Development of Film I Writing Assignment 1 Spring 96

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Genre

Development of Film I Writing Assignment 1 Spring 96

March 19, 1996

gen·re

gen·re (zhän're) noun

1. A type or class: 'Emaciated famine victims . . . on television focused a new genre of attention on the continent' (Helen Kitchen).

2. a. A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content: 'his six String Quartets . . . the most important works in the genre since Beethoven's' (Time). b. A realistic style of painting that depicts scenes from everyday life.

[French, from Old French, kind, from Latin genus, gener-.]

Genre as a style of an artwork has been around since the man first created plays and visual art. As a word, it came from France, around 16th century, but was used in a bit different sense. It represented realism in art. Later in history, due to gradual civilization of human kind, genre broadened it's meaning, since styles and fashions has changed and widened.

I believe that the first two styles where tragedy and comedy(satire).

In Hollywood genre became one of the most used tools to select, or aim on certain audiences. Actors and directors were branded, subconsciously, by the audiences. Characters played by certain actors, would stay in peoples heads as actors themselves. Directors that made a film in one genre usually had to stick with it in order to attract audiences. People demanded standards, for they hate to be confused.

One of the greatest artists to work in genre was Charles Chaplin. He felt comedy like no-one else. He became a symbol of comedy for millions, and still is. When people went to see Chaplin's movies, they expected to laugh.

The thirst to generalize and group has given some hilarious effects in more 'serious' films. Let's take Westerns...