Homework on Genre

For my foundation portfolio work I created a film opening containing conventions of the crime genre, as I created a crime drama.

Having a clear genre allows for a production company to market and advertise their film in a clear way. Cinemas will be able to see exactly which type of genre the film falls under, and will therefore be able to make a clear decision on whether they think people will be attracted to the film or not. Furthermore it allows for the audience to see exactly which sort of film they are paying to see, they will know roughly what to expect and therefore will feel that they are not taking a risk in spending money on a film which may prove to be disappointing to them. Actors and actress's are chosen for roles within films with the genre of the film in mind. Having a clear genre allows for the producers to decide which actors would best fit the roles, for example producers of a crime genre film may hire Robert De Nero as he has played criminals in past productions such as Goodfellas. This provides Kristeva's theory of intertextuality that media productions are influenced by existing past media texts.

In creating my film opening I decided to follow conventions of the crime genre rather than challenge them, in order to try and establish the genre of the film opening clearly to the audience so the viewer knows exactly what is to come from the film. Conventions of crime genre which I followed in my crime drama film opening included, a scene of violence between two young adult male characters in which one of the males get stabbed after a fight. The act of carrying a weapon alone not to mention stabbing someone suggests crime and therefore portrays the genre to the audience. Furthermore the two characters that are seen in the footage are both young males rather than females, this follows typical conventions of crime genre as females are more often portrayed in the media to be submissive and non-violent whilst males are portrayed to be violent, aggressive and mischievous. The clothing in which the two males characters are wearing in the footage further reinforces the stereotypical idea that these young males are from an area of poverty and crime, as the media often portrays young people who wear tracksuits to be 'yobs'. However some people would argue that this is not in fact a real interpretation of young people, as the media is controlled by older people and young people have no say in the way that they are portrayed, Giroux's theory suggests that young people portrayed in the media are simply characters designed from the anxiety's and worries of the adult producers. Additionally the location in which the footage was captured suggests the genre of the film, as I found that locations similar to the ones I used where often used in existing past crime genre productions. The stereotypical cramped housing estate and underpass that can be seen in the footage suggests poverty and working class characters, similar types of character are often portrayed in media productions to be involved within crime for example the young teenagers in Kidulthood. Following stereotypical conventions of the crime genre allows for the audience to see a verisimilitude in comparing the production to aspects of real life.

Steve Neale suggests a theory that declares that genre is simply 'instances of repetition and difference', some truth can be found in this as I myself have taken inspiration from looking at other crime drama films when making my film opening. I looked at existing character behaviour, appearance and also location within crime genre films, therefore it could be suggested that through following conventions of crime drama that I simply repeated aspects of existing media texts in slightly different ways.