There are several occurrences in film that I have spotted and have coined some phrases to describe them. I thought I would now tell you all about them.
1) 'East Meets West' genre - this is a genre of film, whereby characters from Asia end up in America or other western cultures during the process of the film. Example of this are films like Warrior's Way and basically most Jackie Chan films like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon. The same applies for vice versa, so a film like The Last Samurai would also fall into the category.
2) 'Swordslinger' genre - at first glance you would assume this to mean any film featuring lots of sword fighting. However this usually occurs in fantasy or historical action films. A Swordslinger film is a film where lots of sword fighting occurs in an environment where the sword isn't the primary weapon, for example Ninja Assassin has lots of sword fighting but is set in modern day where the sword is uncommon. This genre can also be summed up as 'sword vs gun'.
3) 'The Horror Whore' concept - This is not a genre but rather a trend within a genre. In any horror film the first person or people to die are the ones who had sex early in the story. For example in Friday 13th the first pair to die are the teenagers having sex at the beginning. Some people say it is because the monsters are attracted to the excess heat or the scent of pheromones. I like to think that its karma: if you have time to have sex, you should be running instead.
4) 'The Dick Villain' concept - Again, not a genre but a character in films. This is a character who is not necessarily and enemy of the Hero in that he/she seeks to kill or destroy the hero, but it is their job to get in the way of the hero and try to prevent him succeeding, either for their own glory or because they distrust the hero. Professor Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) from Harry Potter 5 would count as one or the guy who set the ghosts free in Ghostbusters.
5) 'The Cowboy Hat Concept' - Colour is the best way of expressing a situation in film, especially surrounding the characters. There is always a way of discerning who is the good guy and who the bad by the colour of clothing they wear. This trend was first seen in Cowboys films because the good guys (almost) always wore White hats and the bad guys wore Black hats. From this came the basic conventions for the colour designs of Heros and Villains in film.
5) 'The Cowboy Hat Concept' - Colour is the best way of expressing a situation in film, especially surrounding the characters. There is always a way of discerning who is the good guy and who the bad by the colour of clothing they wear. This trend was first seen in Cowboys films because the good guys (almost) always wore White hats and the bad guys wore Black hats. From this came the basic conventions for the colour designs of Heros and Villains in film.
If you spot any of these in film, please remember these simple ideas
