FILM: SUBVERTING

GENRE AND KEEPING

AUDIENCES
GUESSING!
Considering the genre of
film and how directors
position their viewers

Definition:
GENRE
Genres are based on a set of
narrative and stylistic rules that
filmmakers adhere to in order to
deliver the type of film that is
expected by the audience.

Definition:
SUBVERT
Films that break the rules of the
genre, and therefore do not meet
audience expectations, are
subverting generic conventions.

Definition:
REVISIONIST
Revisionist Films: these subvert
or break the rules of specific
genre to critique society and to
challenge the mythology
associated with that genre.

From the 2016 Assessment

Specifications..
91473: Respond critically to specified aspect(s) of
studied visual or oral text(s) supported by evidence.
Format of the assessment:
Candidates will be required to write an essay on at
least one text. There will be questions covering all
visual and oral text types.
The quality of the candidates writing is more
important than the length of the essay. Candidates
should aim to write a concise essay of no more than
five pages (or about 750 words) in length.
Candidates will need to relate their
knowledge of text(s) to aspects of genre.

Task: discuss
in pairs

What is this film going to be about?

Clue One: It is called Desserts.
Clue Two: A man walks down a
beach

www.youtube.com/watch?v=H18ljZBm
5uU

So, that was to wake you up and get you

thinking.
Did it work?

GENRE

What
would you classify this
short film as?
Why? What narrative and stylistic rules
does it follow?

What about this one??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=4meeZifCVro

Lovefield is an example of subverting

genre?
How did it do this?
Let us discuss

Case Study: Matthew

Vaughn
Super
Subverter!!
As a director who seems to have
dropped out of more movies than hes
made, every time a new feature comes
from the notoriously selective Brit, it
turns out to be cause for celebration.
David Crow Den of Geek

An exploration of five of Vaughns films reveal him

to be a super-subverter. Indeed, this
becomes how I like to identify him as an

auteur.

Consider:

Layer Cake (the Gangster movie)

Stardust (the Fantasy movie)
Kick-Ass (the Super Hero movie but its R18 sorry)
X-Men: First Class (Super Hero again)
Kingsman: The Secret Service (the Spy movie)

Layer Cake scene:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0z62IAL
jqM

How does Layer Cake subvert its

genre?
Unlike most gangster films the hero,
Daniel Craigs unnamed X is only
cool to a certain point he fumbles
and mucks up often.
The criminal underground depicted is
less warring houses than it is
hostile takeovers with imbeciles at
every corner.

Stardust scene:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViJtJmMw
mQs

How does Stardust subvert its

genre?
combines a whimsical sensibility
with a finely tuned preference for
gallows humour. Crow
The characters know that much of
the world is an artificial pretence. It
doesnt take itself too seriously (think
Gandalf and the very earnest HP
many Fantasy enthusiasts take it as
seriously as a Medieval Studies
course at Uni!)

X-Men: First Class scene:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R09v3MQ
34iQ

How does X-Men: First Class subvert

genre?
This film is unlike any X-Men film
before or since.
Has an early-Bondesque cheese
factor to it.
It became more of a buddy comedy
during a very tense moment of
mutant civil rights. Crow

Kingsman: The Secret Service scene

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScEeYojn
5G0

How does The Kingsman subvert

genre
The Kingsman is described as the
best Bond movie never made.
The Kingsman is an espionage
throwback, a coming of age story,
and an implicit comment on class
war in the UK.
The Church scene. What to say
about that!

To finish
How do you feel when a genre you
like is subverted?
What challenges face contemporary
directors?
What can you say about the genre of
the film you studied this year?
Subverted or genre storytelling?
Do you like to be challenged as a
viewer?
Where to next?