Thedefinition of the word genre means a style or category of film. It is thegrouping of films that tend to share similar themes, iconography, characterplots and other factors. A genre convention is a set of defined rules that helpan audience distinguish one genre from another, focusing in particular on whatis typical and accepted within a specific genre of film. The reason genreconventions are significant  is that itgives an audience an underlying expectation that help to condition a responseto a particular film and the familiarity of a genre film promises eachspectator to be able to anticipate what will happen.

They focus on the agreedexpectations that have already been established within a specific genre.             TheWestern genre has always been one of the most leading genres of the Americanfilm industry. In essence, a Western film involves the American frontier typicallyset in the late 19th century commonly featuring characters such ascowboys, out-laws, Native Americans as well as settlers in the region.

According to the American Film Institute, a Western film is a genre of filmsset in the American West that embodies the spirit, struggle and the demise ofthe new frontier².               SergioLeone’s ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’ is widely known as one of the mostsuccessful Spaghetti-westerns ever made. Because of the success Sergio Leone’sfilmmaking style had gained him, the term Spaghetti-western was created, coinedmainly by American critics as a belittling term used to describe a sub-genre ofWestern films. These were mostly directed and produced by Italians and manyforeign critics strongly believed these were inferior to American Westerns. Despitethe Western film being one of the most prominent and ominous genres withinHollywood, by the 1950s the industry was producing fewer Western films thanever before.

The rise of popularity and interest in television within Americawas the cause of this, ultimately resulting in an influx of Westerns beingproduced for the small screen. Overseas however, where television had notbecome as popular as in the US, the demand for Western films never dwindled.