Genres The Western WHAT IS GENRE A category
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Genres: The Western
WHAT IS GENRE? � A category of artistic composition, as in music, film, or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter – New Oxford American Dictionary � Organized categories of texts � � Exist in academic, popular and industry discourse Put into categories by: � � Subject matter Conventions Themes Narrative
FUNCTIONS OF GENRES � Leads the audience to interpret texts in particular ways � Lets viewers know what to expect � Gives creators ideas about how to put pieces together � Industry strategy of appealing to specific audiences
EXAMPLES OF GENRE � Science Fiction � Horror � War � Epics/Historical � Action/Adventure � Drama � Comedy � Crime/Gangster � Musicals Sub genres: -Biopics -Detective/Mystery -Disaster -Fantasy -Film Noir -Melodramas -Sports -Supernatural -Thriller/Suspense
THE WESTERN GENRE � Western Genre Conventions � Historical � Plot Basis Elements/Themes � Iconography
HISTORICAL BASIS � The Western is an American genre, which interprets and represents its history to itself � Set approximately between 1860 – 1910 � Period of American western expansion � Popular characters based on actual individuals: Wyatt Earp, Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok
THE WESTERN’S PLOT ELEMENTS/THEMES � Central Theme: The Binary of Civilization and Savagery/Lawlessness � East vs. West � Culture vs. Nature � Community vs. Individual � Settlers vs. “Indians” � Train vs. Horse � Westerns as American mythology � Foundational myth – the forging of a nation
WESTERN PLOT ELEMENTS/THEMES � Patterns of action � The nomadic Westerner comes to a town, purges it of its savage elements, and leaves � A group of gunmen are hired to defend villagers from bandits � Revenge Plots � Narrative � The Tropes climactic gunfight � Indian attacks � The cavalry rescue
THE TRADITIONAL WESTERN HERO � In between position: mediates between civilization and the lawless frontier � Marginalized figure outside of the community � Commonly motivated by revenge and/or sense of justice � Adheres to a code Stagecoach
WESTERN ICONOGRAPHY: MISE-EN-SCENE � Geography � An actual place: the American West � The landscape: deserts, mountains, rivers, Monument Valley � Symbolic: wilderness as a site of savagery � The frontier: the border of civilization and lawlessness
WESTERN ICONOGRAPHY: MISE-EN-SCENE
WESTERN ICONOGRAPHY/MISE-EN-SCENE
WESTERN ICONOGRAPHY/MISE-EN-SCENE
GENRE CYCLES � Genres are neither static nor fixed; they undergo change over time with each new film either adding to the tradition or modifying it. � Western a popular genre of B movie fare since 1903 � Classical Phase: � Stagecoach � Elevates (John Ford, 1939) the Western to A status � Solidifies conventional tropes
GENRE CYCLES � Post-war � High Phase Noon (Frank Zinnemann, 1952) � Plot takes place in “real time” � Denies the usual generic pleasures � Kane as an individual with a code � Film editing/framing emphasizes the isolation of the hero
GENRE CYCLES � Widescreen � The Westerns Searchers (John Ford, 1956) � Emphasizes the widescreen landscape � More complex protagonist � The salient techniques of style: cinematography
GENRE CYCLES � The Revisionist Western � The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)
GENRE CYCLES � ‘Spaghetti’ �A Westerns Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964) � For A Few Dollars More (Leone, 1965) � The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Leone, 1966)
GENRE MIXING � Yojimbo (Akira Kurosawa, 1961) � Jidaigeki genre � Influenced by the films of John Ford � Loosely based on Dashiell Hammet’s Red Harvest (1929) � Basis for A Fistful of Dollars & Last Man Standing (Walter Hill, 1996)
GENRE MIXING: SCIENCE FICTION & THE WESTERN � Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977) � Influenced by the films of John Ford and Akira Kurosawa: The Searchers & The Hidden Fortress � Westworld (Michael Crichton, 1973) � Outland (Peter Hyams, 1981) � Based � Star on High Noon Trek (1966 -1969) � “Wagon � Firefly train to the stars” (Whedon, 2002)
GENRE MIXING � Post-apocalyptic � Mad Western Max 2: The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981)
GENRE MIXING � Science � Alien Fiction/Horror (Ridley Scott, 1979) � Science � Blade Fiction/Film Noir Runner (Scott, 1982) � Science Fiction/War � Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven, 1997)
