Why do genre’s change over

time?

Target Audience

It is said that target audiences for films have recently become younger. This is

known as ‘juvenilisation’ of cinema and may be why horror films are now

usually aimed at teenage audiences.

This can be proved by the amount of teenage characters used within these

genres of films. For example the films Slender man is about two teenage girls

stabbing a class mate. The use of teenage actor/actresses helps the audience

to relate and feel more equal to the characters within the film.

An audience reading a text from an established genre is likely to be familiar

with the codes and conventions of that genre from reading similar texts. Your

familiarity with these codes and conventions – the character, the setting, the

music, etc – from watching similar horror films all raise your expectations.

Censorship and codes of conduct

If you look at the codes ethics applied to films in 1960 which banned

nudity, swearing (including ‘Damn’, ‘God’ and ‘Hell’) and excessive

lustful kissing you can see how far what is considered acceptable, or

tasteful by audiences and the film industry has moved on. Modern

audiences are used to much more graphic sex and violence and the

boundaries of what is considered to be ‘tasteful’ in film are stretched

more and more each year.

Influence of particular texts, stars,

authors and directors

Genres can be heavily influenced and suddenly rekindle their popularity or

change direction because of the impact of individual texts which come to

seen as genre defining.

As well as the influence of particular texts it is also important to recognize

the impact of particular directors and stars. For example, the influence of

Hitchcock, often described as the master of suspense, continues to be seen in

contemporary thrillers e.g. A Perfect Murder.

Changes in technology

Technology has changed a lot over the years. For example the film industry

now has access to technology such as the Stedicam, which allows to camera

to appear to float, this can enable stalking shots which can be important in

horror films.

Developments in digital video editing techniques led to fast paced editing and

exact pacing of music with on screen action. The Blair With Project is a good

example of a film influenced by new technology.

To add to this special effects vastly improved. Technical advances in the field

of animatronics and liquid and foam latex meant that hr human frame could

be distorted to an entirely new dimension, on screen, in realistic close up.