Genre (definition)

is a french term for type or kind. In media studies, it is used to class types of media into specific groupings. For example, an action film may have fast cars, murder, crime, fighting and theft. We would class this under action as they fulfill the conventions of a stereotypical action narrative.

There are also hybrid-genres such as Romantic Comedies and Action Comedies. An example of hybrid genre would be shaun of the dead. Shaun of the dead is a horror/comedy as it has the generic gory, morbid aspects of a horror movie but it has the comedic aspects of a comedy with slapstick and punchlines.

Typical conventions of a horror film are face-paced cuts (aggressive), fight scenes, jump scares, gore, blood.

Horror films use instinctive human fears and replicate them in cinema in order to make the audience feel shocked and disgusted. They also use 'shock value' convenctions to scare. (For example, freddy kruger has no skin and you can see the vessels and fat on the surface of his face. There are holes in the texture which may be disturbing to people because of trypophobia .

The conventions of comedic films are slapstick, lighthearted scenes and satire, all of which shaun of the dead have. Including two mainstream genres creates a whole sub-genre of it's own.