Evaluation of Artefact
Genre defines a classification system which is how recognisable something can be through the simplicity of conventions used and the emphasis on the force of repetition, predictability, and variations of something. If the variation is made too great then the audience might not recognise the original genre.
A clearly identified genre will help to promote the film , cynically, sometimes, film producers manipulate the audience in a simplistic way, they treat the audience as quite gullible, as they know what the audience like, allowing a clear product and audience differentiation in market segmentation and thus meeting the expectations creates a sense of emotional and cultural security, which will help to guarantee an audience, to guarantee money, to guarantee the movie to be successful and economically viable for film producers.
The British gangster film is a hybrid of the American gangster films which was basically originally linked to the whole depression in America in 1930's, -The events of the Prohibition Era, the existence of real-life gangsters e.g. Al Capone and the rise of contemporary organized crime and escalation of urban violence helped to encourage this genre. On the other side were law-enforcing -G-Men- or -government men-.
Many of the sensationalist plots of the early gangster films were taken from the day's newspaper headlines, encouraging the public appetite for crime films, and audiences during that time vicariously participated in the gangster's rise to power and wealth - on the big screen. They vicariously experienced the gangster's satisfaction with flaunting the system and feeling the thrill of violence.- (Film Site N.d ) This links to culture and how the producers provided this in its most simplistic form. The Untouchables film was a sub-genre which followed on showing mobs trying to catch al Capone, and the theme of rival gangs going through the whole 'rise and fall' scenario tc earn power.
Some directors choose to use a fractured narrative or a linear fashion, the narrative itself falls into predictable patterns, the structure and the limited story lines, the most obvious one is the fall from power or the rise and fall to power, revenge, justice & retribution. For example, this can be seen in the film Scarface who rises to the top but it ends with him getting shot -crime films consistently show them getting to where they wanted to be, in all their glory and then they are shot or killed, they generally never live happily after, it is simplistic and is the classic within gangster film.
The limitations of genre film are that they might get boring, film producers need to be constantly reinvent something that plays to the audience's expectations. Also, if an audience believe a text to be a certain genre, they will interpret that to their expectations. However, genres has evolved and renewed themselves by producing new variations and sub-genres. Hhybridisation uses conventions from other genres to merge in to other genres which can be seen as a good thing as it is revamped in to a different context. This can be seen in the movie 'The Football Factory' which has an underlying relation to gangster but has a narrative twist and can be seen as different or interesting.
Bibliography
Film Site, http://www.filmsite.org/crimefilms.html (accessed January 21, 2017).
Lam, Anita. Oxford Research Encyclopedias. November 2016.
http://criminology.oxfordre.com/view/lQ.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.00Ql/acrefore-9780190264079-e-149 (accessed January 21, 2018).
Description of Assignment:
The assessment task for this unit is to produce an artefact, (a physical outcome with research at its core) which meets all the relevant assessment criteria. This artefact will be supported by a written evaluation of the artefact - 500 words.
The artefact will most commonly take the form of a poster that can be constructed, photographed and uploaded with the accompanying evaluation. The artefact will need to explain the concept of genre, focus on one genre in particular and demonstrate the way that genres have evolved and renewed themselves by producing new variations - subgenres. In addition, you will need to clearly explain the conventions of the genre selected and focus on two or more films to illustrate the points made.
The evaluation will be an explanation of the artefact's content: why particular images were selected; explanation of quotations if any used; what it is your timeline illustrates (if you have chosen to include one) and why you have focused on the particular films you have. It is also important to ensure you have also discussed the limitations of the concept of genre including hybridisation.
The artefact can be created electronically and submitted to Onedrive as an attachment. If you choose to create a physical artefact please photograph it and submit the image/s. It is your responsibility to make sure the detail is legible.