1. Discussion Point
How far are your cinema-going
decisions influenced by generic
enjoyment?

2. Genre
a. Kind; sort; style
b. A particular style or category of works of
art; esp. a type of literary work
characterized by a particular form, style, or
purpose.

3. LO:
• To understand what genre signifiers are.
• To pick out generic signifiers relevant to
specific genres.
Genre signifiers
Monday 23rd September 2013

4. Andrew Tudor (Genre Theory, 1974)
‘Chicken & Egg’ dilemma.
Commonly recognized formal
elements and common features of a
specific genre need to be
identified.

5. Genre signifiers
Romance
Horror
Science Fiction
Action
Western
Fantasy

6. Round Robin
What colours and
costume would you
associate with your
genre?

7. Round Robin
MOVE POSTERS ROUND…
What character
types would you
expect?

8. Round Robin
MOVE POSTERS ROUND…
What objects,
props and symbols
do you associate
with the genre?

9. Round Robin
MOVE POSTERS ROUND…
What settings do
you associate with
this genre?

10. Round Robin
MOVE POSTERS ROUND…
What music types
and sounds to you
expect?

11. Round Robin
MOVE POSTERS ROUND…
What plotlines are
typical of this
genre?

12. Genre hybrids
 You will rarely watch a ‘pure’ genre film.
 Most films typically include a romantic
storyline- however, this does not categorize
such films as ‘Romance’.
What films can you think of that are genre
hybrids?

13. Andrew Tudor (Genre Theory, 1974)
Tudor commented that the best way to view
these SIGNIFIERS were by watching film
parodies- in order for the humour to work an
understanding of generic traits is needed.
What film parodies can you think of where
the understanding of generic traits is
important to the humour of the film?

14. Andrew Tudor (Genre Theory, 1974)
 Different cultures may not share the same
pre-conceptions of genre:
East Asia: Wuxia genre
European culture: Swashbuckling movies
The key component in both being swordplay and
honour.
 Therefore Tudor finds notions of genre
ineffective- too many ‘free-floating’ variables.

15. Discussion Point
Tudor claims that the notion of
‘genre’ is ineffective. Discuss
whether you agree or disagree with
this statement.