Hybrid Genre Post #4

Hybrid Genre

Blog Post #4

A hybrid genre is a combination of two or more genres, Hybrids can have larger audiences due to appealing to more people through their multiple genres. This would be more lucrative for the film companies. Some people consider them more 'exciting' and creative.

As horror movies are perennially popular, film-makers might start with a set of horror paradigms to guarantee audience interest, before throwing other tropes into the mix.

Examples of genre hybrids:

• Horror romance (eg. Twilight, Night tide, The girl next door)
• Horror war (eg. Word war Z, Dead snow)
• Horror historical drama (eg. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies)
• Horror rom com (eg. Shaun of the Dead)

Genres are not static but evolve. Therefore, their common attributes change over time. Most films are hybrid genres, since they possess the common attributes of more than one genre. - Warren Buckland

Combining to genres together can potentially increase the target market as people from the two specific genres as audiences will supposedly want to see the film.

Films with hybrid genres: 

Paul (2011)
Theatrical Poster

An example of a film containing a hybrid genre is 'Paul' - 2012, this film falls into the 'comic science fiction genre' the film itself is about two comic geeks (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) travel across the United States of America to encounter an alien outside Area 51. The fact that this film is a hybrid of the comedy genre and the science fiction (sci-fi) genre it can expand its audience putting together those who like comedy films and those who like sci-fi films.

Scary MoVie (2013)
Theatrical Poster

Scary MoVie (2013) also falls into a hybrid genre, the hybrid genre associated with this film in this case is 'Comedy Horror'. The film itself is about a couple who begin to experience some unusual activity after bringing their lost nieces and nephew home. After using the help of home surveillance cameras they realise that they are being stalked by a 'nefarious' demon. The film features well known celebrities such as Charlie Sheen, Ashley Tisdale and Simon Rex.

In conclusion, producers combine two or more genres within a film. This can benefit  the company as the revenue is more likely to increase because having multiple genres will have  larger target market thus having a greater audience overall.

Souces from: Mediaknowall - Hybrid Genres and Wikipedia.org