What is genre?

 What is genre?

Genre is a way of grouping different types of media which have similar characteristics. This helps target a specific audience and identify what they like and dislike. Genre is extremely important to the audience because of this but also institutions. It helps to set rules and guides to set up expectations.

An example of how producers portray genre is perhaps through a TV crime drama. This will often include crime scenes, victims, suspense and violence combined with suspenseful diegetic sound to help convey this genre.

Sub-genre is a category within a genre.

Example of sub-genre (horror film)

For example…

Film --> horror or comedy

Magazines --> products or charitable

Hybrid-genre is a combination of two or more genres combined.

Example of hybrid genre (comedy horror)

For example…

Action + comedy --> action comedy

Comedy + horror --> comedy horror

Research into a big institution - Walt Disney Analysis

Walt Disney started in 1923 and was originally owned by Walt Disney and his family. However, it is now owned by many companies with the largest shareholder being the Vanguard Group Inc. Other companies that own Walt Disney include BlackRock Fund Advisors and SSgA Funds Management Inc. In 1928, Walt Disney became more well known after the mickey mouse cartoons were created. These included characters such as Mickey Mouse, Minney Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto which are still very well-known today after so many years.

The main Walt Disney headquarters are in Burbank, California, United States. However, Walt Disney is such a large company that they have studios all across the world such as France, Japan and India. Walt Disney has been running for 98 years which portrays how succesful of a company it is as it is still so popular today. 

The five highest grossing movies that Walt Disney have made include: 

Avengers: Endgame 

This was released in 2019 and had a budget of approximately $356 million but made $2,797,800,564 in a worldwide box office. 

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens 

This was released in 2015 and had a budget of $306 million but made $2,064,615,817 in a worldwide box office. 

Avengers: Infinity War

This was released in 2018 and had a budget of $316 million but made $2,044,540,523 in a worldwide box office. 

The Lion King

This was released in 2019 and had a budget of $260 million but made $1,654,367,425 in a world wide box office. 

The Avengers

This was released in 2012 and has a budget of $220 million but made $1,515,100,211 in a worldwide box office. 

Disney work with a variety of actors however they commonly use A-List actors repeatedly such as Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson. These actors are extremely well known and are top worldwide leading stars for Walt Disney movies. The directors Walt Disney use often depend on the genre of film and if it is animated or live-action such as Jenifer Lee as the director for Frozen 2 which is an animated film contrasting with Joss Wheadon directing The Avengers which is live-action. 

Walt Disney currently has 13 films in pre-production. Some of these include... 

- The Marvels 

- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers 

- Hocus Pocus 2 

- Blade 

Walt Dinsney has 8 films in production. Some of these include... 

- Lightyear 

- Pinocchio 

- Indiana Jones 5 

Walt Disney has 6 films in post-production. Some of these include... 

- The Little Mermaid 

- Turning Red 

- Disnenchanted 

- Encanto 

As Walt Disney is such a big institution with it being the ninth top company brand worldwide, it has a huge financial amount of freedom. This is beneficial for the company as it allows them to take more risks with their work and can have much bigger budgets than smaller independent companies. It also means their films can use A-list actors which help to reach an international audience which increases the films overall gross. Walt Disney have the facilities to use worldwide locations for set and perhaps use a lot of CGI which other companies struggle to do as it is so expensive however Walt Disney do not have this problem. Walt Disney is now such a big institution that they now own many other major companies including Marvel, Pixar, 20th Century Fox, ABC and more which also helps them to reach a wider international audience.

Research into a small institution - Belstone Pictures Analysis

The CEO of Belstone Pictures is Finn Cardigan Bruce who’s interested in film increased when he attended Hurtwood House Film Academy and when he left the school he was able to direct and produce many different documentaries but also founded Belstone Pictures.

Belstone Pictures headquarters are based in South-West London on 4A Oakley Street and they do not have studios anywhere else in the world.

Belstone Picture’s is an independent company owned by Finn Cardigan Bruce who is 29 years old and is best known for Tank 432, Tucked and Tracks. Other than being the CEO of Belstone Pictures, he has worked on the set for various films and TV shows which include X Factor, Top Gear, Les Miserables and Downtown Abbey. He then moved on to work for Mario Testino. Blink TV and Sky News where he assisted in researching and producing. The Gentleman’s Journal is a lifestyle magazine brand that Bruce co-founded but also was the Creative Director for many years where he produced a variety of TV pilots and short films. Later, he was the Executive Assistant in Los Angeles to Shaun Redick and Ray Mansfield who are Oscar-nominated producers and then spent another few years where he was an Investment and Development Executive for Nicola Horlick who is a film financer where he worked for her two film funds. However, he left to focus on Belstone in 2016 which has now raised over £1m of independent equity.

Finn Bruce’s highest-grossing film is Tank 432 which cost £1 million to make. Tank 432 did so well that it funded the other two films Belstone Pictures have made which are Tucked and Tracks.

Tank 432 had a budget of approximately £150,000.

Belstone Pictures do not tend to work with the same actors or directors neither do they use A-list ones. This is due to it being an independent company so they do not have the funds to use A-list actors. Therefore, they focus more on providing breakout performances for less well-known actors and require smaller casts.

Benefits of Belstone Pictures being a small institution include:

- Their films can vary more in style and genre 

- They often use a small cast so less money spent from the budget

- They provide breakout performances for actors

- They use one main location so less money spent from the budget

- Belstone also frequently teams up with additional production companies who chip in some of the funds for a share of the profits which reduces the risk for Belstone losing a lot of their money