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← Film and Media Studies

Film Genres: Convention, Transformation, and Meaning

A survey of how film genres evolve, reflect culture, and shape audience expectations, from westerns to horror to science fiction.

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Begin with Class 1

9 Classes63 min read18 min audio
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Classes

1
Class 1·7 min read·2 min audio

Why Genre Isn't a Checklist

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2
Class 2·8 min read·2 min audio

The Three-Way Contract: Studios, Filmmakers, Audiences

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3
Class 3·7 min read·2 min audio

How a Genre Is Born: The Case of the Screwball Comedy

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4
Class 4·6 min read·2 min audio

The Western's Long Goodbye: Conventions Under Pressure

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5
Class 5·7 min read·2 min audio

Genre Hybrids Are Not a Postmodern Invention

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6
Class 6·6 min read·2 min audio

When Genres Travel: Bollywood's Masala and the Global Action Film

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7
Class 7·7 min read·2 min audio

Subversion and Its Discontents: What Does Breaking Rules Do?

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8
Class 8·7 min read·2 min audio

The Art Film's Genre: A Parallel Economy

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9
Class 9·8 min read·2 min audio

The Analyst's Toolkit: Reading a Film's Genre Negotiation in Real Time

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Foundations & Further Reading

View course references
  • Film/Genre

    British Film Institute · Background for Class 1: Why Genre Isn't a Checklist

  • Nino Frank and the Invention of Film Noir

    Film Criticism (via JSTOR) · Background for Class 1: Why Genre Isn't a Checklist

  • Screen: 'Alien' Brings Scream Starring Sigourney Weaver

    The New York Times · Background for Class 1: Why Genre Isn't a Checklist

  • The Real Story of the *Fatal Attraction* Ending That Test Audiences Rejected

    Vanity Fair · Background for Class 2: The Three-Way Contract: Studios, Filmmakers, Audiences

  • 'Fatal Attraction' Oral History: Cast and Crew Recall Original Ending, Re-Shoots, and Glenn Close's Legacy

    The Hollywood Reporter · Background for Class 2: The Three-Way Contract: Studios, Filmmakers, Audiences

  • Tzvetan Todorov

    Wikipedia · Background for Class 2: The Three-Way Contract: Studios, Filmmakers, Audiences

  • Fatal Attraction (1987)

    Box Office Mojo · Background for Class 2: The Three-Way Contract: Studios, Filmmakers, Audiences

  • Jurassic Park: The Making of a Monster Hit

    Empire · Background for Class 2: The Three-Way Contract: Studios, Filmmakers, Audiences

  • The 7th Academy Awards | 1935

    Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences · Background for Class 3: How a Genre Is Born: The Case of the Screwball Comedy

  • AFI Catalog of Feature Films: It Happened One Night (1934)

    American Film Institute · Background for Class 3: How a Genre Is Born: The Case of the Screwball Comedy

  • Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934

    Columbia University Press · Background for Class 3: How a Genre Is Born: The Case of the Screwball Comedy

  • Screwball: Hollywood's Madcap Romantic Comedies

    Crown Publishers · Background for Class 3: How a Genre Is Born: The Case of the Screwball Comedy

  • <i>My Man Godfrey</i> (1936) - IMDb

    IMDb · Background for Class 3: How a Genre Is Born: The Case of the Screwball Comedy

  • The Wild Bunch (1969) – Box Office Mojo

    IMDb/Box Office Mojo · Background for Class 4: The Western's Long Goodbye: Conventions Under Pressure

  • Film; A Ghost Haunts Clint Eastwood

    The New York Times · Background for Class 4: The Western's Long Goodbye: Conventions Under Pressure

  • Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

    BearManor Media (2007) · Background for Class 5: Genre Hybrids Are Not a Postmodern Invention

  • Film/Genre

    British Film Institute (1999) · Background for Class 5: Genre Hybrids Are Not a Postmodern Invention

  • Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio System

    Temple University Press (1981) · Background for Class 5: Genre Hybrids Are Not a Postmodern Invention

  • The Masala Film: Genre and Emotional Excess in Popular Hindi Cinema

    Cinema Journal · Background for Class 6: When Genres Travel: Bollywood's Masala and the Global Action Film

  • The Bollywood Interval and the Construction of Audience

    South Asian Popular Culture · Background for Class 6: When Genres Travel: Bollywood's Masala and the Global Action Film

  • 45 Years of Sholay: The Film That Ran for Five Years at Minerva

    Film Companion · Background for Class 6: When Genres Travel: Bollywood's Masala and the Global Action Film

  • Sholay (1975) - Trivia

    IMDb · Background for Class 6: When Genres Travel: Bollywood's Masala and the Global Action Film

  • John Woo's The Killer

    Hong Kong University Press / Edinburgh University Press · Background for Class 6: When Genres Travel: Bollywood's Masala and the Global Action Film

  • Wes Craven Interview on *Scream* DVD (1997)

    Dimension Films Home Video · Background for Class 7: Subversion and Its Discontents: What Does Breaking Rules Do?