long time in association with a wide range of
other genres, like "western romance", "western
comedy", "western melodrama", etc. - all films
where the adjective "western" was used to
qualify comedies, melodramas, etc., which
shared some superficial western motifs like
characters, scenery or iconography. It was
only when a substantial number of films
started to take as their main themes topics like
the spread of civilization against the "savage
Indians", the contrast between a lawless wild
West and the establishment of law and justice,
or the building of a national American identity
tied to the colonization of the western lands,
that the term "western" began to be assigned