Task 2.1 Research Into Existing Products: Metz Theory

In Christian Metz's book titled language and cinema (1974) he theorised that genres pass through four stages of existence. 

Stage 1 The experimental.

He meant by this the phase of early films which explored and experimented with the

generic codes and conventions. Early examples of this in the horror genre are the cabinet of Dr.Caligari (1919) .

Stage 2 The classic

This is the phase in which the codes and conventions of the genre become recognised as iconic and seen as the guidelines of which the other genres should follow. Early examples of this in the horror genre are Frankenstein and Dracula (1931)

Stage 3 The parody

in this phase because the codes and conventions are widely understood and recognised people can use and mock them. This is based on the fact that the audience understand the codes and conventions from the classic stage. Examples of this within the horror genre are Scary movie (2000).

Stage 4 The deconstruction

This stage allows the genre to evolve and merge with others, so the horror genre could steal conventions from the thriller and genres become less clear cut and the rules can be broken. An example of this is the film se7en (1995) which contains elements from both the horror and thriller genre.