Hello everyone! Welcome to Ministry of Cinema’s web series Film Genres and Hollywood.
I’m Bradley Weatherholt, and I’ll be your host on this journey into genre filmmaking.
In this episode, we'll not only recap the main points from previous episodes, we'll
also explore the future of genre filmmaking.
But first, let’s review the impact of genres.
In episode one, we learned that genres quickly became an instrumental element in early film making.
Able to draw from previous conventions and rules, genres allowed studios to industrialize
the filmmaking process.
This drastically increased the number of films able to be produced.
Hollywood’s earliest genre success story came with the Western.
In episode two, we tracked the evolution of the Western genre and how the changes of the
genre largely mirrored the events shaping the overall industry as a whole.
Also, we took a look at the common ideology behind the genre and how the Western film
often served as a justification for American expansionism and ideals.
Almost in direct contrast to the Western, the Crime genre, as we explored in episode
three, often stood as a critique of capitalism and the American dream.
Ironically, the critique was highly profitable.
Marketed with sensational violence and scandal, the genre capitalized on the audience’s
lust for spectacle.
In episode four, we took a look at the dual nature of the War genre.
Similar to Westerns, the War genre often serves as a promotion of American ideals.
But on the other end, the genre follow’s crime’s tradition of critiquing America,
providing a scathing criticism of senseless war and America’s imperialism.
Episode five took a look at Hollywood’s most consistently influential genre, the Comedy.
We saw how the American comedy flourished in the silent era, hiccupped through the Hays
code, and survived many changes in public taste to remain an influential genre to today.
We found that Hollywood continues to successfully market comedies to new audiences while still
holding on to similar formulas and conventions.
Finally, in episode six we underwent an odyssey into one of Hollywood’s brightest stars,
the Science Fiction genre.
Through dazzling special effects and unconventional narratives, Hollywood struck gold by striking
wonder and awe in audiences.
As we learned, the science fiction genre always poses serious questions of our past, present
and futures.
Having spent a majority of this series on the history of genre filmaking, we can now
ask what is the current state of genre filmmaking?
And, what is its future?
At first glance, it appears the current state of genre filmmaking varies greatly from its beginning.
On the surface, the popular genres of the earliest twentieth century, Western, Crime,
and Comedy, are almost entirely out of the spotlight.
With the exception of comedies, Hollywood’s earliest dominating genres have mostly been
replaced by new ones.
The influence of the blockbuster on genre filmmaking has yet to be fully resolved.
While some consider the blockbuster post-generic and a death-knell to the rules of genre filmmaking,
others consider the blockbuster as its own film genre.
For example, the recent success and prevalence of comic book adaptations, with their own
cliches and conventions, would almost certainly warrant its own category as a genre.
Furthermore, this genre obviously differs from other popular film types, such as the
equally dominant adaptation of young adult novels.
If we look at the roles genres play in production, distribution, and exhibition of films, we
find that modern hollywood still relies on genre filmmaking.
Without it, Hollywood could not distribute effectively, unable to accurately predict
which films audiences want produced.
It is in the nature of genre to continually recreate itself.
As the film industry develops in the future, we can expect genres to evolve
and adapt to those changes.
That about wraps things up.
We hope you enjoyed our series.
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We look forward to bringing you more.
As always, thanks for watching, and we'll see you in the next video.