MIGRAIN: Genre
Read Media Fact sheet 03 - Genre: Categorising texts and answer the following questions:
1) What example is provided of why visual iconographies are so important?
Visual iconographies are important as they indicate the genre of the film to the audience and gives a hint of what the film is might be about. For instance, someone sitting behind a desk will not indicate the genre alone, however with the combination of this and high-key lighting, a modern mise-en-scene and a screen behind the characters will suggest the genre is news broadcast.
2) What examples are provided of the importance of narrative in identifying genre?
Genre can also be identified by the narrative by the structure of the storytelling and the events and occurrences withing the story. For instance, in a sit-com you would not expect to see very dramatic and emotional scenes like a villainous boss, rather you would see more lighthearted comedy where the boss is presented as foolish.
3) What is the difference between character representation in action movies and disaster movies?
Character stereotypes and roles play an important part in the narrative of texts as certain stereotypes can be linked specific genres.For example, in an action text you would expect the protagonist (hero) to to fight alone against the villains to save the world. A well know example is James Bond who is a member of the MI6 but is always on missions alone.
4) What are the different ways films can be categorised according to Bordwell?
Bordwell came up with the following methods of categorisation:
Bordwell came up with the following methods of categorisation:
- Period or country US films/1930s
- Director/star
- Technical process e.g animation
- Style
- Series
- Audience e.g family films
5) List three ways genre is used by audiences.
They use their existing knowledge of the genre, to anticipate whether or not they will enjoy the text.
They use their existing knowledge of the genre, to anticipate whether or not they will enjoy the text.
They use their knowledge of the genre to reject a text as it might not be of their preference or what they enjoy the most as everyone has personal preferences.6) List three ways genre is used by institutions or producers.
- Production
- Attracting an audience
- Marketing texts
Gangster films often evolve over time as the iconographies change so that the genre does not get to predictable, stale and uninteresting for the audience. New gangster films share codes with the traditional ones but create more modern approaches to the subject matter to stay up to date with modern audience's interests and changes in culture.
1) List five films the fact sheet discusses with regards to the Superhero genre.
- The X-Men
- The Avengers
- Spider man
- Guardians of the galaxy
- Agents of Shield
Over time we can see that the superhero offers slightly different narratives as the genre has to fit in with the dominant values of the audience.
3) How can Schatz's theory of genre cycles be applied to the Superhero genre?
Schatz agreed that genres are dynamic and suggests they go through a cycle :
1) Why did you choose the text you are analysing?
I encountered this text years ago after a friend recommended it to me as well as seeing it a lot on social media for promotion and fan pages.
3) What influence do you think this context might have had on your interpretation of the text?
4) To what genre did you initially assign the text?
I initially thought the genre would be a drama series with elements of fantasy due to the title of the show.
5) What is your experience of this genre?
I enjoyed this genre as it is very creative and creates suspense in every episode making the audience want to continue watching the show. The fantasy genre also includes a variety of different methods to engage the audience.
6) What subject matter and basic themes is the text concerned with ?
Some of the themes included in the series is friendship, family, betrayal and death. These themes make the text interesting and makes the show unpredictable.
7) How typical of the genre is this text in terms of content?
I would say the genre is typical in terms of content as it includes many key codes you would expect of a drama and fantasy genre.
8) What expectations do you have about texts in this genre?
I would expect the text to have deceiving elements which betrays the characters and many cliffhangers.
9) Have you found any formal generic labels for this particular text (where)?
10) What generic labels have others given the same text?
Some people have labeled this text as their guilty pleasure and addictive.
11) Which conventions of the genre do you recognize in the text?
Some of the conventions i have noticed are : romance,drama,fantasy and family.
12) To what extent does this text stretch the conventions of its genre?
It challenges the typical conventions of romance and shows how difficult and complicated it can be.
13) Where and why does the text depart from the conventions of the genre?
It also changs the typical view of a villain by making the villains likeable to the audience although they do sometimes can be evil the audience still loves them. Therefore the the typical roles of heroes and villains are different to the norms.
4) Which conventions seem more like those of a different genre (and which genre(s))?
In some parts the series may seem like a horror due to some of the supernatural elements.
5) What familiar motifs or images are used?
A motif used quite often is used as reoccurs throughout the whole series and is unpredictable.
Mode of address
1) What sort of audience did you feel that the text was aimed at (and how typical was this of the genre)?
I think the audience this is aimed at is teenagers and young adults as the romance and drama appeals to that age group but more specifically might be aimed at females.
2) How does the text address you?
The text addresses me by maintaining the drama and entertainment keeping the audience engaged.
3) What sort of person does it assume you are?
As the target audience might be females the creators might assume i am a female.
4) What assumptions seem to be made about your class, age, gender and ethnicity?
They might assume i am a female american teenager but the class can vary.
5) What interests does it assume you have?
The creators might assume i am interested in drama and romance series.
Relationship to other texts
1) What intertextual references are there in the text you are analysing (and to what other texts)?
There are some references to another series that is a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries.
2) Generically, which other texts does the text you are analysing resemble most closely?
This text subtly resembles a film called Twilight.
3) What key features are shared by these texts?
The character dynamics are quite similar as the female character is in love with two people who are trying to protect her .
4) What major differences do you notice between them?
This text is a tv show whereas Twilight is a film and The vampire diaries has a lot more different types of villains.
- innovation
- classical
- parody
- deconstruction
This can be applied to the superhero genre as the genre codes for the superhero genre are established as audiences like the familiarity that genres provide. Conventions of the superhero genre are repeated so the audience can predict the way the film or tv show will play out which is reassuring for them. However, if the codes are repeated and followed to closely, audiences might find the product cliched and boring. Therefore it goes through a parody where the producers intentionally ock the films for humour.
Finally, carry out your own genre analysis using the model provided by media theorist Daniel Chandler. Choose a film or TV text and answer the following questions:
The Vampire Diaries
1) Why did you choose the text you are analysing?
I chose this text as it includes a lot of media techniques and the narrative is very interesting. It has many different characters and the series is unpredictable and engaging.
2) In what context did you encounter it?
3) What influence do you think this context might have had on your interpretation of the text?
4) To what genre did you initially assign the text?
I initially thought the genre would be a drama series with elements of fantasy due to the title of the show.
5) What is your experience of this genre?
I enjoyed this genre as it is very creative and creates suspense in every episode making the audience want to continue watching the show. The fantasy genre also includes a variety of different methods to engage the audience.
6) What subject matter and basic themes is the text concerned with ?
Some of the themes included in the series is friendship, family, betrayal and death. These themes make the text interesting and makes the show unpredictable.
7) How typical of the genre is this text in terms of content?
I would say the genre is typical in terms of content as it includes many key codes you would expect of a drama and fantasy genre.
8) What expectations do you have about texts in this genre?
I would expect the text to have deceiving elements which betrays the characters and many cliffhangers.
9) Have you found any formal generic labels for this particular text (where)?
10) What generic labels have others given the same text?
Some people have labeled this text as their guilty pleasure and addictive.
11) Which conventions of the genre do you recognize in the text?
Some of the conventions i have noticed are : romance,drama,fantasy and family.
12) To what extent does this text stretch the conventions of its genre?
It challenges the typical conventions of romance and shows how difficult and complicated it can be.
13) Where and why does the text depart from the conventions of the genre?
It also changs the typical view of a villain by making the villains likeable to the audience although they do sometimes can be evil the audience still loves them. Therefore the the typical roles of heroes and villains are different to the norms.
4) Which conventions seem more like those of a different genre (and which genre(s))?
In some parts the series may seem like a horror due to some of the supernatural elements.
5) What familiar motifs or images are used?
A motif used quite often is used as reoccurs throughout the whole series and is unpredictable.
Mode of address
1) What sort of audience did you feel that the text was aimed at (and how typical was this of the genre)?
I think the audience this is aimed at is teenagers and young adults as the romance and drama appeals to that age group but more specifically might be aimed at females.
2) How does the text address you?
The text addresses me by maintaining the drama and entertainment keeping the audience engaged.
3) What sort of person does it assume you are?
As the target audience might be females the creators might assume i am a female.
4) What assumptions seem to be made about your class, age, gender and ethnicity?
They might assume i am a female american teenager but the class can vary.
5) What interests does it assume you have?
The creators might assume i am interested in drama and romance series.
Relationship to other texts
1) What intertextual references are there in the text you are analysing (and to what other texts)?
There are some references to another series that is a spin-off of The Vampire Diaries.
2) Generically, which other texts does the text you are analysing resemble most closely?
This text subtly resembles a film called Twilight.
3) What key features are shared by these texts?
The character dynamics are quite similar as the female character is in love with two people who are trying to protect her .
4) What major differences do you notice between them?
This text is a tv show whereas Twilight is a film and The vampire diaries has a lot more different types of villains.
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