Look at the words in the box. Match them with the definitions below:

FILM GENRES

UNDERSTANDING GENRE

1. Vocabulary

Look at the words in the box. Match them with the definitions below:

romantic comedy musical hostage film slapstick comedy gangster film horror detective thriller science fiction fantasy slasher gory action film parody

1. a film that tries to make the audience very scared.
2. a comedy film which is based on physical actions like people hitting each other or falling

over, rather than on the clever use of language.

1. a film involving a lot of killing and injures.
2. a horror film in which there is a lot of blood and violence.
3. a film about organized groups of criminals.
4. a film combining a love story with a comedy.
5. a film with an exciting story that often involves a crime.
6. a film that is set in the future and deals with imaginary scientific developments.
7. a film involving a lot of action.
8. a film about people taken hostage.
9. a film in which a detective tries to solve a crime.
10. a film that copies a serious work in a humorous way.
11. a film in which there are a lot of songs.
12. a film showing a lot of imagination and is very different from real life.

Which films denote genres and which films denote subgenres?

2. Reading.

a) Answer the questions:

1. What makes you go to the particular theatre to see the particular film? Stars? Director? Genre?

2. What makes a group of films a genre?

3. What film genres do you like?

4. What are your favourite films? What genres are they of?

b) Read the text

Defining a Genre

No genre can be defined in a single hard and fast way. Some genres stand out by their subjects or themes. A gangster film centers on a large-scale urban crime. A science fiction film features a technology beyond the reach of contemporary science.

Yet subject matter or theme is not central to defining other genres. Musicals are recognizable chiefly by their manner of presentations where characters sing and dance or both. The detective film is partly defined by the plot pattern of an investigation that solves a mystery. And some genres are defined by the distinctive emotional effect they aim for: amusement in comedy, tension in suspense films.

The question is complicated by the fact that genres can be more or less broad. There are large, blanket genre categories that fit many films. We refer commonly to “thrillers,” yet that term may encompass horror films, detective stories, hostage films like Die Hard or Speed, and many others. “Comedy” is a similarly broad term that includes slapstick comedies like Liar Liar,

romantic comedies like Groundhog Day, parodies like the “Naked Gun” series, and even, more recently, “grossout” comedy like There’s Something about Mary. Thus subgenres can be devised by critics, viewers, or filmmakers to try to describe more precisely what films are like.

Still, there are limits to the precision with which the concept of genre can be applied. Any category contains both undeniable instances and fuzzy cases. For modern audiences, a gory film like The Silence of the Lambs probably exemplifies the thriller, whereas for audiences of the 1950s a prime example would have been an urbane Hitchcock exercise like North by Northwest.

In other cases, films may seem to straddle two genre classifications. Is Groundhog Day a romantic comedy or a fantasy? Is Psycho a slasher film or a detective thriller? And finally, some films seem so distinctive that critics and audiences have trouble assigning them to a genre. When Being John Malkovich appeared in 19999, TV interviewers joked with the cast and crew about how impossible the film was to describe – hinting that they simply could not find a genre to fit it.

Genre categories are certainly one guideline by which industry officials decided what sorts of films to make. While big-budget musicals were commonly produced in the 1960s, they are out of fashion now. On the other hand, horror and action films are currently popular, and executives would be more likely to green-light projects perceived to fit into those genres.

For the vast publicity system that exists around filmmaking, genres are a simple way to characterize film. If you read popular reviews or watch television coverage of entertainment, you will notice, that reporters make frequent reference to films’ genres, because they know that most members of the public will easily understand them.

At all levels of the filmmaking and film viewing processes, then, genres help assure that most members of a society share at least some general notions about the many films that compete for our attention.

c) Answer the questions, giving your own examples:

1. Is subject matter or theme the central point in defining a genre?

2. Can the emotional effect of the film help recognize a genre?

3. Can a film combine several genres?

4. What affects the executives’ decision to produce one or another film?

5. Why are films divided into genres?

d) Vocabulary.

Replace the underlined words with the words from the text in an appropriate form. Choose from the list on the right:

1. He has successfully embraced the worlds of film, music and television. Fit
2. I hardly identified you with a beard! Pattern
3. Training and education follow different models. Distinctive
4. We need a name that is suitable to our image. Straddle
5. Good visuals are the peculiarities of this magazine. Recognize
6. We couldn’t determine the meaning of the word. Devise
7. They should think out a plan before they start to make props. Feature
8. My favourite film stars Marilyn Monroe Define

3. Grammar.

a) Join each pair of sentences together to make one sentence, using who or that. Write the second sentence as a relative clause.

Example: This is a man. I met him in Paris. – This is a man who I met in Paris.

I wanted the video. You bought it. – I wanted the video that you bought.

1. This is a chair. My assistant gave it to me.
2. She’s the woman. She works at the studio.
3. He is the person. He wanted to buy your house.
4. We threw out the computer. It never worked properly.
5. The stunt man was badly injured. He was driving a car.
6. That’s the woman. I was telling you about her.
7. This is John. He’s been ill recently.

b) Underline the relative clauses. Write S or O to indicate whether it is a subject or object clause:

Example: The woman who I spoke to wasn’t very polite. – O

The machine that worked better than the others cost the least. –S

1. I don’t understand people who hate thrillers.
2. The camera that I bought last week doesn’t work properly.
3. The scenery that they have designed is going to be very expensive.
4. The man who complained is always making trouble.
5. The woman who gave us all this money is not very rich.
6. The actor who features in that film is very famous.

c) Express each pair of sentences as one, without using who, that, or which.

Example: I shouted at a man. He didn’t come again.- The man I shouted at didn’t come again.

I dropped a television. It never worked again. –

The television I dropped never worked again.

1. I bought a stereo. It was broken.
2. She made some clothes. They were beautiful.
3. They built a wall. It fell down after three weeks.
4. We recorded a sound track. I didn’t really like it.
5. I borrowed a book from the library. I lost it.
6. They sent a new actress. I really liked her.
7. I sacked my assistant. I had a terrible argument with him.

d) Express each pair of sentences as one, using whose or who’s

Example: There‘s the hero. His dog was killed. – There’s the hero whose dog was killed.

That’s the man. He’s going to produce a film. –

That’s the man who’s going to produce a film.

1. She’s the journalist. Her article was on the front page of The Times.
2. They’re the people. Their studio burned down last week.
3. That’s sound director. He’s leaving in March.
4. She’s the singer. She’s just signed a contract with a recording company.
5. He’s the person. He’s going to be promoted.
6. She’s the person. She’s working for the film studios.
7. That’s the actor. He’s just won a prize for his work in the film.
8. This is Susan. Her brother is in the famous pop group.
9. That’s the man. He’s reading news on TV.
10. He’s the director. His films are very popular.

4. Reading

a) Answer the questions:

1. How can you distinguish the film genre?

2. What is the most meaningful element in defining a genre: plot, director, actors?

b) Read the text and check your answers

Analyzing a Genre

As we have seen, genres are based on a tacit agreement among filmmakers, reviewers, and audiences. What gives films of a type some common identity are shared genre conventions which reappear in film after film.

Certain plot elements may be conventional. We anticipate an investigation in a mystery film; revenge plotlines are common in Westerns. We expect a biographical film to trace major episodes in the main character’s life. In a cop thriller, certain characters are conventional: the comic sidekick, the impatient captain who despairs of getting the squad detectives to follow procedure.

Other genre conventions are more thematic, involving general meanings that are summoned up again and again. The Hong Kong martial arts film commonly celebrates loyalty and obedience to one’s teacher. The screwball comedy traditionally sets up a thematic opposition between a stiff, unyielding social milieu and characters’ urges for freedom and innocent zaniness.

Still other genre conventions involve characteristic film techniques. Sombre lighting is standard in the horror film and the thriller. The action picture often relies on rapid cutting and slow-motion violence. In the melodrama, an emotional twist may be underscored by a sudden burst of pathetic music.

As a visual medium, cinema can also define genres through conventional iconography. A genre’s iconography consists of recurring symbolic images that carry meaning from film to film. Objects and setting often furnish iconography for a genre. The war film takes place in battle-scarred landscapes, the backstage musical in theatres and nightclubs, the space-travel film in starship and on distant planets. Even stars can become iconographic – Judy Garland for the musical, John Wayne for the Western, Arnold Schwarzenegger for the action picture, Bill Murray for comedy.

By knowing conventions, the viewer has a pathway into the film. When we see the weak sheriff, we strongly suspect that he will not stand up to the gunslinger. We can then focus attention on the cowboy hero as he gets slowly drawn into helping the townspeople defend themselves.

Alternatively, a film can revise or reject the conventions associated with its genre. Bugsy Malone is a gangster musical in which children play all the traditional adult roles. Filmmakers may seek to surprise or shock viewers by breaking their expectations that a certain convention will be followed

Audiences expect the genre film to offer something familiar, but they also demand fresh variations on it. The filmmaker may devise something mildly or radically different, but it will still be based on tradition. The interplay of convention and innovation, familiarity and novelty, is central to the genre film.

c) Answer the questions:

1. What genre conventions exist in films?

2. What conventions characterize comedies, thrillers, musicals, horror films?

3. According to the text, what genre is featured by the following?

• battle-scarred landscape
• investigation
• emotional twist
• obedience to the teacher
• pathetic music
• comic sidekick
• starship
• weak sheriff

5. Vocabulary

a) Match the words in A with the words in B

A genre martial social cop main somber tacit screwball visual

B milieu agreement arts character comedy lighting medium conventions thriller

b) Make the sentences explaining the meaning of the word combinations above

6. Grammar

a) Look at the following sentences and write D or ND to indicate whether the clause is defining or non-defining

1. The bus, which arrived late, was full. ND

2. The bus which they sent didn’t have enough seats. D

3. The film studio which we wanted to rent was too expensive.

4. The film studio, which we wanted to rent, was too expensive.

5. I have two brothers who are working as supporting players at the moment.

6. I have two brothers, who are working as supporting players at the moment.

7. I never met the wrangler, who lived next door for a year.

8. Did I ever tell you about my uncle, who appeared in that screwball comedy?

9. I didn’t agree with the man who said we should cancel the trip.

10. She’s one of those people who will argue about anything.

b) Write who, that, which, or nothing to complete these sentences

Example: Have you got the money ___ I lent you yesterday?

Have you got the money I lent you yesterday?

Peter___ I had seen earlier, wasn’t at the party.

Peter, who I had seen earlier, wasn’t at the party.

1. This is the camera ___ cost a lot of money.
2. Mary, ___ had been listening to the conversation, looked angry.
3. Have you read the script ___I gave you?
4. The costume, ___ they made last week, looks lovely.

1. Mrs Jackson, ___ had been very ill, died yesterday.
2. Is this person___ who is responsible for the set unit?
3. The child, ___ had been very quiet, suddenly started crying.
4. I didn’t receive the invitation ___ she sent me.
5. The director, ___hadn’t been expecting journalists, looked surprised.
6. We didn’t like the actress ____ the agent sent.

c) Express these pairs of sentences as one, using which.

Example: I love the countryside. That is why I want to go and live there.

I love the countryside, which is why I want to go and live there.

They stayed for hours. I was very annoyed about this.

They stayed for hours, which I was very annoyed about.

1. He passed all his exams. This surprised us.
2. They forgot about my birthday. This was a bit disappointing.
3. The camera operator showed us how to handle the camera. It was extremely interesting.
4. I couldn’t get the tickets to the opera. This upset my husband.
5. He was rude and aggressive. His behaviour made me very angry.
6. They said they couldn’t pay for the car immediately. This made me a bit suspicious.

d) Write where, when or why to complete these sentences.

Example: We visited the school ___ my father taught.

We visited the school where my father taught.

I met her last month, ___ she came to our house.

I met her last month, when she came to our house.

1. We all looked at the place ___ the fire had started.
2. Do you remember the time ___ Adrian fell off his bicycle?
3. I met him at the studio, ___ he was working as a grip.
4. Did they tell you the reason ___ they were late?
5. I’m talking about the time ___ they didn’t have cars.
6. Last year I spent my holiday in Poland, ___ I met Andy.
7. I couldn’t understand the reason ___ they were so rude.
8. I bought them last year, ___ I was in France.
9. I never liked the house ___ my husband was born.
10. They arrived in the evening, at time ___ we were all out.

7. Reading

a) What do you think?

1. Can a genre remain unchanged for a long time?

2. How does a new genre arise?

3. Are there any divisions within a genre?

4. Do all the genres develop similarly?

5. Is a genre mixing possible?

6. Can genres remain constantly successful?

7. Do genres influence and mix with each other across cultures?

b) Read the text and check your answers

Genre History

Because filmmakers frequently play with conventions and iconography, genres seldom remain unchanged for very long. The broader, blanket genres like thrillers, romances, comedies, and the like may stay popular for decades, but an exemplary comedy from the 1920s will be very different from one in the 1960s. Genres change over history. Their conventions change, and by mixing conventions from different genres, filmmakers create new possibilities every now and then.

Many film genres originate in part by borrowing existing conventions from the other media. The melodrama has clear antecedents in stage plays and novels like Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Types of comedy can be traced back to stage farces or comic novels. Musicals drew upon both musical comedies and variety reviews.

Most cinema genres and subgenres become established when one film becomes successful and is widely imitated. New genres and subgenres are not, however, recognized after that first successful film. But after several films that resemble one another appear, people begin to compare them. For example, in the late 1990s, the term “grossout” came to be commonly applied to a group of films, including Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, There’s Something about Mary, and American Pie. But critics then traced this “new” subgenre back to such influential comedies as Animal House (1978) and Porky’s (1981).

Similarly, when the television-related fantasy Pleasantville appeared in 1998, some critics linked it to comparable films: Big (1988), Dave (1993), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), and Sliding Doors (1998). Reviewer Richard Corliss suggested a new term for the subgenre, “fantasies of displacement.” Lisa Schwartzbaum called such films “magical comedies.” Such comments by reviewers are one way in which new subgenres come to be recognized.

Once a genre is launched, there seems to be no fixed pattern of development. We might expect that the earliest films in the genre are the “purest,” with genre mixing coming at a late stage. But genre mixing can take place very soon. Whoopee! (1930), a musical from the beginning of talking pictures, is also a Western. Just Imagine (1930), one of the first sound science-fiction films, contains a comic song. Some historians have also speculated that a genre inevitably passes from a phase of maturity to one of parody, when it begins to mock its own conventions. Yet an early Western, The Great K & A Train Robbery (1926) is an all-out parody of its own genre.

Typically genres do not remain constantly successful. Rather, they rise and fall in popularity. The periods in which a genre remains popular are called cycles.

A cycle is a batch of genre films that enjoys intense popularity and influence over a distant period. Cycles can occur when a successful film produces a burst of imitations. The Godfather triggered a brief spate of gangster movies. More recently there have been cycles of comedies centering on spaced-out teenagers (Wayne’s World and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure), buddy-cop movies (Lethal Weapon and its clones), movies adapted from comic books (Batman, Judge Dredd), romantic thrillers aimed at a woman’s audience (Dead Again, Double Jeopardy).

One of the commonest ways in which genres change and develop subgenres is by the mixing of conventions and iconography. The musical seems capable of blending with almost any subject matter. During the 1930s and 1940s, singing cowboys like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry combined the musical and the Western. Alien mixed elements of the horror film with science fiction by treating the unknown life form as a scary hidden creature that could strike at any time; the spaceship in effect became like the old dark house of earlier horror conventions.

In some cases, genres influence and mix with each other across cultures. The Japanese samurai genre, with its conventions of swordplay and revenge, has blended well with a parallel genre, the Western. Sergio Leone based his Italian Western For a Fistful of Dollars loosely

around the plot of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, and the same Japanese director’s Seven Samurai provided the basis of the Hollywood Western The Magnificent Seven. Similarly, widespread fan interest in Hong Kong movies during the 1980s and 1990s led the Wachowski brothers to mix high-tech science-fiction effects with Hong Kong martial-arts choreography in The Matrix.

Filmmakers may take elements of two or more successful films, blend them and spin off an entirely new concept. The fact that genres can intermingle does not, however, mean that there are no distinction among them. The Matrix doesn’t prevent us from telling standard Hong Kong martial-arts films from standard Hollywood science-fiction tales. We can recognize that at a given period of film history, filmmakers, reviewers, and audiences manage to distinguish one sort of movie from another.

c) Explain the following words according to the text:

· influential film

· grossout (film)

· cycle

· all-out parody

· subgenre

· pure genre

8. Vocabulary

a) Match the verb in A with their definitions in B

A

B

1. prevent from 2. trace back 3. base on 4. spin off 5. aim for 6. draw on/upon 7. fit in 8. stand out 9. draw in 10 summon up

a. to use something as a model for a film, piece of writing or work of art b. to create something new based on something else that already exists c. to discover the origin of something or how it developed d. to intend or hope to achieve something e. to stop something from happening f. to be easy to see or notice because of being different g. to attract h. to cause something to come onto the mind i. to use something that you have gradually gained or saved j. to belong to a group, plan or situation

b) Complete the sentences with the verbs above in an appropriate form.

1. The owner is ___ by law ___ making any major changes.

2. Most of the students were ___ ___ jobs in television.

3. As an actor, you often ___ ___ your own life experience.

4. Her bright clothes always make her ___ ___ in a crowd.

5. His story ___ ___ with hers.

6. Many phobias can be ___ ___ to childhood experiences.

7. The film is ___ ___ a true story.

8. Many useful things ___ ___ from the machinery of space travel.

9. I felt the smell which ___ ___ memories of my childhood.

10. The film ___ ___ large audiences.

9) Grammar.

a) Write the correct relative pronoun or adverb in the appropriate place in the sentences below.

1. The woman who opened the door was wearing a uniform.
2. The man mother lives next door won a lot of money last year.
3. This ring, was a present from my husband, is very valuable.
4. My father, is a policeman, really enjoys his job.
5. The house I used to live has been knocked down now.
6. The book was given to me for my birthday is very old.
7. That teacher, is very good at his job, is popular with all his students.
8. Martin, sister has traveled the world, is a very interesting person.
9. The office the boss works is very luxurious.
10. Jane, mother is my hairdresser, is getting married next month.
11. The building is on the corner of the street is falling down.
12. Richmond, I was born, is a very nice place to live.

b) Correct the mistakes.

1. That’s the man who’s dog I look after in the summer.
2. The reason which I’m tired is that I didn’t sleep well last night.
3. Tim is someone which I’ve known since I was very young.
4. The moment who I realized my mistake I was very embarrassed.
5. The town which Shakespeare was born is called Stratford-upon-Avon.
6. Simon, whose lives near me, is learning to play the guitar.
7. Tom, who party we went to last month, has just bought a speed boat.
8. She’s rich. That’s she doesn’t work.
9. There’s the place which Sam’s car broke down.
10. That exam, who was very difficult, was written by our teacher.

c) Fill in the gaps with the correct relative pronoun or adverb and say whether they can be omitted or not.

1. Tom likes classical music, unlike Graham, ___ only listens to pop music and ___ favourite band is the Backstreet Boys. Tom likes music ___ relaxes him, but Graham goes to nightclubs ___ he can dance to loud music.
2. John is a man ___ only ambition is to be rich. That’s the reason ___ he works so hard. He doesn’t listen to people ___ tell him to slow down. The day ___ he becomes a millionaire will be the day ___ he has a rest.
3. Home is the place I like best. I am a person ___ needs time to myself. The thing ___ I most like to do is relax in my living-room, ___ I am free from stress and ___there are no interruptions.
4. The moment ___ I met Peter is a moment ___ I will always remember. He is someone ___I will always admire for his courage, ___ has seen him through some difficult times. That’s the reason ___ I liked him straight away and ___ we became good friends ____ understand and respect each other.

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