What makes a movie the type of movie that it is?

What makes a movie the type of movie it is? How do we know what a romantic comedy is?
What makes a Western a Western? For project one we will conquer these questions and more as
we break down a particular scene in film.
This paper will ask you to break down a scene of your choosing and explain why the film at
large and the scene that you chose supports what genre it belongs in. On occasion the film may
not even belong to just one genre. It is up to you to prove where it belongs.
If you do not already have a memorable scene, begin by watching films and finding one what
sticks with you. Remember, deconstructing a scene must include, dialogue, lighting, sound,
camerawork, costumes. All these things comprise and contribute to a scene. You have complete
control over what you choose (roughly 3-5 mins. is a good length), but it’s important to find one
that really means a lot in the film. Choosing a scene that doesn’t have much going on will
probably reflect in your writing.
After you have chosen your scene, you should watch it multiple times and take copious notes
about what you think makes that scene important. The goal of watching and re-watching is for
you to illustrate that you can pick up on how films are constructed and what the purpose of the
scene is. 
After you perform a close reading using details from your scene, I want you to go back and think
about that same scene in terms of how it defines itself genre-wise. We know film genres, often,
in vague terms. Something we see in a film signals to us that a film is a horror or a romance.
Using details from the scene (and from the film as a whole), I want you to break down the film
genre that your film fits into and why it fits into that categorization. Use some of the details
you’ve noticed from the close reading to help you and think about your history with that genre.
For example, think about how sounds and lighting are used in horror films vs. a comedy. More
than that, I want you to try and break down what makes that film genre unique. If your film is a
comedy, what exactly makes a comedy? What is the purpose of comedies and who are they for?
Why do we need comedies? What kind of tone do they take? How are they marketed? Do you
think there’s been an evolution of comedy since you were a kid to now? How so? These are just a
few questions you can come up with thinking about how to deconstruct film genres.