The Psychology of Film: Why Do We Need Film Genres and Conventions

Genre classification is one of the basic pieces of information about films. After all, what better way is there to describe a film to someone than to say it’s a comedy, a horror film, or a melodrama? These are shared codes that allow us to get a certain idea about the film. Genres are sometimes based on the repetition of topics and stylistic choices. At other times, they stem from an effort to evoke certain emotions. This lecture will focus on how genres (and their methods and conventions) are constantly evolving to partially satisfy us with what we know, while at the same time surprising us with something we haven’t seen before. It is precisely this tension that is the source of the best cinematic experiences.