Film Noir and Genres

·         Where did genres come from?

Genre began as an absolute classification system for ancient Greek literature. Poetry, prose, and performance each had a specific and calculated style that related to the theme of the story. Speech patterns for comedy would not be appropriate for tragedy, and even actors were restricted to their genre under the assumption that a type of person could tell one type of story best. In later periods genres proliferated and developed in response to changes in audiences and creators. Genre became a dynamic tool to help the public make sense out of unpredictable art. Because art is often a response to a social state, in that people write/paint/sing/dance about what they know about, the use of genre as a tool must be able to adapt to changing meanings. In fact as far back as ancient Greece, new art forms were emerging that called for the evolution of genre, for example the tragic comedy.

·         How did the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’ re-inforce genres?

the Golden Age. In the popular imagination, this is a glitzy era stretching from the '30s to the late '50s that is, essentially, present-day Hollywood cranked up to elven with hollywood costuming and gorgeous period dress. While there were some really great movies made during this era, let's remember that Sturgeons Law and the Nostalgia Filter apply.

Actors during this time include

• Cary Grant
• James Stewart
• Great Garbo
• Humphrey Bogart
• Robert Mitchum
• James Cagney
• Marilyn Monroe 
• Joan Bennett

·         Which genres became popular in Hollywood

• Action Adventure
  Action adventure movies make the big headlines with the record-breaking ticket sales. However, huge ticket sales are usually matched by huge budgets, which means that these movies bring in a lot of money, but not the best ROI. For instance, to date, "Avatar" has made over $2.7 billion, yet its ROI is "just" 500%, as compared to lower-budget action film "Mad Max" (1979), which returned 24,837.5%. In the top 20 movies that have the best ROI, you won't see any of the blockbusters you'd imagine, and "Mad Max" is the only film of its kind in the top 20.
• Drama, Romance and Comedies
  Dramas and romance don't typically have huge budgets for special effects and sets, so when one really takes off, it can make an incredible ROI. The movie "Once" was made on a shoestring budget ($150,000) and took off, gaining Oscar nominations in the music category and taking in nearly $19 million. Overall, it has the 10^th-highest ROI at 6,232.39%. George Lucas' second film, "American Graffiti" is number nine on the list at 8,909.01%, "Napoleon Dynamite" is at 12 with a 5,667.62% return on its $400,000 budget, and the classic "Gone With The Wind" is at 15 with an ROI of 4,906.73%.
• DocumentariesWith little in the way of cast, crew, special effects or big name stars, documentaries can often be made for a tiny fraction of what it costs a big-name Hollywood film, and when these films become popular, the ROI is astronomical.

  The film "Tarnation," which is pieced together from videos the filmmaker recorded throughout his whole life, had a reported budget of $218. However, take that "budget" with a grain of salt, as it is the amount that it cost the filmmaker to make the movie, but does not reflect the amount for marketing and distributing the film. Still, taking that number as a rough estimate of the film's costs to create, the ROI is 266,416.97%. This film is only beat out by one on the ROI list. Following "Tarnation," in fourth spot, is the anti-McDonald's film "Super Size Me," which cost $65,000 and had a return of 22,614.90%. There are no docs in the bottom 20 for ROI.
• Horrors and ThrillersHorror is another genre with a lot of huge ROI hits and few misses. The number one movie for ROI is the hit "Paranormal Activity," which was made for $15,000 and had a box office gross of $161,830,890 for a return of 539,336.30%. "The Blair Witch Project" gave the studio a lofty 20,591% return. "Night of the Living Dead" comes in at six with an ROI of 13,057.89%, "Friday the 13th" is (coincidentally?) at 13, with 5,332.24%, "Open Water" follows at 5,110.09%, "Saw" comes in at 18 with 4,195.68% and "Evil Dead" closes out the list at 3,820.00%. Horror makes a much smaller appearance in the bottom 20 for box office ROI. 

·         Why do audiences like genre films 

• predict story outcomes based on applying knowledge of prototypical storylines — for example, predicting that at the end of a romantic comedy, differences plaguing a couple’s relationship will be resolved, or predicting that a detective will sort through conflicting clues to solve a murder.
• identify the symbolic meaning of images, techniques, or characters’ practices — for example, knowing that images of black or darkness in film noir or a gangster film represents evil; that suddenly breaking into song in the musical is a familiar, if not unrealistic technique; or that the sidekick figure is often attuned to the local environment or world in ways that assist the hero.
• infer the function or role of the setting or context to explain characters’ actions — for example, knowing that the eerie noise or music in a horror movie is signaling the potential for something dire will occur, or knowing that the “live-audience” setting for the talk show serves to enhance the talk-show host’s sense of performing for both a live and a television audience.