Genre Analysis By: Hafsa Aamir

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Film industries all around the world have different film institutions; each institution has its

production house which is responsible for the financing, marketing and distribution of the film.

So, these institutions buy films under a particular genre that they consider as worthy to be

publicized. Due to this reasons, every film is based on a particular genre.

Before moving on let’s see what the word “GENRE” really means and then I’ll be telling you

about the genre that I have selected for my film.

Introduction

Genre, in film theory refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from

which films are constructed. They are then classified into files or genres. Some popular genres

in Hollywood include Comedy, Chick flick, Horror, Teen, Musicals, Drama etc. Genres are

basically used by film makers to persuade a target audience towards their film. This audience is

classified by Age, gender, ethnicity, region etc.

What genre have I selected? My film has the genre of Drama with a sub-genre of “Romantic Drama”. This genre is of a very

broad spectrum. This is a genre that revolves around an obstacle which prevents deep, true

love between two people. The reason may be ethnicity, class difference, religious views,

gender, age etc.

It is usually seen as a very easy genre to portray, but in reality nothings is as easy as it seems.

Since this genre deals mainly with love struck couples and their tragic lives it cannot have much

of action-related narratives. Every event and incident in the film must be justified with valid

reasons which support the film genre. Examples of notable films of this genre would be;

“Charlie St. Cloud”, “Casablanca”, “Water for elephants” and “A walk to remember”.

Difference between drama and romantic drama

Romantic Drama is a sub genre of Drama. The difference in both genres is that Drama’s are

mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes.

Whereas Romantic Drama’s majorly revolves around two people who love each other, but, as

stated above, there is an obstacle. Some codes and conventions of both genres will be similar.

Main emphasis

The main emphasis in a film of this genre would be on the affectionate romantic involvement of

the main characters and the journey that their genuinely strong, true and pure romantic love

takes them through dating, courtship or marriage. Romance films make the romantic love story

or the search for strong and pure love and romance the main plot focus.

Romantic films often explore the essential themes of love at first sight, young with older love,

unrequited romantic love, obsessive love, sentimental love, spiritual love, forbidden

love/romance, sacrificial love, explosive and destructive love and tragic love.

The narrative of Romantic film would normally be a love story or love triangles, it would also

include romantic scenes such as beaches and cities. In each romantic film there is a protective

father or an evil step mother, sometimes even both.

Style

The style of this genre is similar to the chick flick genre but the difference is that dramas don’t

necessarily have happy endings. Whereas in chick flicks the girl has to fall in love with the guy of

her dreams. The audience of the drama films is sometimes left stunned on some decisions that

the characters take. This genre takes its audience on an emotional rollercoaster, throughout the

movie a person is going to experience the feeling of being loved, feeling of loss, grief, pain and

separation. Though the films of this genre are pretty much predictable, still people like

watching them as it make them feel more humane. Taking the example of the film, “A walk to

remember” we can see that the girl is suffering from leukemia and she knows she is supposed

to die no matter what but she falls in love with a boy who sticks with her till the very end she

died but leaves a footprint on his heart. This movie has a tragic but a happy ending to it as the

boy starts moving on with his life. Sometimes in such films, the illness is revealed later on when

the characters are deeply, madly and head over heels in love with one another. For example, a

person suffering from any disease would be shown as perfect at the start of the film but when

he/she falls in love, it is told they’re suffering from the disease. This creates curiosity between

the audience and an urge in them to watch the movie till the very end.

Iconography

The iconography in romantic films is used to tell the audience from the start that what genre

the movie possesses. The key things you’d see is the man and woman falling in love but there is

an obstacle in their relationship and they are fighting the world just to be with each other.

Music

lastly, a good soundtrack is an integral part of the romantic film. Slow motion music is usually

used in such films, other than this pop songs about love are used and if it’s a happy ending then

cheerful songs shall be played and if the ending is supposed to be tragic then slow music is to

be played. The use of a certain instrument such as violin, Guitar or a piano is also done a lot.