Question 1B - Genre

Key Theories to refer toAnalysing your own work

Basic Definition of Genre - Daniel Chandler

• Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the idea that they are made up of particular conventions (such as themes or settings - iconography) and/or form (including narrative structure and visual style) and all text of the same genre will share these conventions.

• Think about the common elements of Thriller films and Music Videos

Think about the common elements of Thriller films and how you used them

• Themes and Iconography• (plot info/props/characters...)

• Structure and Style (camerawork and editing)

Themes and Iconography(Plot info/Props/Character ….)

Structure and Style(Narrative Structure/Micro Element)

Think about the common elements of Music Videos and how you used them

• Themes and Iconography• (plot info/props/characters...)

• Structure and Style (camerawork and editing)

Conventions – Goodwin/ Music Genre/ Representation

Form – Performance/ Narrative/ Concept

Rick Altman argues that genres are usually defined in terms of media language and codes (in the Thriller, for example: guns, urban landscape, victims, stalkers, menaced women or even stars, like Leonardo Dicaprio or Jack Nicholson) or certain ideologies and narratives ( Anxiety, tension, menacing situation)

Jonathan Culler – generic conventions exist to establish a contract between creator and reader so as to make certain expectations effective, allowing compliance and deviation from the accepted modes. We understand films because we understand the generic conventions

Steve Neale (1990) argues that Hollywood’s generic regime performs two important functions: i) to guarantee meanings and pleasures for audiences ii) to offset the considerable economic risks of industrial film production by allowing Institutions be make films they know will be popular (cognitive collateral against innovation and difference.)

But he also said 'genres are instances of repetition and difference'

Genre Theorists

Your own films

• Can you apply these theory to your own films?• Have you challenged the conventional thriller

genre at all by adding subtle differences in character, plot, setting etc... (Neale)

• Or are you conforming to genre by following expected conventions in style and iconography? (Chandler, Culler, Altman )

What about Music Video

• How did you conform or challenge form?• How did you conform or challenge Goodwin?• How did you conform or challenge

representation?• How did you conform or challenge music

genre conventions?

Genre and Narrative

• Propp – Character types• Todorov – Equilibrium – disequilibrium- new

equilibrium • Strauss – Binary Oppostions• Bordwell – The Classic Hollywood Structure

(Three Act Structure – esp Set Up)• Will be covered in the Narrative Session.

Reasons for Genre1. To the producers of films, genre is a template for what they make.

2. To the distributor/promoter, genre provides assumptions about who the audience is and how to market the films for that specific audience.

3. To the audience, it is a label that identifies a liked or disliked formula and provides certain rules of engagement in terms of anticipation of pleasure

4. When genres become classic, they can exert tremendous influence: production can be come quicker and more confident because film-makers are following tested formulae

5. Viewers become ‘generic spectators’ and can be said to develop generic memory which helps the in the anticipation of events, even though the films themselves might play on certain styles rather than follow closely a clichéd formula. Film is a post-modern medium in this way, because movies make sense in relation to other films, not to reality.

6. It is the way genre films deviate from the clichéd formulae that leads to a more interesting experience for the viewer, but for this to work properly, the audience must be familiar with generic conventions and style.

The Changing nature of Genre

• Genres change over time as society changes 'genre is not... simply "given" by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change' (think hybrid) – Key David Buckingham

Makes notes on how you would answer these questions

• What is genre and why is it important to audiences and to institutions? What other texts in this genre did you study? What did you observe about the conventions they used / subverted / played with? How did this impact your decisions and your production?

• What genre / sub-genre did you work in? What conventions did you use / subvert? Identify specific aspects of your production where you have used / subverted or played with conventions. How has this impacted your work? Is there any theory you could apply here, for example, Goodwin’s analysis of the conventions of music video? What has postmodernism taught you about genre and conventions? How has this impacted your own production? Give specific examples.