Film Genres
I INTRODUCTION
Film Genres, categories of film characterized by frequently recurring patterns of form, style, and, particularly, subject matter There is no clear consensus among film historians and critics on the number of genres, or on the line of demarcation between one genre and another This must be borne in mind when considering the following list of major genres: Adventure; Biography; Comedy; Drama and Melodrama; Fantasy/Horror/Science Fiction; Gangster/Crime/Spy/Film Noir; Musical; Problem Picture; War; Western Some commentators would argue that the category “Gangster/Crime/Spy/Film Noir” clearly incorporates two, if not more, distinct genres, as it could be seen to include films as diverse as The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) and Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950) Similarly, the old industry category “Women's Pics” straddles at least two classifications: Film Noir and Melodrama only the Hollywood cinema has been considered Obviously, genres exist in the popular cinemas of other countries, although, apart from such clear-cut exceptions as samurai films of Japan or kung fu pictures from Hong Kong, the categories applied are normally derived from Hollywood Clearly there are interesting differences between, say, a British crime film and an American example, but on the whole these have yet to be studied Differences between genres tend to be identified more in terms of themes, stars, use of costumes, and settings and locations, than in terms of specific aspects of film-making practice such as editing
II HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
In the days of the studio production lines, placement of films within genres tended to be part of the thinking of studio executives in their decisions about production and marketing policy, and were reiterated in the trade papers Thus, notions about many film genres actually preceded explicit critical analysis While critical accounts of a film genre tend, appropriately, to be descriptive, the same ideas in the mind of a producer or accountant are often prescriptive, based on a notion of what audiences will find acceptable in, say, a Western
When critics started to analyse Hollywood films in depth, this link with the collective, entertainment, money-making aspect of the production system, rather than its initially unrecognized personal, artistic dimension, contributed to an emphasis on the negative aspects of the genres, for example, the limits their conventions imposed on creativity However, as Colin McArthur argued in his pioneering genre study Underworld USA (1972): “the responses of film-makers and audiences to the genres seem to offer a good prime facie case for believing that they are animating rather than neutral, that they carry particular charges of meaning independently of whatever is brought to them by particular directors”
Certainly, it seems unlikely to be coincidence that much of the finest work of Howard Hawks, John Ford, Anthony Mann, and, more recently Clint Eastwood, has been in the Western genre Nevertheless, only minor or mediocre directors can be said to be defined by their relationship to a genre, and each of the four cited has inflected the genre in significantly different ways, both stylistically and thematically, as well as having done important work in other genres
III DEVELOPMENT OF GENRES
Clearly film genres change over time as society, the audience, and the institutions of production change New stars come along, new themes emerge, new conventions of characterization evolve The exact nature of these shifts is largely outside the conscious awareness of those responsible for bringing them about, however The producer, director, writer, and star tend to think in terms of decisions that will make a work more interesting, or generate a more compelling star role, rather than how to modify the genre in response to shifts in society
Some points relating the development of particular genres to changes in film technology are simple and obvious: there is nothing incongruous about a silent Western, and the genre has been on the screen since The Great Train Robbery (1903, directed by Edwin S Porter), but the idea of a silent musical is obviously ridiculous, despite the fact that live musical accompaniment ensured that most cinemas were never really silent Similarly, continually improving techniques for special effects have given new life to the Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror genre, from 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) on through Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977) to the cycle of Alien films (Ridley Scott, 1979; James Cameron, 1986; David Fincher, 1992)
Popular films are not a simple reflection of the society that produced them: they are complex texts, systems of discourse certain strands of which bear traces of particular features of the society that generated them Exactly what mechanisms are involved, however, varies from case to case, and may often be impossible to tease out Thus, comparisons made between characteristics of the individual genres, or between one era and another, must be provisional and tentative
For example, in the 1930s, the great period of the gangster film, there were few major Westerns, and those there were came at the start and end of the decade In the era of classic Hollywood cinema (from the late 1920s to the decline of the studio system around 1960) both these genres regularly involved conflicts between good and evil
However, perhaps because part of the gangster film's concern was to indicate the social origins of crime, it is typically the gangster's journey the audience follows, and thus there is strong, if only partial, identification with him His refusal to accept the restrictions of the urban environment, together with the energy of his individualism, made him a dangerously fascinating, possibly sympathetic, character when contrasted with the less colourful representatives of law and order
Indeed, this patina of charisma has persisted through to the present It is part of the complex appeal of The Godfather series (Francis Ford Coppola: Part I, 1972; Part II, 1974; Part III, 1990), inviting the audience to collude with the actions of Michael Corleone In the more pastoral world of the classic Western, on the other hand, the hero may have been a loner, but he normally represented the best values of the community Moreover, it was his progress the audience followed, and thus it was he with whom it identified Consequently, he was the one with charisma, rather than the villain, whose ultimate defeat and death were not mourned in the same way as the classic gangster's
Though attempts to specify precisely where Western and gangster genres fit in an overall account of the generic categories of popular cinema are likely to generate academic controversy, all commentators agree on their existence as genres This makes them appropriate choices for the accounts of generic difference and change given above Though much has been left out, this is an example of the kind of analysis that can be made in relation to other genres
**有哪4大类型片,类型鉴赏的方法是什么
**类型 在**理论中，类型是指（商业）影片分类的基本手段。一种“类型”通常是指构成影片的叙事元素有相似之处的一些**。影片类型划分 常用的划分影片类型的标准有三个：场景、情绪、形式。场景是指影片发生的地点。情绪是指全片传达的感情刺激。影片也可能在拍摄时使用特定设备或呈现为特定样式，即形式。●场景·犯罪片：人物出现在犯罪行为领域·黑色**：主要人物出现在虚无主义、存在主义的领域，或用这样的手法描写主人公 历史片：发生在过去·科幻片：人物出现在不同的现实中，通常是未来或太空·体育片：体育项目以及属于某项运动的场所战争片：战场以及属于某场战争的场所 ·西部片：美国西部从殖民地时期到现代 ●情绪·动作片：通常包含一场“好”“坏”之间的道德争斗，通过暴力或物理力量进行·冒险片：包含危险、风险或机遇，经常含有高度幻想 喜剧片：试图引发笑声 剧情片：主要关注角色的发展幻想片：现实之外的玄想虚构（例如：神话，传奇 ·恐怖片：试图引发观众的恐惧推理片：通过发现与解决一系列线索从未知到已知的前进过程·爱情片：详述浪漫爱情的元素·惊悚片：试图引发观众的兴奋或紧张●形式 ·动画片：通过手工或计算机制作的静态连续呈现制造的动态错觉传记片：不同程度改变事实基础，将真人的生活戏剧化的影片纪录片：对事件或人物的真实追踪，用来获得对某一观点或问题的理解实验**（先锋**）：为测试观众反应或拓展影片制作/故事呈现的边界创作出来后公映的影片·音乐片：不时用所有或部分角色歌唱穿插的影片 短片：在较短时间内努力包含“标准长度”影片的诸元素 ●年龄·儿童片：幼儿**，与家庭片相比，并不试图吸引幼儿以外的观众 ·家庭片：试图吸引各年龄层人士，且适合幼儿观众观看。例如迪斯尼影片·成人片：仅为成年观众准备的影片，内容可能含有暴力、使人不安的主题、*秽语言或明确的性行为。成人片也可能作为色情片的同义词使用 影片类型批评：有人认为类型需要与影片风格进行区别。影片的风格涉及摄影、剪辑、音响等，某种风格可以运用于任何类型。影片类型确定的是影片最明显的内容，影片风格则确定用何方式将这（些）类型呈现于银幕上。风格可以由情节结构、场景设计、灯光、摄影、表演以及其他有意图的成片艺术元素决定。也有人说这种区分过于简单化，因为有些类型主要是通过其风格识别。许多史家就黑色**展开争论，焦点在于其究竟是一种类型，还是只是全盛期常被效仿的一种影片制作风格。影片类型可以定义吗？ 类型通常是一个模糊概念，没有明确的界限。许多作品跨越了多种风格。就这一点，**理论家Robert Stam写道： 一些持续存在的疑问始终困扰着类型理论。类型真的在世界中“在那儿”，还是仅仅是分析家的构造？类型有有限的分类法还是原则上是无限的？类型是时间无关的、柏拉图式本质还是短暂的、受时间限制的实体？类型是受文化限制的还是跨文化的？……类型分析应该是描述性的还是说明性的？ 有些类型是基于故事内容的（战争片），有些则是从文学（喜剧、情节剧）或其他媒体（音乐剧）借用而来。有些基于演员（阿斯泰-罗杰斯片）或票房（票房大片），有些则基于艺术状态（艺术片）、种族身份（黑人片）、地域（西部片）或性取向（酷儿片）。许多类型是由观众或相应的支持出版物如杂志、网站建立的。难以用类型划分的影片通常不太成功。因此，影片类型在行销、批评与消费领域也有用处。有些编剧将类型作为决定剧本使用何种情节或内容的手段，他们通过学习某些类型的影片得到范例。这也是某些编剧得以将成功影片的元素复制到新剧本中的方法，但这类剧本通常原创性不足。正如John Truby所说，“编剧对写类型剧本所知甚多，但未曾加工该类型的节奏，使其以原创面孔出现。” 对编剧来说，违反既有作品中的元素，使用不同或相反的元素是有意义的。原创性与惊讶是形成优秀**故事的元素。例如，意大利西部片为人所熟知就是因为颠覆了西部片的类型，让好人既坏又好。在此之前，西部片有一些如今称为类型俗套（genre clichés）的内容，例如好人戴白帽，坏人戴黑帽，好人永远在决斗中胜出。在意大利西部片打破了类型“规则”后，俗套西部片也消失了。
常用的划分影片类型的标准有三个：·场景、·情绪、·形式。场景是指影片发生的地点。情绪是指全片传达的感情刺激。影片也可能在拍摄时使用特定设备或呈现为特定样式，即形式。 ·场景：犯罪片，黑色**，历史片，科幻片，体育片，战争片，西部片 ·情绪：动作片，冒险片，喜剧片，剧情片，幻想片，恐怖片，推理片，爱情片，惊悚片 ·形式：动画片，传记片，纪录片，实验**（先锋**），音乐片，短片 （如果要说四大类，那还有一个类型就是按“年龄”分段） ·年龄：儿童片，家庭片，成人片 这四大类，不知道你是否满意？
