INTRODUCING GEN

RE

A S ME D I A

ST U D I E

S

WHAT IS GENRE?• Genre = “TYPE” in French

• It is used to classify media products into groups or categories.

• In order to classify a product into genres we identify the features that it shares with other products in the genre.

• These elements are called ICONOGRAPHY.

WHAT IS ICONOGRAPHY?

ICONOGRAPHY INCLUDES• Mise en scene• Characters• Narrative themes• Stars

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GROUP WORK (10 MINUTES)

PAIRED WORK (10 MINUTES)

Identify the genres that the following 10 stars are associated with.

Analyse the film poster you have been given, identifying all the narrative and generic elements present.

INDIVIDUAL WORK (30 MINUTES)

TODOROV AND NEALE ON GENRE

• It is easy to underplay the differences within a genre. Steve Neale declares that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference’. He adds that 'difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre' mere repetition would not attract an audience.

• Tzvetan Todorov argued that 'any instance of a

genre will be necessarily different’.