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59-741: Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith (born 1946) is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films . His filmography covers action , science fiction , martial arts , dystopian fiction , comedy , war , family , thriller , romance and erotica , and his works tend to be cross-genre pieces. After gaining experience as a writer and editor of film trailers , Trenchard-Smith made documentary films for Australian television, many of which focused on stunt performers and martial artists , including his frequent collaborator Grant Page . He made his directorial debut with The Man from Hong Kong (1975),

118-650: A bayonet. He was commissioned to make a film about his school, Wellington College , for prospective parents. He showed this around once he left school, and it helped him get work as an editor's assistant and camera assistant with a French news company in London. However he was unable to get into the union so he moved to Australia in 1965 (his father was Australian). Trenchard-Smith worked at Channel Ten as an editor, doing news, documentaries and station promos. He moved over to Channel 9 to work as promotions director, then in 1968 he returned to England and went to work in London as

177-511: A cult classic. It starred Grant Page and the US band Sorcery. He followed this with Day of the Assassin (1979), where he replaced the original director just before filming began. He later said making the movie was one of his craziest directing experiences: All directors, at some point in their career trajectory, find themselves hanging on to a runaway train; despite best efforts, things turn to custard on

236-579: A daily basis. More often than not, The Movie from Hell is a co-production. Foreign locale, fast money, giant egos, high pressure schedule – all make a volatile witches’ brew, even before you factor in deep rooted national resentments. Trenchard-Smith returned to cutting trailers for various Australian films. Producer Antony I. Ginnane hired him to cut together footage of films during production to raise additional finance. These included Harlequin and The Survivor . Ginnane then hired Trenchard-Smith to direct Turkey Shoot (1982). His work on that film got him

295-521: A genre can change through stages: the classic genre era; the parody of the classics; the period where filmmakers deny that their films are part of a certain genre; and finally a critique of the entire genre. This pattern can be seen with the Western film. In the earliest, classic Westerns, there was a clear hero who protected society from lawless villains who lived in the wilderness and came into civilization to commit crimes. However, in revisionist Westerns of

354-520: A genre script but they haven't twisted the story beats of that genre in such a way that it gives an original face to it". Cinema technologies are associated with genres. Huge widescreens helped Western films to create an expansive setting of the open plains and desert. Science fiction and fantasy films are associated with special effects, notably computer generated imagery (e.g., the Harry Potter films). In 2017, screenwriter Eric R. Williams published

413-489: A given genre. Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre criticism , film genres are usually delineated by conventions, iconography , narratives , formats, characters, and actors, all of which can vary according to the genre. In terms of standard or "stock" characters , those in film noir , for example, include the femme fatale and the "hardboiled" detective ; while those in Westerns , stock characters include

472-695: A junior writer/producer of feature film trailers at the National Screen Service . In 1970 he returned to Channel 9 as network promotions director, and made his directorial debut with a French TV special Christmas in Australia . He followed it with a series of other specials: Marty Feldman in Australia (1972), The Big Screen Scene (1972), For Valor (1972), Inside Alvin Purple (1972). After two years at Channel 9 Trenchard Smith formed his own production company, Trenchard Productions, borrowed $ 16,000 and made

531-453: A melodrama which he co-wrote, Jenny Kissed Me (1985), then another action film, Dead End Drive-In (1986). Neither was successful at the box office but the latter has developed a strong cult reputation. Trenchard-Smith was hired for another "rescue operation" when the decision was made to sack the director of Day of the Panther (1987) during filming. This film was shot back to back with

590-559: A one-hour television special about stuntmen called The Stuntmen featuring Grant Page . This was a success. Trenchard-Smith was going to Hong Kong to make an $ 8,000 documentary on Bruce Lee called The World of Kung Fu but arrived on the day Lee died. He turned the documentary into a tribute on Lee, and in the course of making it met Raymond Chow . Trenchard-Smith made another TV special, Kung Fu Killers (1974), featuring Page and George Lazenby . Throughout this decade Trenchard-Smith also worked cutting trailers. Trenchard-Smith made

649-465: A repetition of noir genre tropes, or a re-examination of the noir genre? This is also important to remember when looking at films in the future. As viewers watch a film they are conscious of societal influence with the film itself. In order to understand its true intentions, we must identify its intended audience and what narrative of our current society, as well as it comments to the past in relation with today's society. This enables viewers to understand

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708-404: A rigid way. Furthermore, different countries and cultures define genres in different ways. A typical example are war movies. In United States , they are mostly related to ones with large U.S. involvement such as World wars and Vietnam, whereas in other countries, movies related to wars in other historical periods are considered war movies . Film genres may appear to be readily categorizable from

767-412: A sardine. My career goal is to become a dolphin, playfully cruising through a variety of genres on adequate budgets.") He established himself by attaching himself "to as much material as possible. Sling enough mud at the wall, something will stick." He also earned a reputation for reliability. "Deliver the goods, above and beyond creative and fiscal expectations. Mr Reliable is a popular guy. Specialise in

826-443: A sense of originality and surprise". Some screenwriters use genre as a means of determining what kind of plot or content to put into a screenplay. They may study films of specific genres to find examples. This is a way that some screenwriters are able to copy elements of successful movies and pass them off in a new screenplay . It is likely that such screenplays fall short in originality. As Truby says, "Writers know enough to write

885-420: A sense of pace: trying to find where the joke is and trying to make the film look a lot bigger than it cost. He says his main advice for directing is: Be a good leader, kind father, energetic brigade commander to your cast and crew; no one gives their best in an atmosphere of blame and fear, as happens on big star driven movies; humour is much more effective in team management; try to make your own enthusiasm for

944-589: A sequel Strike of the Panther . Trenchard-Smith did a straight-to-video thriller, Out of the Body (1988) then travelled to the Philippines to make a Vietnam War film, The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989). In January 1990 Trenchard Smith moved to Hollywood. He has said that when he left Australia "I was possibly a medium-sized fish in one of cinema's smaller ponds" and when he arrived he "immediately became plankton." (In 2001 he wrote "I believe I have now evolved into

1003-509: A system for screenwriters to conceptualize narrative film genres based on audience expectations. The system was based upon the structure biologists use to analyze living beings. Williams wrote a companion book detailing his taxonomy , which claims to be able to identify all feature length narrative films with seven categorizations: film type, super genre, macro-genre, micro-genre, voice, and pathway. Because genres are easier to recognize than to define, academics agree they cannot be identified in

1062-450: A two-digit number representing the year of release, followed by a slash, then a one-to-four digit number assigned to the specific film. If the numbers were preceded by the letter "R", then the poster was from a re-release of the film. One good example is Star Wars ; its original release number is "77/21", meaning it was released in the year 1977 and was the 21st movie assigned a stock number for that year. Movie advertising typically had

1121-409: A well-established fanbase that reads horror magazines such as Fangoria . Films that are difficult to categorize into a genre are often less successful. As such, film genres are also useful in the areas of marketing, film criticism and the analysis of consumption . Hollywood story consultant John Truby states that "...you have to know how to transcend the forms [genres] so you can give the audience

1180-510: Is a drama (type) Slice of Life (super-genre) animation (voice). Williams has created a seven-tiered categorization for narrative feature films called the Screenwriters Taxonomy . A genre movie is a film that follows some or all of the conventions of a particular genre, whether or not it was intentional when the movie was produced. In order to understand the creation and context of each film genre, we must look at its popularity in

1239-460: Is based on the accepted cultural consensus within society. Martin Loop contends that Hollywood films are not pure genres because most Hollywood movies blend the love-oriented plot of the romance genre with other genres. Jim Colins claims that since the 1980s, Hollywood films have been influenced by the trend towards "ironic hybridization", in which directors combine elements from different genres, as with

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1298-484: The James Bond spy-films, which all use a formula of "lots of action, fancy gadgets, beautiful woman and colourful villains", even though the actors, directors and screenwriters change. Films are rarely purely from one genre, which is in keeping with the cinema's diverse and derivative origins, it being a blend of "vaudeville, music-hall, theatre, photography" and novels. American film historian Janet Staiger states that

1357-675: The docufiction and docudrama , which merge the basic categories of fiction and non-fiction (documentary). Genres are not fixed; they change and evolve over time, and some genres may largely disappear (for example, the melodrama ). Not only does genre refer to a type of film or its category, a key role is also played by the expectations of an audience about a film, as well as institutional discourses that create generic structures. Characteristics of particular genres are most evident in genre films , which are "commercial feature films [that], through repetition and variation, tell familiar stories with familiar characters and familiar situations" in

1416-875: The schoolmarm and the gunslinger . Regarding actors, some may acquire a reputation linked to a single genre, such as John Wayne (the Western) or Fred Astaire (the musical ). Some genres have been characterized or known to use particular formats , which refers to the way in which films are shot (e.g., 35 mm , 16 mm or 8 mm ) or the manner of presentation (e.g., anamorphic widescreen ). Genres can also be classified by more inherent characteristics (usually implied in their names), such as settings, theme/topic, mood, target audience, or budget /type of production . Screenwriters , in particular, often organize their stories by genre, focusing their attention on three specific aspects: atmosphere, character, and story. A film's atmosphere includes costumes, props , locations, and

1475-534: The tone , theme/topic , mood , format , target audience , or budget . These characteristics are most evident in genre films , which are "commercial feature films [that], through repetition and variation, tell familiar stories with familiar characters and familiar situations" in a given genre. A film's genre will influence the use of filmmaking styles and techniques, such as the use of flashbacks and low-key lighting in film noir ; tight framing in horror films ; or fonts that look like rough- hewn logs for

1534-545: The 1920s to the 1950s favoured genre films is that in "Hollywood's industrial mode of production, genre movies are dependable products" to market to audiences – they were easy to produce and it was easy for audiences to understand a genre film. In the 1920s to 1950s, genre films had clear conventions and iconography, such as the heavy coats worn by gangsters in films like Little Caesar (1931). The conventions in genre films enable filmmakers to generate them in an industrial, assembly-line fashion, an approach which can be seen in

1593-408: The 1940s, it signed exclusive contracts with all the major movie studios to produce and distribute posters and other paper advertising materials. During the 1980s, as the design of movie theaters changed from small, individual screens to large multiplexes , the amount of advertising space available for a given movie dropped; as a result, the wide variety of movie poster sizes extant until that time

1652-647: The 1970s New Hollywood era, there was so much parodying of genres that it can be hard to assign genres to some films from this era, such as Mel Brooks ' comedy-Western Blazing Saddles (1974) or the private eye parody The Long Goodbye (1973). Other films from this era bend genres so much that it is challenging to put them in a genre category, such as Roman Polanski 's Chinatown (1974) and William Friedkin 's The French Connection (1971). Film theorist Robert Stam challenged whether genres really exist, or whether they are merely made up by critics. Stam has questioned whether "genres [are] really 'out there' in

1711-419: The 1970s, the protagonist becomes an antihero who lives in the wilderness to get away from a civilization that is depicted as corrupt, with the villains now integrated into society. Another example of a genre changing over time is the popularity of the neo-noir films in the early 2000s ( Mulholland Drive (2001), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) and Far from Heaven (2002); are these film noir parodies,

1770-524: The Body and The Siege of Firebase Gloria . They have two sons, Eric and Alexander, and live in Oregon , where they own pet deer . His hobbies include history and épée fencing , for which he has held a lifelong passion. Trenchard Smith once said this of his own films: There is something you always get in a Trenchard-Smith movie: pace, a strong visual sense, and what the movie is actually about told to you very persuasively. Whatever I do, I'll still be applying

1829-782: The Demons 2 (1994), Leprechaun 3 (1995), Leprechaun 4: In Space (1996), Happy Face Murders (1999), Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001), DC 9/11: Time of Crisis (2003), Aztec Rex (2007), Chemistry (2011), Absolute Deception (2013) and Drive Hard (2014). His debut novel , The Headsman's Daughter (later retitled Alice Through the Multiverse ), was self-published in 2016. Several of Trenchard-Smith's films have garnered cult followings and have been subject to critical re-evaluation, and he has also been cited as one of Quentin Tarantino 's favourite directors. Trenchard-Smith

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1888-482: The Western film, and musical theatre pre-dated film musicals. The perceived genre of a film can change over time; for example, in the 21st century The Great Train Robbery (1903) classes as a key early Western film, but when released, marketing promoted it "for its relation to the then-popular genres of the chase film, the railroad film and the crime film". A key reason that the early Hollywood industrial system from

1947-590: The Western/science fiction mix in Back to the Future Part III . Many films cross into multiple genres. Susan Hayward states that spy films often cross genre boundaries with thriller films. Some genre films take genre elements from one genre and place them into the conventions of a second genre, such as with The Band Wagon (1953), which adds film noir and detective film elements into "The Girl Hunt" ballet. In

2006-406: The box office. He spent nine months on a proposed film that never got up, The Siege of Sydney (aka Pillage Squad ). However he then made a dramatised short, Hospitals Don't Burn Down! , which won a number of awards and was highly successful. Trenchard-Smith then made a film in the US called Stunt Rock (1978) which he once called "probably the worst film I have made" although it has become

2065-885: The category of "body genres" since they are each designed to elicit physical reactions on the part of viewers. Horror is designed to elicit spine-chilling, white-knuckled, eye-bulging terror; melodramas are designed to make viewers cry after seeing the misfortunes of the onscreen characters; and pornography is designed to elicit sexual arousal. This approach can be extended: comedies make people laugh, tear-jerkers make people cry, feel-good films lift people's spirits and inspiration films provide hope for viewers. Eric R. Williams (no relation to Linda Williams) argues that all narrative feature-length films can be categorized as one of eleven "super genres" ( action , crime , fantasy , horror , romance , science fiction , slice of life , sports , thriller , war and Western ). Williams contends that labels such as comedy or drama are more broad than

2124-422: The category of super genre, and therefore fall into a category he calls "film type". Similarly, Williams explains that labels such as animation and musical are more specific to storytelling technique and therefore fall into his category of "voice". For example, according to Williams, a film like Blazing Saddles could be categorized as a comedy (type) Western (super-genre) musical (voice), while Anomalisa

2183-489: The context of its place in history. For example, the 1970s Blaxploitation films have been called an attempt to "undermine the rise of Afro-American's Black consciousness movement" of that era. In William Park's analysis of film noir, he states that we must view and interpret film for its message with the context of history within our minds; he states that this is how film can truly be understood by its audience. Film genres such as film noir and Western film reflect values of

2242-680: The difficult. No task too great, no budget too small. Work breeds work, particularly if you leave your producers smiling rather than unhappy. Low-budget genre film making does not mean you have to check your personality at the door." He returned to Australia to make Official Denial (1993) on the Gold Coast. Back in the US he did Night of the Demons 2 (1994) and Leprechaun 3 (1995). He went back to Australia to make Sahara (1995), then did Escape Clause (1996), Leprechaun 4: In Space (1996), Doomsday Rock (1997), Atomic Dog (1998), and Voyage of Terror (1998). Trenchard-Smith made

2301-690: The evolution of film genres as time and history morphs or views and ideals of the entertainment industry. National Screen Service The National Screen Service ( NSS ) was a company that controlled the distribution of theatrical advertising materials in the United States from approximately 1940 through the 1980s. It was located in Englewood, New Jersey . NSS was formed in 1920 to produce and distribute movie trailers on behalf of movie studios. As time went on, NSS gradually took over production and distribution of other forms of movie advertising, until in

2360-621: The film was made for The Movie Company, a production company half owned by Trenchard-Smith and Greater Union , and Golden Harvest. The film sold well around the world and established Trenchard-Smith as an action director. Trenchard Smith then made the TV documentary Danger Freaks for the Movie Company before Greater Union pulled out of the organisation and it was wound up. Trenchard Smith then made another action feature film, Deathcheaters (1976), starring Grant Page, which performed disappointingly at

2419-645: The first film to be produced as an international co-production between Australia and Hong Kong . Many of Trenchard-Smith's films over the next decade became notable examples of the Ozploitation cycle, including Deathcheaters (1976), Stunt Rock (1978), Turkey Shoot (1982), BMX Bandits (1983), Frog Dreaming (1986) and Dead End Drive-In (1986). Trenchard-Smith moved to Hollywood in 1990, and has since primarily directed made-for-television and direct-to-video films. His other notable works include The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989), Night of

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2478-400: The genre of a film can be defined in four ways. The "idealist method" judges films by predetermined standards. The "empirical method" identifies the genre of a film by comparing it to a list of films already deemed to fall within a certain genre. The a priori method uses common generic elements which are identified in advance. The "social conventions" method of identifying the genre of a film

2537-425: The job of rewriting and directing the children's film, BMX Bandits (1983), which starred Nicole Kidman . He was announced as director of Blowing Hot and Cold but did not make it in the end. Trenchard-Smith began directing episodes of Australian TV shows such as Five Mile Creek . He was hired by the producers of Frog Dreaming (1985) to replace the original director during the shoot. He followed it with

2596-530: The late 60s and 1970s, Trenchard Smith was one of the leading makers of film trailers in England and Australia. Among the films whose trailers he edited are: Brian Trenchard-Smith had cast certain actors in more than one of his films. Film genre Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre criticism , film genres are usually delineated by "conventions, iconography , settings , narratives , characters and actors". One can also classify films by

2655-492: The name National Screen Service UK, it continued to distribute trailers and print publicity material for all major film studios to all UK cinema chains. In 2000, the company was bought by Carlton Communications (later taken over by ITV plc ). It was closed in 2007, following increased competition. As part of its inventory management, NSS developed "NSS Stock Numbers", allowing NSS to more easily store and find items for individual films among its shelves. These numbers consisted of

2714-493: The pain and horror of war. While there is an argument that film noir movies could be deemed to be set in an urban setting, in cheap hotels and underworld bars, many classic noirs take place mainly in small towns, suburbia, rural areas, or on the open road. The editors of filmsite.org argue that animation, pornographic film , documentary film, silent film and so on are non-genre-based film categories. Linda Williams argues that horror, melodrama, and pornography all fall into

2773-515: The project contagious to everybody. Then pick locations that have natural production value... Plan well. Shot list. Make every hour of shooting count. His favourite among his own movies are The Man From Hong Kong , BMX Bandits , Dead End Drive In , The Siege Of Firebase Gloria , Night Of The Demons 2 and Happy Face Murders . His main influences growing up were Alfred Hitchcock , Henry Hathaway , Anthony Mann , J. Lee Thompson , Robert Aldrich , Raoul Walsh , King Vidor and John Ford. Dring

2832-424: The proliferation of particular genres, film subgenres can also emerge: the legal drama , for example, is a sub-genre of drama that includes courtroom- and trial-focused films. Subgenres are often a mixture of two separate genres; genres can also merge with seemingly unrelated ones to form hybrid genres , where popular combinations include the romantic comedy and the action comedy film . Broader examples include

2891-489: The setting of the film. Nevertheless, films with the same settings can be very different, due to the use of different themes or moods. For example, while both The Battle of Midway and All Quiet on the Western Front are set in a wartime context and might be classified as belonging to the war film genre, the first examines the themes of honor, sacrifice, and valour, and the second is an anti-war film which emphasizes

2950-400: The sex-orientated semi-documentary The Love Epidemic (1975) which was made for $ 33,000. It was theatrically released and made a small profit. Trenchard-Smith's Hong Kong connections enabled him to make his dramatic feature film debut with the action movie The Man from Hong Kong (1975), the first Australian-Hong Kong co production. Starring Jimmy Wang Yu , George Lazenby and Grant Page,

3009-608: The term "genre" (already in use in English with reference to works of art or literary production from at least 1770 ) was used to organize films according to type. By the 1950s André Bazin was discussing the concept of "genre" by using the Western film as an example; during this era, there was a debate over auteur theory versus genre. In the late 1960s the concept of genre became a significant part of film theory . Film genres draw on genres from other forms; Western novels existed before

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3068-522: The time period. While film noir combines German expressionist filming strategies with post World War II ideals; Western films focused on the ideal of the early 20th century. Films such as the musical were created as a form of entertainment during the Great Depression allowing its viewers an escape during tough times. So when watching and analyzing film genres we must remember to remember its true intentions aside from its entertainment value. Over time,

3127-433: The titles of Western films. In addition, genres have associated film scoring conventions, such as lush string orchestras for romantic melodramas or electronic music for science fiction films . Genre also affects how films are broadcast on television , advertised, and organized in video rental stores . Alan Williams distinguishes three main genre categories: narrative , avant-garde , and documentary . With

3186-456: The true crime film Happy Face Murders (1999), which is one of his favourite movies. In 2011, Trenchard Smith said his passion project is to do a revisionist history of Richard III . Since 1975, Trenchard-Smith has been married to Dr. Margaret Gerard Trenchard-Smith (née Enger), an American Byzantine historian and retired actress whom he had cast in Deathcheaters , Stunt Rock , Out of

3245-410: The visceral experiences created for the audience. Aspects of character include archetypes , stock characters , and the goals and motivations of the central characters . Some story considerations for screenwriters, as they relate to genre, include theme, tent-pole scenes, and how the rhythm of characters' perspective shift from scene to scene. From the earliest days of cinema in the 19th century

3304-979: The world or are they really the construction of analysts?". As well, he has asked whether there is a "... finite taxonomy of genres or are they in principle infinite?" and whether genres are "...timeless essences ephemeral, time-bound entities? Are genres culture-bound or trans-cultural?". Stam has also asked whether genre analysis should aim at being descriptive or prescriptive. While some genres are based on story content (the war film ), other are borrowed from literature ( comedy , melodrama ) or from other media (the musical ). Some are performer-based ( Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films) or budget-based ( blockbusters , low-budget film ), while others are based on artistic status (the art film ), racial identity ( race films ), location (the Western ), or sexual orientation (" New Queer Cinema "). Many genres have built-in audiences and corresponding publications that support them, such as magazines and websites. For example, horror films have

3363-524: Was born in England, the son of a senior officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF), and lived for a time in Libya, where his father was stationed. His family moved to RAF Odiham , Hampshire and he made his first film at the age of 15 on 8mm , a 2-minute short called The Duel . The following year he made the ten-minute The Chase about a lunatic who escapes from an asylum and chases a boy around the countryside with

3422-570: Was consolidated down to just the " one-sheet " size. As this greatly reduced the need for a separate organization to control poster distribution, movie studios took back those responsibilities, and NSS shrank. Also, NSS faced competition in the policy trailer and snipe business from other producers, namely Filmack and Pike Productions . NSS was eventually bought out by Technicolor , Inc. in September 2000. National Screen Service established an office in London in 1926. During World War II production

3481-525: Was moved to the London suburb of Perivale . In the following decades the team of NSS trailer script writers led by Esther Harris produced trailers for hundreds of feature films made in Britain. NSS also created the main titles, end credits and optical effects, as well as distributing posters, stills and publicity material across the country. Three directors of the UK subsidiary bought that company from NSS in 1987. Keeping

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