- Genres as constellations serves to explain how genres, like constellations of stars, are constructed of individual members, but are under the influence of each other and outside elements. As a result, they move together and remain in a similar relation to each other depsite their ever-changing positions

- an imagined connection among geographically dispersed viewers who share similar spectatorial pleasures and generic knowledge 

- a way to describe an act of communication

- describes how people can have multiple perceptions of one message through a variety of mediums 

- the medium through which a message travels through is both the medium and the text itself

- because films are dispersed to many recipients, the recipients interact with each other.  This changes the recipients' views of the films  -->   the recipient's understanding of the message is more important than the message itself. 

Yes --> they are more lucrative and more financially safe

- Cycles are proprietary while genres are shareable 

- Because film cycles share the same themes, characters/actors, settings, plots, etc, the audience will continue to watch a certain cycle because they know what they're getting and the studio knows the audience will watch the films.  Studios seek to create cycles that will provide them with successful and easily exploitable models associated with a single studio.

- example: film noir. Double indemnity was made, and it was simply called a dark melodrama, but once other studios started making the same type of movie, film noir became a genre. 

"Audience" refers to a group of people that are together but disconnected from each other. It's defined by someone else like a studio exec. 

Audience refers to being in a space with people and interacting with them.

Genres are defined by both the audience and the producers/studios.  Studios often market their films as a certain genre, and audiences show their agreement with their wallets.  If a movie doesn't do well in the box office, while the studios other movies have, it could be because the studio marketed the film incorrectly.  The studios and the audience work together to define a film's genre. 

Genre analyses relationships between populations and the texts they use, for whatever purpose they might use them.

- genres can also teach us about how nations categorize things.   We know that in the United States, the population likes to put our films and movies and books into different categories that describe the themes of those things.  

- Aristotle judged poetry as imitating life.  When applying this to film genre, Aristotle would say that it is more important to focus on the audience's reaction to a film, rather than comparing the film to others in the same genre. 

- Horace treated poetry as imitating other poetry.  When applied to film genre, Horace would say that films should be analyzed and judged based on other films within the same genre. 

Critic's game: used to define or analyze a genre.  Characteristics of films that most often identify with a certain genre are analyzed in order to establish a description of the genre. A list of films is compiled that share enough traits to belong to the same genre. The analysis of the genre begins. 

Producer's game: focuses on making money from examining box office reports and identifying the successful films.  The films are analyze to figure out why they are successful. A film is made based on those assumptions. Film's box office success is analyzed, and the formula is reassesed accordingly. The new formula is used as a basis for making another film and the process repeats indefinitely. 

- good guy vs bad guy

- main character is a loner/outlaw

- more action, less character development

- expected song outbursts

- use songs to express emotions

- songs can move plot forward or develop the film's characters, or can just be a break in the story line

- often in musicals, during the song and dance the actors treat the audience as if they were in front of them, looking directly into the camera lens.

- explosions and sound were a big deal when that was made possible

- propaganda films

- using war as a story line

- crime doesn't pay

- crime was glamorized in the 30s and 40s

- draws inspiration from headlines/real life situation

- gangers are usually materialistic, immoral and selfish

- reflection of society's fears

- low lighting

- under budgeted at first

- fear of the unknown is a common theme

- Dystopian universe

- futuristic world and technology

- deals with imaginary but more or less plausible content

- explores consequences of scientific innovations

- human nature is dark and pessimistic

- audience can relate to bad guy

- always ends badly

- women took power, but in a negative way

- Nanook of the north - first doc. ever

- record of important event and ideas

- inform viewers

- convey opinions and create public interest

Comedy

- main emphasis is on humor

- generally have a happy ending

- one of the oldest genres in film --> silent films depended on visual action and physical humor

- puts much more focus on individual stars

- can contain political or social commentary

Semantics vs. Syntatics 

- Semantics: multiple texts share the same building blocks like topic, plot, scene, character

- Syntactic: group of texts organizing those building blocks in a similar manner like structure, relationships and sound.