WRIT2120 Lecture 7: Lecture 7 - Genre (Film Noir)
Lecture 7 – 18/4/18 – Genre
- I gere it’s hard to do soethig e
- Audiences have seen everything – we have to show we know the genre we work in, and we
have to do something new with the genre
- Each genre has its own conventions – some conventions are complex and some are simple
- How do we meet expectations and also do something different?
- Personal, character-based stories are the ones we can play with the most, because
audiees do’t eessarily ko hat they’re supposed to e athig
- What delights the audience is to see these conventions over-turned in interesting and
unexpected ways, yet remain faithful to the genre
- This can only be achieved by the writer mastering the genre – knowing the touchstone
movies etc
Some well-known genres
- Crime
- Thriller
- Spy
- Sci-Fi
- Horror
- Romance
- Mystery
Genres often share structures – but all follow one overriding structure (3 acts)
Important points
- Relationship btw structure & genre determine & limit how the story needs to be told
- Genres adapt with the time – they never stay the sae i the sae ay the riter’s
iagiatio has to e reor eery tie
- These paraeters do’t ihiit reatiity, they allo it
The elements of Film Noir
- Sub-genre of crime
- Dark iea
- Always about moral conflict
- More of a mood/style/tone of story, filmed in a certain way
- Post noirs are Film noirs in colour
- Heroes: anti heroes, criminal, corrupt
- Male protagonists: morally-ambiguous, cynical, obsessive, sexual, falling to wiles of powerful
female character
- Female protagonists: either femme fatales or trusting, innocent, loving wifes
- Thinking in terms of images e.g shadows
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
I(cid:374) ge(cid:374)re it"s hard to do so(cid:373)ethi(cid:374)g (cid:374)e(cid:449) Audiences have seen everything we have to show we know the genre we work in, and we have to do something new with the genre. Each genre has its own conventions some conventions are complex and some are simple. Personal, character-based stories are the ones we can play with the most, because audie(cid:374)(cid:272)es do(cid:374)"t (cid:374)e(cid:272)essarily k(cid:374)o(cid:449) (cid:449)hat they"re supposed to (cid:271)e (cid:449)at(cid:272)hi(cid:374)g. What delights the audience is to see these conventions over-turned in interesting and unexpected ways, yet remain faithful to the genre. This can only be achieved by the writer mastering the genre knowing the touchstone movies etc. Genres often share structures but all follow one overriding structure (3 acts) Relationship btw structure & genre determine & limit how the story needs to be told. Genres adapt with the time they never stay the sa(cid:373)e i(cid:374) the sa(cid:373)e (cid:449)ay the (cid:449)riter"s i(cid:373)agi(cid:374)atio(cid:374) has to (cid:271)e (cid:862)re(cid:271)or(cid:374)(cid:863) e(cid:448)ery ti(cid:373)e.
