Christian Metz' Genre Theory

Christian Metz Theory - 

Metz believed that a film genre goes through a theory of stages throughout its lifetime. These stages are:

Experimental stage - foundations of the genre are built and all the generic codes are too., 

Classic stage - Where the codes and conventions become 'iconic' and create genre guidelines., 

Parody stage - people use these stages and guidelines and mock them, based on understood codes and conventions. 

Deconstruction stage - The genre can begin to evolve and merge with others; it becomes less clear, and the rules can be 'broken'.