Inneresting 69
issue 69
September 24th, 2021
When one genre isn’t enough
Kevin Ding rounds up a list of some of the best hybrid-genre films of the last twenty years.
Suki Ferguson gives us an ode to the original Wicker Man, the horror/musical/police thriller that inverts several of the expected tropes of a horror story.
Whether you see Film Noir as a genre or a style, Meg Shields explains several prominent hybrid sub-genres. For some more specific examples:
Kieren Fisher looks at five films descended from the sci-fi/noir urtext Blade Runner.
Patrick Lee looks back at the prescience of Gattaca.
Pate Duncan explores the surrealistic noir of Eraserhead.
For a look at the development of the sitcom trope-traveling, genre-bender WandaVision, you can check out Jac Shaeffer’s interview with the New York Times, or her recent guest appearance on Scriptnotes.
Notes on genre from the blog archives
John answers a reader question about deciding on genre before you start writing with an example from developing Charlie’s Angels.
Sometimes picking a project to write can lead to picking more than one. The Nines came about from weaving together different genres and story ideas. You can find the shooting script and other production material for The Nines in John’s Library.
In Case of Emergencies: Switch Genre
If you’re stuck mid-story, try asking what would happen if you switched the genre.
How would you structure the story differently if it were a fairy tale instead of a gritty heist? What choices would your character make differently if they were in a romantic comedy instead of an epic war film? Does the teen lead in your horror film think they’re in a comedy (or vice versa)?
Asking these questions might help you find a new angle on your story as it is, or you might like the new genre even more!
For more suggestions on how to pull yourself out of a writing rut, check out the Writer Emergency Pack!
Other Cool Things
Clive Thompson suggests it’s worth the effort to take a pass on algorithmic suggestions and rewild your attention.
The Smithsonian Magazine shares how Ferris Bueller’s Day Off showcases the value of art museums.
Learn how the filing cabinet defined 20th century work, and the revolutionary way it separated the concepts of knowledge and information.
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
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