Genre

Genre is a style or type of media. The genre of a film defines what type of film it is. Films with the same genre have many of the same conventions in them like similar narratives and key character types. Genre can be represented in lots of different ways and simple elements can say a lot about the film type. Stock elements of different genres:

Horror:

• The conventional protagonists in a horror film specifically of the sub-genre slasher is usually the character that survives to the end of the film and manages to live past all the dangers the antagonist provides. Stereo-typically this protagonist is usually the 'final girl' that stays alive.
• The conventional antagonist is the character or creature that drives the narrative forward and gives the protagonist problems to face. In a slasher film this would be the killer who is usually a mad male. In a supernatural film this would be the supernatural element e.g. the ghost.
• The typical stock characters in a teen horror film or slasher horror are the group of friends, usually teenagers, who are at risk of danger. In psychological horror films the stock characters are often the family of the protagonist.
• Narrative of horror films involve a group of people in a quite possibly abandoned location being killed off one by one, this is especially typical of slasher films.

Romance:

• The conventional protagonists in romance films are the hetro-sexual girl and boy, these are usually teenagers who go to the same school or young adults.
• The conventional antagonist in a romance film is the rival love interest or the parent or authority figure preventing the couple from being together. These antagonists usually drive the story forward and create a dilemma within the narrative that the protagonists have to resolve.
• The stock characters within a romance film are usually the friends of the protagonists. These are usually stereotypes like the athletic jock character or the popular pretty girl, sometimes even a gay best friend of the protagonists.
• The stock situations in romance films usually involve the protagonists (usually girl and boy) meeting for the first time, then something happens and they can no longer be together, and they are either reunited at the end with everything being happy or there is a tragic ending for example one of them dies unexpectedly and the other is heartbroken.

Thriller:

• The conventional protagonists in thriller films are brave and intelligent. A lot of the time they may come from a trained background like the military or the police force. This represents the characters skill and ability.
• The stereotypical antagonists in thriller films are similar to the protagonist by the fact that they're evenly matched on skills and training. These antagonists are likely to be from the opposing government/country/organisation as the protagonist. Which sets up the idea that they wont get on and there will be tension between them and rivalry.
• Stock characters are usually the supporting team from the organisation the protagonist/antagonist belongs to e.g. the rest of the police squad if protagonist was policeman. Also the stock character can often be the love interest of the protagonist.
• Often the antagonist creates a problem and the protagonist has to solve it, whether this be stopping the antagonists plan etc. The antagonist constantly provides obstacles the protagonist must overcome to become successful and for the film to have a happy ending.

-Genre is important for audiences because it allows them to immediately see the style of a film and get hints about it's narrative. Genre is represented clearly throughout the whole film and specific films are full of conventions of the films specific genre. If an audience knows which film genre they prefer then it is easy for them to know which films they would most want to see because of how well the genre they like is portrayed. The audience know what they're expecting when they go and see a film of a certain genre and if this film doesn't have the conventional aspects stereotyped with the genre included then the audience are likely to be disappointed. For example when the audience watch horror films they expect to see some sort of violence and they expect the film to scare them/make them jump, because this is what the horror genre is expected to do. If the film doesn't do this then they will be let down.

-It is important that institutions portray the genre of their films successfully otherwise the film is likely to be unsuccessful. Institutions must make sure that a lot of the conventional aspects of the genre they've picked for their film must be included in the actual making of their film. If the film doesn't live up to its genre and show what's expected of it then it is likely to be unsuccessful and receive bad feedback. This is something institutions need to be very careful of.