Genre

Genre theory and audience expectations

When we go to the cinema, we often have a clear picture of what we are going to see, just by looking at the poster. It is a notion created by certain elements, which combination define the genre. Starting with the iconography, the recognizable images and sounds are the first clues of the type of story, told in the film. Sharp suits and sleek hair, loaded guns and jazz music are often an inseparable part of the gangster movie.

Style is another important element of the film. While iconography deals with images and sounds, style is about the way they are combined and presented to us. In more and more films the subtle change of style now indicates an important shift in the character's views, or simply a change of time or location. For example, bright primary colors may suggest a comedy, but clashing them may result into a melodrama. European cinema nowadays is using primarily muted colors that put forward social realism. Getting right the style of the

film in the early stages of preproduction is vital, if the film maker wants his work to be remarkable and memorable.

Common settings also help the viewer to identify the genre easily. In westerns, for example, we are often presented with deserts, railways, canyons. From a narrative point of view, the main character is usually the lone hero, unlike the film noir, which focuses on the femme fatale. Characters are important to set up, and this is widely supported by the above genre elements.

The genre can also be defined by the way the narrative is disrupted- mistaken identity in the thriller, family conflict in the melodrama. Once we know what movie we're on, it is difficult not to expect car chases in the action film, or the long waited kiss in the romantic comedy. The audience is very aware of the generic devices and looks for them. Screenwriters refer to it as a game :"Now you are going to give me this, and I'm going to believe it, then this and that will follow... and I hope but also don't, that you'll surprise me ".