Genre is four things: 1. Genre is blueprint: a formula that precedes, programs, and patterns industry production 2. Genre as structure: the formal framework on which individual films are founded 3. Genre as label: the central term used to distribute the movie 4. Genre as contract: the viewing position required by each genre film to its audience Genre films share defined characteristics and structures. We know in a Western the good guy is going to have a stand off with the bad guy. This is one of the things that makes them enticing to so many people. They know what's going to happen. But they like entering into a cinematic experience which is familiar. It must be similar in form but different in some aspects. I learned this from Altman's article, what is generally understood by the notion of film genre.