Why genre is so important.

Genre allows movies to be categorized, making it easier for the audience to have a rough idea of what to expect. e.g. if a viewer is looking to have a laugh he/she will go watch a movie under the genre 'comedy'.

There are many different genres, for example:

-Comedy
-Horror
-Thriller
-Romantic
-Action
-Sci-fi

These genres can also be mixed together to create a hybrid genre, e.g. romance / comedy (romcom) is a hybrid genre. This is used by directors to try create unique films that are not often made. An example of a movie that does this is 'Knocked up', conventions are used from both genres to create a new unique film. This film is full of comedy yet has a story line full of love & romance.

Genre is important as it allows production companies to create a target audience very easily. E.g. if Warner bros. was to develop a new movie which involved action based scenes, they will instantly state that their target audience is anyone who enjoys films under the genre 'action'.



Genre, audience & industry are all linked together, creating a triangle. The industry will chose a genre depending on the demand of the audience. The selected genre will instantly do well on the big screens as the demand is already there. This will make the audience happy that a film of their demand has been distributed; which then leads to the industry receiving a large amount of money from the total sales of the film. This triangle is unstoppable and will always bring the audience & the industry happiness; due to costumer satisfaction & the money being sent do the industry from the audience.

Sub genre conventions (Thriller)

There are many sub genres which help categorize thriller movies as then many conventions that can be followed, different movies follow different conventions. Sub genres help categorize these movies despite them already being categorized under the genre 'thriller'.

Conspiracy thriller - This thriller consists of a hero figure (protagonist) who normally find self trapped in a situation within a powerful organization with a high power. This resolves around many antagonist characters under a secret organization, who in the end is defeated by our protagonist character. Examples of films who use this thriller convention is 'The Bourne Identity & Enemy States Of Mind'.

Crime thriller - This creates a very suspenseful film, this focuses on the life of a criminal. It includes a lot of action to build suspense and tension within the audience. An example of a crime thriller is 'Hero Wanted'.

Psychological thriller - A thriller film which has conflict between the main two characters, the conflict is more emotional and mental, rather then physical. An example of this is 'Inception'.

Innocent on the run thriller - This sub genre consists of a male protagonist who is blamed by a power above his (normally authority) for doing a crime that he has complete innocence of. An example of a film under this sub-genre is 'Fugitive'. It follows all the same conventions (innocent male blamed for a crime which he did not commit).

These are the main thriller sub-genres that have similar conventions to me and my groups film (Dream Chaser). Our film is a hybrid of :
-Innocent on the run (Our character is blamed for a crime he did not commit)
-Crime (A serious crime is committed which involves the police & secret agencies)
-Conspiracy (Our hero is trapped in a difficult situation where he's over powered by authority)