Genre is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or entertainment, e.g. music, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones is discontinued. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions.
There are different types of genres for example:
- Horror
- Sci-fi
- Thriller
- Crime
- Romance
- Comedy, Drama and much more.COMEDY:
Recently I watched "The Dictator". The movie's genre is comedy and it's of the same director of Borat Larry Charles which is mockumentary.
The code and conventions of this movie which help to make it a comedy movie are mainly the main characters' costumes, the way he speaks in a very unusual Arabic accent and many incidents which are the part of the movie. Likewise, in one of the film's funniest scenes, Aladeen and an Arabic-speaking friend take a tourist flight over Manhattan in a helicopter. On the opposite seats are two mid-Western tourists, increasingly terrified about their fellow travelers who are talking in an alien tongue. The only words the American tourists understand are "Empire State Building" but the Arab speakers' accompanying exploding gestures are misconstrued as a plot to blow up the skyscraper even though we in the audience know from subtitles that Aladeen and his friend are eulogizing all the wonderful things New York has to offer and talking innocently about fireworks.
Also, while talking of comedy, expressions play a major role in giving a comical feel to the environment.
Particular scenes, where Ben Kinsley chops off a dead man’s beard to make it his own to prove his real personality, and many others, are portrayed in a very humorous manner to make it comedy.
Similarly, "Hangover part 2", another comedy movie has the same code and conventions as far as the expressions are concerned.
But as far as the colors are concerned the dictator has more colorful scenes and sets whereas Hangover is comprised of dull colors but the humor is similar. Moreover it consists of lot of in-your-face humor, awkward nudity and misplaced violence which is also there in “The Dictator”. Also, the dynamics between the main protagonists were believable and hilarious.
ROMANCE AND DRAMA
From another genre Romance/ Drama, “ A Walk to Remember” is a movie
about first love and opening up to people, saying goodbye, miracles, growing apart, destiny, and letting yourself become something you never imagined. On the other hand the movie
“ Ps. I Love You” , emotional journey of the story, was engulfing and intense. The movie is also about living a life for the person you love. In this movie Gerry leaves a series of letters that will guide Holly, not only through her grief, but in rediscovering herself.
This way both the movies are similar such that the romance is there but the storyline is somewhat similar that both the characters are attached in a way that they are just concerned with their loved ones and doing things which would make them happy and then either of them would be dead in the end.
A Walk to Remember.
HORROR MOVIES
In horror movies I would want to talk about "Wrong Turn Five". There are some very particular codes and conventions that are present in almost all the horror movies and some are included in this too. Like, someone investigates a strange noise; this is one of the most unbelievable, yet most overused horror movie conventions. All of your friends have been brutally butchered and eaten by an unseen maniac. You hear something odd coming from the woods. Is that the sound of someone dragging a dead teenage body across a bridge with exposed nails in it? Now the other characters even on a dare, walk into the woods alone to investigate.
The fake scare is one of the oldest and most over-used conventions in horror films. They can take on any shape and size, but in general, any scare in a film that is not connected to the threat (a friend jumps out, a door slams, someone looks into a mirror, someone new enters the room unnoticed, the phone rings, someone bumps into a department store mannequin, something falls, someone is tapped on the shoulder or grabbed, a policeman knocks on the car window, a balloon pops, a bird flies out of the trees, etc.) is a fake one. They are easy to do, and can be very effective or completely stupid.
.
Also the iconography of the movie "Scream" is that Scream includes many classic icons of horror. We see knives and a mask in the opening sequence and these are used throughout the film to signify the killers. Knives are intimate violent weapons. The killers must attack from close quarters and often stab many times, heightening the fear and pain of the victim. Horror films use disguise as a means of disorientating the viewer and obscuring the killer’s identity until the end of the film. Scream includes many scenes in which we are positioned as Casey Becker or Sydney, waiting for the attack. This subjective (or point of view) camera work forces us to enter a scene of a film and experience the character's fear. The dangerous situations we are sometimes forced to experience make the pleasure of the film’s final peace and safety even more palpable.
| Ps I Love You. |
A Walk to Remember.
HORROR MOVIES
In horror movies I would want to talk about "Wrong Turn Five". There are some very particular codes and conventions that are present in almost all the horror movies and some are included in this too. Like, someone investigates a strange noise; this is one of the most unbelievable, yet most overused horror movie conventions. All of your friends have been brutally butchered and eaten by an unseen maniac. You hear something odd coming from the woods. Is that the sound of someone dragging a dead teenage body across a bridge with exposed nails in it? Now the other characters even on a dare, walk into the woods alone to investigate.
The fake scare is one of the oldest and most over-used conventions in horror films. They can take on any shape and size, but in general, any scare in a film that is not connected to the threat (a friend jumps out, a door slams, someone looks into a mirror, someone new enters the room unnoticed, the phone rings, someone bumps into a department store mannequin, something falls, someone is tapped on the shoulder or grabbed, a policeman knocks on the car window, a balloon pops, a bird flies out of the trees, etc.) is a fake one. They are easy to do, and can be very effective or completely stupid.
.
Also the iconography of the movie "Scream" is that Scream includes many classic icons of horror. We see knives and a mask in the opening sequence and these are used throughout the film to signify the killers. Knives are intimate violent weapons. The killers must attack from close quarters and often stab many times, heightening the fear and pain of the victim. Horror films use disguise as a means of disorientating the viewer and obscuring the killer’s identity until the end of the film. Scream includes many scenes in which we are positioned as Casey Becker or Sydney, waiting for the attack. This subjective (or point of view) camera work forces us to enter a scene of a film and experience the character's fear. The dangerous situations we are sometimes forced to experience make the pleasure of the film’s final peace and safety even more palpable.
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