Introduction:

Today, I will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of genre within the film industry. We, as the audience, can always determine how a film is going to pan out once we are informed of the genre.  This is often seen as a disadvantage being that some audiences want the element of surprise where they do not know what to expect when going in to watch the film of their choice. However, this is not always the case; in some instances knowing what to expect within a specific film genre is a good thing as this gives the director(s) and/or writer(s) the chance to throw in an element of surprise. The audience believe they have a clear idea of the codes and conventions that are to be included in the film they choose to watch and when something is thrown in to change that it can often be a pleasant surprise and demonstrate professional and unique film making skills as well as imaginative work.

Advantage: Genre

One advantage with genre is that often the people who make the movie are able to determine how they want the film to be made after establishing which genre they wish to undertake. One example would be with comedy; once a team of film makers have decided on the genre they could then go on to decide whether or not there will be slapstick comedy in the movie and from there consider stunt performers and ways of molding the story line to lead up to a pivotal event. With a Rom-Com the director(s) and writer(s) could decide whether or not there would be any deliberately inappropriate scenes in the movie to make the audience laugh and/or feel uncomfortable. This is one of the many advantages of genre in film.

Disadvantage: Genre

One disadvantage with genre is that sometimes critics will find it easier to detect elements of a movie that are similar to that of another movie of the same genre. This could then go on to affect the way the story line and characters are viewed by the audience. An example of this would be if there were two movies of the Sci-Fi genre released around the same time and both movies had one character who was not particularly human. The smallest similarities can affect movies, mostly when they fit into the same genre and this is one disadvantage. Audiences would assume one of the films was copying ideas from the other and although this may purely be down to coincidence and similarities of ideas the films would be viewed differently as a result of being in the same genre.

Disadvantage: Genre

Another disadvantage would be that often audiences are put off by genres. For example, a film is released and labelled a romantic drama thereby putting off a large proportion of male audiences. The movie receives multiple five start ratings from critics and is said to have ground-breaking special effects and entertaining humour; something that the large proportion of male audiences would enjoy. For the most part problems like this are caused by expectations and these expectations are influenced by genre, as unfortunate as it may seem.

Disadvantage: Genre

An advantage would be that with genre you can play with ideas and use the specific genre you have chosen to mix with others and create a story line based on that. This often attracts audiences as many audiences enjoy different ideas and the merging of old and new ideas. As said by Abercrombie audiences often, “enjoy observing how conventions are manipulated”. This is extremely interesting as it seems our expectations have changed over the years and now we are enjoying the change and the creativity of film makers when they take two completely different themes/genres and build a bridge between them thereby creating a story line that has not been heard before. With genre, nowadays, you can merge genres which would normally alienate one another and make them something new and something exciting to watch.

 

Advantage: Auteur Theory

With the Auteur theory you can often find it easier to discover the directors you feel are the most talented and entertaining. When you establish their style of film making you then begin to notice whether or not they set out to create a certain atmosphere, for example they directed a scene full of arguing and panic to create a very tense and sinister atmosphere. When you recognize a director’s style you then understand certain aspects of their movies that others would find confusing.

Disadvantage: Auteur Theory

Sometimes the production team who assisted the director in making a movie are not given much, if any, credit. It is often found that the director receives the most positive feedback if the film is a success as they are the person that are credited on posters and throughout the entire marketing process. Though all of these people who help make the film are credited later during the opening credits and/or the end credits for the majority of the time the director is the person seen at the top of the team and the one who is delivered with all the feedback positive or negative. Largely, the disadvantages of the Auteur theory are based upon responsibilities.

Advantage: Auteur Theory

Sometimes, when an audience knows what to expect from a film or a certain director they can then feel confident enough to look forward to the film and even help advertise it to others. With films by Matthew Vaughn, responsible for ‘Kick-Ass’ and ‘X-Men: First Class’ the audience can predict what sort of themes will occur in the movie. However, they will also be aware that Vaughn’s writing can be unpredictable and therefore not fully know how the story is going to pan out. This can then influence them into feeling twice as enthusiastic as before.

Disadvantage: Auteur Theory

Sometimes, when a director is noticed for having a certain style they may find themselves repeating the same cycle over and over again. For example, a director is noticed for always having a character in their moves who is killed and then returns through a series of melodramatic events. For the first two or three times, given a few alterations to the overall story line, this method could work for them. However, as they begin to move into the different genres they may find that audiences are beginning to lose interest in the story line having predicted the events leading up to the death and return of this character. So, as a whole, repetition can become a problem.

 

Conclusion:

As a whole, it seems that genre outweighs its disadvantages with its advantages; now that all ideas regarding one central genre have been made into products genre has opened a door for us, within the industry. Also, it has given us the chance to explore the unknown and create new ideas on the basis of two conflicting genres being made into something that works and something that has not been done before but perhaps should have.  For example, Rom-com and adventure are two genres which have never really been put together for a single film idea. This is down to people recognizing these genres as two completely different genres and believing that they may never work together. With modern day cinema constantly changing it may be that soon more films that fall under these two genres will be made therefore opening up areas of the industry to new ideas. From that perspective, genre in film is a great advantage.

With Auteur theory it seems that there is a balance of advantages and disadvantages. Some find it easier to use the Auteur theory to differentiate one film from another whilst others prefer the generic process of categorizing films through genre. Some argue that in using the Auteur theory many will give all credit to the director or ‘Auteur’ even if certain ideas which worked best belonged to another member of the creative team such as a screenwriter or producer. An advantage with Auteur theory is that sometimes it allows the director or, again, the ‘Auteur’ to establish their unique film making style and continue to pursue it if its impact upon the target audience(s) was positive. Once people established Tim Burton as using the same actors in his films and adopting a Gothic approach he continued to use this method until it was his individual style. With Auteur theory it is definitely more about the individual rather than the themes they choose to take on and so, for some, it could be considered a much easier concept when differentiating between one film and another. For the most part people find it easy to recognize a certain director’s work and so the Auteur theory may work much greater for them than basic genre theory would.