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
preferiscono fare distinzioni più sottili e
considererebbero film di gangster, polizieschi e
"polar" francesi come generi completamente
autonomi.
Infine, le categorie cambiano nel tempo: gli
spaghetti western, che all'inizio erano considerati
solo un "sottogenere" dei western, possono ora
essere visti come un genere più o meno
indipendente. Inoltre, i processi di "ibridazione"
sono sempre all'opera, e ora siamo pronti ad
accettare nuove "etichette" come "tragicommedie"
o "dramedies", "rom-com" (cioè "commedie
romantiche"), "docufiction" e " docudrama" (un
mix di documentario e finzione), e così via.
distinctions, and would consider gangster
films, detective films and thrillers as fully
autonomous genres.
Finally, categories change over time: spaghetti
westerns, which were considered at the start
just a "sub-genre" of westerns, may now be
viewed as a more or less independent genre.
Besides, processes of "hybridization" are
always at work, and we are now ready to
accept new "labels" like "tragicomedies" or
"dramedies", "rom-coms" (i.e. "romantic
comedies"), "docufiction" and "docudrama" (a
mix of documentary and fiction), and so on.
3. Alla ricerca di criteri di classificazione
Naturalmente, i generi come prodotto di un
sistema di classificazione si applicano a una
gamma molto ampia di media, tra cui, ad esempio,
la letteratura (romanzo, racconto, poesia...), il
teatro (con "etichette" che spesso sono passate al
cinema, come tragedia, commedia, musical,
burlesque...), musica (classica e suoi sottogeneri,
rock e suoi sottogeneri, jazz...), pittura (paesaggio,
ritratto, natura morta...), programmi televisivi
(notizie, soap opera, chat, reality show...). Ciò che
colpisce di più in questo elenco di esempi è
l'estrema varietà di criteri che possono essere
utilizzati per definire un gruppo di elementi come
genere, e quindi per assegnare un particolare
esempio ad un particolare genere. I film possono
essere raggruppati, ad esempio, per modalità di
produzione (società "major", società "minor",
studi indipendenti...), per formato (lungometraggi,
cortometraggi, bianco e nero o a colori...), per
tecniche (live action, cartoni animati, oltre alle
varie forme digitali...), per proporzioni (standard,
widescreen, Panavision...), per qualità di
definizione (standard vs alta definizione, 4K,
8K...), per qualità del suono (mono, stereo, Dolby,
THX ...), per valutazione (adatto alla visione di
tutti, guida dei genitori, film "X" ...), per pubblico
(cinema per adolescenti) e in molti altri modi.
3. In search of classification criteria
Of course, genres as the product of a
classification system apply to a very wide
range of media, including, e.g., literature
(novel, short story, poetry ...), theatre (with
"labels" that have often passed on to film, like
tragedy, comedy, musical, burlesque ...), music
(classical and its subgenres, rock and its
subgenres, jazz ...), painting (landscape,
portrait, still life ...), television programmes
(news, soap operas, chat shows, reality shows
...). What strikes most in this list of examples is
the extreme variety of criteria that can be used
to define a group of items as a genre, and then
to assign one particular instance to a
particular genre. Films, in particular, can be
grouped, e.g., by production modes (major,
minor, independent studios ...), by format
(feature films, short films, black and white or
colour ... ), by techniques (live action, animated
cartoons, plus the various digital forms ...), by
aspect ratio (standard, widescreen, Panavision
...), by quality of definition (standard vs high
definition, 4K, 8K ...), by sound quality (mono,
stereo, Dolby, THX ...), by rating (fit for
viewing by everybody, parental guidance, "X"
films ...), by audience (teen pics) and in many
other ways.
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