Key Media Concept - Genre

Distributors/marketers like genre because:

• They can market the film using stars connected to a genre.• They can use genre signifiers in trailers and posters. • It can be easier to predict and target an audience through

genre films• It can be easier to reach a target audience - cinema trailers

are often similar genres to the one you’re watching

Audiences like genre because:

• It helps them choose/categorise• Prediction, expectation anticipation• A sense of expectation , pleasure and anticipation

also comes from the repetition of key elements• Even when genre conventions are broken, the

success of this depends on us knowing the ‘rules’ in the first place. Pleasure from surprise..

• Audiences want a mix of the familiar and the new in genre films

Genre as an academic approach• Genre is a critical tool, a concept that helps scholars

to study films and filmmaking as well as audiences’ response to film

• Genre study allows a form of scientific methodology to be used in studying things, which display similarities. Comparing films within the same group and between groups has several benefits.

• So what do the academics say about genre?....

Genre is about repetition & difference• ‘Genres are instances of repetition and

difference‘ (Neale, 1980)

Now apply this to your own work - What elements can be seen as repetition of genre conventions and what can be seen as difference?

Stephen Neale

Lacey considers the 'repertoire of elements' that work in combination to suggest a media text belongs to a particular genre or mix of genres.

He provides a useful framework to follow when analysing genre. Lacey breaks a text down into these five areas to identify the elements in each:

– Setting – Character– Narrative– Iconography– Style

Remember – Lacey does not see genres as fixed but as dynamic and changing over time.

Nick Lacey

GENRE - Lacey’s Repetoire of Elements

GENRE - Lacey’s repetoire of elements• Narrative: This refers to the story structure as

well as the specific narrative devices, which genres employ (car chases, gunfights, weddings, etc.).

• Characters: Narrative is usually developed through characters and their functions (hero, villain etc). Some characters are so closely associated with a genre that they become generic types. For example, in horror movies, the ‘final girl,’ who maintains her personal dignity, usually defeats the psychopath.

Nick Lacey

GENRE - Lacey’s repetoire of elements• Setting: Some genres have a distinct location but

this can be subject to change, for example horror films have moved from the gothic to the suburban. Genres can also be associated with time periods like the gangster films set during prohibition in America but successful films have updated this.

• Iconography: Films contain visual and audio images, which become instantly recognisable and associated with the genre. Eg: Gangster films feature the iconic ‘Tommy’ gun spraying bullets in the hands of a man in a sharp suit usually standing on the running board of a car.

Nick Lacey

GENRE - Lacey’s repetoire of elements• Style: Iconography refers to the objects but style

describes the way they are presented. Camera angles, editing, lighting and the use of colour all contribute to the style of a film.

Now analyse your production work using Lacey’s theoretical framework: • What elements can you identify that establish a

particular genre? (Go through the 5 areas)• Are there overlapping/mixed genres? • Is it difficult to categorise your work by genre? • Do you challenge genre conventions?

Nick Lacey

Quick recap on genre…

• Nick Lacey considers the 'repertoire of elements' in relation to:– Setting – Character– Narrative– Iconography– Style

Nick Lacey

Now you have explored genre as a concept and applied it to your work,

do you think there any problems with the genre approach?

Genre is not clear cut• There are no 'rigid rules of inclusion and

exclusion‘ (Gledhill, 1985).

• It is difficult to make clear-cut distinctions between one genre and another: genres overlap, and there are 'mixed genres' such as comedy-thrillers (Chandler, 2000) .

Christine Gledhill

Daniel Chandler