Unit 13: Genre: Horror

Question 1

Film genre is grounded in…

Answer 1

audience expectations about characters, narrative and visual style.

Question 2

A film genre is

Answer 2

a set of conventions and formulas, repeated and developed through film history.

Question 3

Generic conventions

Answer 3

are isolated properties or figures that identify a genre through such features as character types,
settings, props, or events that are repeated from film to film.

Question 4

Generic iconography

Answer 4

images or image patterns with specific connotations or meanings

Question 5

Generic Formula

Answer 5

the patterns for developing stories for a particular genre.

Question 6

Generic expectations

Answer 6

describe the experience and knowledge that a viewer activates while watching a film, so that he or
she anticipates the meaning of particular conventions or the direction of certain narrative formulas

Question 7

Three functions of Genre:

Answer 7

1. to provide models for producing other works
2. to direct audience expectations
3. to create categories for judging or evaluating work

Question 8

Subgenres

Answer 8

are those genres that define a specific version of the genre by refining it with an adjective, such as
spaghetti western slapstick comedy.

Question 9

Hybrid genres

Answer 9

are those film genres produced by the interaction of different genres to produce fusions, such as
romantic comedies or musical horror films.

Question 10

Six Principle Genres

Answer 10

1. Comedies
2. Westerns
3. Melodramas
4. Musicals
5. Horror
6. Crime

Question 11

Comedies

Answer 11

-central characters are often defined by distinctive physical features such as the size of their bodies
or their manner of speaking
-narratives that emphasize individual episodes more than plot continuity or progression and that
usually conclude happily
-theatrical acting styles in which characters physically and playfully interact with the mise-en-scene
that surrounds them

Question 12

Three subgenres of comedy

Answer 12

Slapstick comedies
Screwball Comedy
Romantic comedy

Question 13

Slapstick comedies

Answer 13

emphasizes the physical stunt and gags. Three Stooges

Question 14

Screwball Comedy

Answer 14

emphasizes fast talking verbal gymnastics that displace sexual energy of the drama with
barbed verbal exchanges between men and women. Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Question 15

Romantic comedy

Answer 15

humour takes a second place to happiness When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Question 16

Westerns

Answer 16

-characters whose physical and mental toughness separate them from the crowds of modern
civilization
-narratives that follow some version of a quest into the natural world
-a stylistic emphasis on open, natural spaces and settings, such as the western frontier regions in the
US.

Question 17

Hybrid or subgenres of the Western

Answer 17

Existential Western
Western Epic
Political Western

Question 18

Existential Western

Answer 18

-the traditional western hero is troubled by his changing social status and his self-doubts.
Unforgiven (1992)

Question 19

Western Epic

Answer 19

concentrates on action and movement, developing a heroic character whose quests and battles
serve to define nation and its origins. Dances With Wolves (1990

Question 20

Political Western

Answer 20

-a critical western in which the ideology and politics that have defined the genre are fore-grounded.
The Wild Bunch (1969)

Question 21

Musicals

Answer 21

-characters who act out and express their emotions through dance and song
-plots interrupted or moved forward by musical numbers
-spectacular sets and setting such as Broadway theatres, fairs, and dramatic social or grand natural
backgrounds or animated environments.

Question 22

Types of Musicals

Answer 22

Theatrical
Integrated
Animated

Question 23

Theatrical

Answer 23

Situate the musical convention onstage or “backstage”.

Chicago (2002)

Question 24

Integrated

Answer 24

-Integrate the musical numbers into more common situations and realistic actions.
Dancer in the Dark (20000

Question 25

Animated

Answer 25

-Use cartoon figures and stories to present songs and music.
-These films embrace the fantastic and utopian possibilities of music to make animals human,
nature magical, or human life, seemingly perfect. Fantasia

Question 26

Melodramas

Answer 26

• characters who struggle, often desperately to express their feelings or emotions
• narrative that build toward emotional or physical climaxes
• a visual style drawn to interior scenes and close-ups

Question 27

Melodrama subgenres

Answer 27

Physical Melodrama
Family Melodrama
Social Melodrama

Question 28

Physical Melodrama

Answer 28

-focuses on the physical plight and material conditions that repress or control the protagonist’s
desires and emotions.Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

Question 29

Family Melodrama

Answer 29

-elaborates on the confines and restrictions of the protagonist by investigating the psychological and
gendered forces of the family.The Namesake (2006)

Question 30

Social Melodrama

Answer 30

-extend the melodramatic crisis of the family to the include the larger historical, community, and
economic issues. A Time to Kill (1996)

Question 31

Crime Films

Answer 31

-characters who live on the edge of a mysterious or violent society (the underworld) either criminals
or individuals dedicated to crime detection.
-plots of crime, increasing mystery, and often ambiguous resolution
-urban, often dark and shadowy, settings.

Question 32

Crime Subgenres

Answer 32

Gangster Films (Public Enemy)

• Hard-boiled Detective Films (Maltese Falcon)
• Film Noir (Touch of Evil)

Question 33

Horror Films

Answer 33

characters with physical, psychological, or spiritual deformities, sometimes existing together in
one character
-narratives are built around suspense, surprise and shock
-visual compositions that move between the dread of not seeing and the horror of seeing

Question 34

Horror Subgenres

Answer 34

Supernatural Horror film
Psychological Horror
Physical Horror

Question 35

Supernatural Horror film

Answer 35

-a spiritual evil erupts in the human realm The Excorist (1973)

Question 36

Psychological Horror

Answer 36

• locate dangers and distortions that threaten normal life in the minds of deranged and bizarre
  individuals. Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Question 37

Physical Horror

Answer 37

depiction of graphic violence takes primary Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Question 38

Action-Adventure

Answer 38

a propensity for spectacular physical action
• narrative structure involving fights, chases and explosions
• an emphasis on state-of-the-art special effects
• emphasis on athletic feats and stunts

Question 39

Subgenres of the Action-Adventure

Answer 39

Superhero films

Question 40

Biopic

Answer 40

depicts the life of a historical person, past or present

• often hybrid or multi-generic

Question 41

Biopic hybrids

Answer 41

biographies of entertainers such as Ray Charles, Buddy Holly (musical)
• biopics of law makers or outlaws such as Jesse James, Wyatt Earp
(Western)
• biopic of a gangster like Al Capone in Untouchables (Gangster)

Question 42

Sci Fi

Answer 42

• involves extrapolated or fictitious science
• or fictitious use of scientific possibilities
• introduces some radical assumption about the present or the past

Question 43

War Film

Answer 43

film about waging war
• scenes of combat are a requisite ingredient
• combat scenes are dramatically central

Question 44

Teen Pic

Answer 44

• marketed to teenagers
• draws on aspects of teen culture
• caters to teenage interests, tastes and concerns