1. Assignment 3: genre exploration
task
Chelsea Fashole-Luke
12J

2. Comedy
The purpose of the comedy is to humour, amuse and entertain the audience. The general
conventions of comedy are:
• Humorous exaggeration of situations, people or places.
• Observation of deficiencies, foibles and frustrations of life
• Merriment and momentary escape from day to day life
• Odd, humorous, and satirical characters
The comedy genre was established around 1890. It emerged because comedy was ideal for
silent films, especially around 1895 to 1930, as they depended on physical humour and
visuals instead of sound. Some examples of classic films are:
• ‘Modern Times’ – starring Charlie Chapman
• ‘Duck Soup’
• ‘Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein’

3. Subgenres: Action comedy
Action comedy: combines action with humour and relies on characters to bring out the humour. The actions scenes are
less intense than traditional action movies. The purpose of the action comedy genre is to allow the audience to have a
sense of escapism through the action aspects of the film, all while continuing to make them laugh through the comedic
genre.
The general conventions of action comedies are:
• Daring stunts done in a comedic fashion
• One liners and sometimes put downs of other characters
• Comedic ‘cat and mouse’ style chases
Some examples of films to represent this subgenre are:
21 Jump Street Get Smart Date Night 30 Minutes or Less

4. Comedy horror
Comedy horror: combines comedy with traditional horror movie themes and characters. Aims to scare and
amuse the audience.
The general conventions of comedy horror are:
• Slight mocking of traditional horror characters
• Gruesome yet comedic elements, e.g. Someone having their head chopped off in a comedic fashion
Some examples of films to represent this subgenre are:
• The Haunted Mansion
• Fright Night (2011)
• Hotel Transylvania
• Zombieland

5. Rom-com
Romantic comedy: aims to catch viewers heart with a combination of love and
humour. It is usually light hearted and revolves around romantic ideal, such as true
love.
General conventions of romantic comedy are:
• The ideal triumphs over the situation or obstacle, creating a happy ending.
• ‘meet-cute’ scenarios – the couple meet in an often awkward or strange situation
Some examples to represent romantic comedy are:
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding
• Valentines Day
• The 5 Year Engagement
• Runaway Bride

6. Sci-fi comedy
Sci-fi comedy: exploits sci-fi conventions for comic effect. Often mocks or satirises
standard sci-fi conventions such as alien invasion and future technology.
General conventions of sci-fi comedy:
• Comic hero(s) who save the earth
• Situations such as alien invasion, time travel etc. shown in a humorous light
Some examples of sci-fi comedies:
• Paul
• Men In Black
• Hot Tub Time Machine
• Monsters vs Aliens

7. Comedy drama
Comedy drama: The drama and comedy is equally balanced and it provides ‘comic
relief’ for the audience while addressing serious issues light-heartedly.
Conventions of comedy drama:
• Has a dramatic tone with important elements of comedy
• Serious, real life situations with comedic twists to keep audience entertained
Some examples of comedy drama movies:
The Family Stone
In Her Shoes
Daddy’s Little Girls
Adventureland

8. British comedy
British comedy: is known for having consistently stereotypically british quirky characters, plots
and landmark settings (the London eye, big ben etc).
Conventions of brit-coms:
• Over exaggeration
• Stereotypical British social groups (‘posh totty’, ‘chavs’ etc)
• Stereotyping of british accents/speaking (cockney, posh, street slang etc)
Some examples of brit-com films:
• Shaun of The Dead (also a parody)
• St Trinians
• Son of Rambow
• Bridget Jones Diary

9. Hybrids
Adventure comedy: is a hybrid of adventure and comedy. It usually blends action and suspense as well as
exotic locales and the heroic journey of adventure journey with light hearted comedic elements.
The purpose is throw the audience into the adventure of the film but allowing them to see the humour within
it at the same time.
Convention of adventure comedy: Some examples are:
• Comedic action throughout Black Knight
Looney Tunes: Back In Action
Adventure comedy films may include a mixture of:
Rat Race
• Comedy
• Action
• Thriller
• Romance
• Science fiction

10. Criminal comedy
Criminal comedy: comedy films where crime is a feature in the films plot.
Conventions of criminal comedy:
• Police/investigator is not the smartest of people yet solve the crime I n the end
• Criminals are constantly outwitted
Some examples are:
• The pink panther
Criminal comedy may include a mixture of: • Hot fuzz
• Sister act
• Comedy
• Home alone
• Action
• Adventure
• Romance
• Drama