Genre Theory – Steve Neale (Blog Post 8)

 - Identify what you believe to be the film's genre

 - Explain which of the five conventions (verisimilitude, narrative considerations, character conventions, iconography, audience appeal and representation) would be best used to determine the genre, and why.

 - Which elements of text genre subversion (cultural effects, social context, historical effects, economic context, audience saturation effects) seemingly apply to the film, and how?

 - Apply at least one aspect of genre hybridity to the film and explain how it's relevant.

1. Everything, Everywhere, All at Once:

-Science Fiction

-The best convention to determine the genre was verisimilitude. Science fiction at some points ties to iconography such as space outfits and alien make-up, or also character conventions like scientists or aliens. It is typically made for males so it has male leads to better relate to its typical audience. However, the trailer doesn't have any of these things but it does have very limited verisimilitude. The world looks initially like ours but explores the idea of multiverses and alternate timelines which is tied heavily with Science Fiction. 

-The genre subversion of social context seems to apply in the film as the traditional male lead of science fiction movies that was used to appeal to what used to be its main audience is swapped out for a female lead to appeal to a larger and more modern audience. Film also has cultural effects as its main characters are Asian in an American setting to maybe represent specific struggles form other perspectives. 

-The film uses genre hybridity between the science fiction, comedy, and action genres in order to expand it's potential audience. It seems as if the movie had a message to say so it appealed to other audiences of other genres by including action sequences and comedy sequences. It also shifts the tone of the story to evoke specific emotions for the watcher.

2. Phantom of the Paradise:

- Musical

-The best convention to determine the genre was iconography. The characters wore extravagant outfits in order to clearly display their personalities which is common in the musical genre as a large focus is put on the music aspect to get to know characters and less on direct exposition. The sound usage is also crucial in this type of genre and from the trailer we see a large focus is put on music as multiple characters sing and you can hear instruments that they are playing. The sound is diegetic like the singing in musicals although instruments are not always so. 

-The genre subversion of audience saturation effects seems to apply to the film as a happier light-hearted tone that one may expect from a musical is instead replaced with a darker tone. The sounds in the film are more melancholic and harsh than a typical upbeat and cheery song that is common throughout the genre. The film also uses darker and washed out colors besides performance scenes which is in contrast to the typical brighter colors to help performances stand out in most musicals. It stands out against most musicals by going against what the audience would expect to find while keeping the fundamentals of the genre the same. 

- The film uses genre hybridity between the musical and horror genres due to high and low culture remixing. the film seems to mostly be a revenge plot. Someone or something wrongs a specific character and that character wants to get payback for what happened to them. There is a prominent female character shown that is also typical in the horror genre. The film has the dark, sinister, strange figure that seems to be attacking performers. There is a masked attacker in the film that is typical in horror films. This is the character's form of revenge against those who wronged him as he attacks those who sung his music. It explores industry corruption as the character was tricked into giving away his music  but does so in a way that makes us sympathize with a clearly evil character so we feel the message even more strongly. The music industry exploits and uses who it can to progress which is a darker subject which is found all throughout horror. 

3. Electric Dreams:

- Science Fiction

- The best convention to determine the genre was iconography. The main character of the film was dressed in a very specific  and stereotypical way that is typically  found in science media such as tie, glasses, and suits. Technology is heavily focused on and emphasized from the very beginning which is a typical aspect of science fiction. The sound of the movie is very robotic and electric as a main character of the the film is a computer so it shows unnatural sounds as a constant in this world like a robotic voice and start up sounds. It further emphasizes the focus on technology as a key component which is usually found in science fiction.  

-The genre subversion of historical affects can apply to the film. During the time of the film, technology was nowhere near as advanced as it is now, so some ideas seem dated such as a computer giving you advice about what to say or its consumption of one's life. There are now greater expectations on what separates fantasy from reality.  However, at the time, these ideas would have seemed more fresh and other-worldly as technology was not as largely understood or explored but was becoming something very big. Science fiction largely had to do with It out of this world beings or settings like alien creatures and space stations and was not very focused on the potentials of "modern" technology. It relies largely on the era it was made in to set the right tone and express its message and ideas more clearly.

- The film uses genre hybridization between science fiction and romance in order to expand its audience as back then those separately had very dominant male and female specific audiences so mixing the two would result in a more wide-spread audience. Helps shift the tone form more sinister science fiction moments to light-hearted and charming moments. It also engages in high and low culture remixing. The film uses romance between two human characters and interference coming from a computer to show how technology can affect relationships in a digestible and easy to understand way.