Select a film star who has had at least ten major roles, and look at his or her filmography on the Internet Movie Database. Has that star specialized in a single genre? If so, what is that genre? Check the user reviews for films that the star did outside of his or her typical genre. Do the reviews note the atypical appearance and either praise or disparage the star's work in that film in terms of the film's genre?

Browse through the Paramount Pictures motion picture site and/or the Sony Pictures Entertainment site. Which of their recent releases qualify as genre films? How are they single genre films or mixed genre films? Are these films publicized on the basis of their genres or intermixing of genres? What does your browsing of these sites tell you about the importance (or lack of importance) of genre to contemporary major studio filmmaking? Is genre still a ubiquitous way to organize production and publicity of contemporary Hollywood films? What new genres are formed by the mixing of conventions?

On the website The Silent Western: Early Movie Myths of the American West, read through the article about Uses and Perceptions of the Land in Silent Westerns. What Western conventions are described here? Are they similar to or different from the conventions of the classic sound Westerns described in your textbook? Are there any conventions that might seem especially appropriate for either silent or sound film?

As the section on horror film in Chapter 4 notes, horror films have experienced a resurgence in popularity especially since the mid-1990s. Facilitating your thoughts with a website dedicated to Upcoming Horror Movies, discuss what kinds of horror movies are currently popular. What subgenres of horror movies are being released right now (slashers, thrillers, monster movies, etc.)? What might be some of the social functions of these genres? Can you give a "reflectionist" account for why films of this type are being released? Or can you describe how these films might be serving as a social "ritual" function? What changes of conventions are used to keep horror films popular?

How is the musical film genre changing? What accounts for the surges in popularity of the genre? Research the film musical's changing trends on musicals101.com. Where are musicals heading in the future? What accounts for most of the declining periods of the musical? Are musicals still in a genre by themselves or are they combining with other genres to create a style more appealing to contemporary audiences?