History of a Genre - Comedy - Seminole Cinema: SEHS Film



IB Film 2: W59.1Seeing Film History Through GenreGenresThe concept of Genre is not unique to Film.Early filmmakers developed many film genres based on tried and true formulas found in established entertainment mediums like the theatre, photography, literature, and painting.Genres can even be based on myths and legends that have been passed down in many cultures from generation to generation.Genres depend on conventions - established frameworks that tell an audience what kind of movie they are watching.These can include recognizable plots, characters, and settings.So, a Western might open with a shot of a Cowboy on his horse surrounded by a vast wilderness, and a Science Fiction film might feature a friendly robot that helps the hero at some crucial point.According to Timothy Corrigan and Patricia White (authors of?The Film Experience), film genres provide models for other works, cue audience expectations, and create categories for evaluating related films.The earliest film Genres included Drama, Western, Horror, Action, Adventure, and Comedy.The Studio SystemOne major influence on the history and development of film genres was the production system developed in Hollywood.This model of production, which included a stable of Stars on contract, shared sets, and studio moguls, influenced ( and dominated ) the film industry for decades.One result of this factory model for film production was many studios began to specialize in one genre or another.This development and refinement of certain genres came about because the studios would use the same writers, stars, and sets over and over again. Studios became Genre specialists - Universal made Horror films, Columbia made Westerns, and MGM made Musicals.This was the norm until the Paramount Decision of 1948, when the American Supreme Court decided a few of the studios were monopolizing the film business and so, took away their control of distribution to theaters.With a weaker studio system, there was less of the specialized-Genre production.Jump CutBuster Keaton?Just for fun, check out this great scene from Buster Keaton's?Steamboat Bill, Jr.?(1928).This?film is a good example of physical comedy and interaction with the environment.It is worth noting that all the stunts are done straight to the camera, including the shot where the building front falls on?Keaton's character.Watch -?Steamboat Bill, Jr.Red Dwarf?heck out this clip from?Red Dwarf, a British Science Fiction Comedy television series that ran from 1988 to 1999 and is enjoying a revival in 2016 / 2017.Watch -?Red DwarfHistory of a Genre - ComedyComedy is a good example of a film genre that goes back to the very first years of film. Those first film comedies had their roots in vaudeville stage acts.Some of the conventions of the early comedy films included:characters with distinctive physical featuresplot lines that comprised a series of short episodes rather than one long storyan acting style that included interacting with props and edy as a Genre has a number of identifiable sub-Genres.One of the most popular in the early days would have been Slapstick Comedies full of physical stunts and sight gags.Later on,?in the 1930's and 1940's, Screwball Comedies became the dominant Comedy Genre.Screwball Comedies replaced crazy stunts with fast-talking independent female characters and charming male leads.Since the 1940's, Romantic Comedies have become ( and remain ) an extremely popular Genre around the world.There is something about star-crossed lovers, mismatched couples, and awkward situations in which audiences can readily find humor.Over the years, Comedy has been paired with other genres to create hybrid or sub-Genres including -Action / Comedy -?Rush Hour?(1998)Horror / Comedy -?Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy?(1958) and?Shaun of the Dead?(2004)Science fiction / Comedy -?Spaceballs?(1987) and?The Fifth Element?(1997)In Japan, the Jidai-Geki films, costume dramas based on feudal Japanese history, have been popular with audiences since the silent era.Akira Kurosawa famously combined this Genre with Shakespeare in the 1985 epic?Ran.Film genres from India include movies based on mythology, social drama, and what are known as 'devotional' ( films based on religious and spiritual ideas ), as well as Indian-flavored Action, Romance, and Comedy.Like India, many countries share universal Genres.Horror films can be traced back through German Expressionist film history, and to this day are hugely popular in many countries.Westerns, the archetypal American genre, have been made in Spain, Canada, and perhaps most famously, Italy.Jidaigeki film's Ran Films ................
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