GENRE

Genre Recap

 

1) What is genre?

2) Why is it important in media studies?

3) How do you categorise a product into a specific genre?

4) Why do genres change?

When identifying genre the following can be considered:

Setting Character Theme Style Narrative Iconography

Iconography

Look for:

· particular props/gadgets (fast cars, guns)· dress codes of actors· physical attributes· settings· mannerisms

- high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous, often two-dimensional 'good-guy' heroes (or recently, heroines) battling 'bad guys' - all designed for pure audience escapism.

Action films

Genre of your opening sequence

Identify the genre: Setting Narrative Representation Style Iconography

Consider how your product adheres to the conventions of your chosen genre

Remember that these notes will be used for your revision so make them clear so they are useful to you.

Edward Buscombe

Argued that we need to move beyond ‘outer forms’ (iconography) and also explore the ‘inner forms’ (attitude, tone, purpose) when exploring genre

His concept was that there needed to be some thought towards what these genres are trying to say.

Used the example of the western where he argued that they tend to be pro-violence (to some capacity, at least)

Rick Altman ‘Semantic/Syntactic’

Argued that the identification of a genre needed to include two aspects:

- semantic: a more systematical approach to genre- shots, locations, characters

- syntax: the search for genre meanings- relationships between undesignated & variable characters (a deeper meaning)

- Argued that the semantic was necessary in terms of identification but not in itself interesting

Steve Neale ‘Verisimilitude’ Verisimilitude can be taken to mean the ‘appearance of

truth’. Within film this is obviously crucial. Todorov identified two types of verisimilitude: generic

verisimilitude and broader social or cultural verisimilitude i.e. what is normal in a genre film and what is normal in ‘normal’ life.

Neale argues that generic verisimilitude allows film-makers to ignore or sidestep realist aspects and still make it feel true to audiences, giving the example of the musical.

He also argues that certain genres depend far more on cultural verisimilitude: gangster, war, police films compared to science fiction, gothic horror or slapstick comedies.

Least cultural verisimilitude aspects are what attract audiences the most.

Example For the opening sequence of The Holiday, there are

some connotations of the romantic comedy- often high key lighting, young, good-looking and relatively wealthy characters.

However, this is only one aspect. We can use Buscombe’s theory to think about the attitude that romantic comedies have towards love (inner form), Altman’s theory to delve into a deeper discussion of how romantic comedies appear to condemn single people to a life of unhappiness and we can use Neale’s suggestion to highlight issues of verisimilitude (would Kate Winslet really be struggling to find a boyfriend?)

Summary

Genre is a helpful concept for us as an audience and for producers but from an academic point of view it is not a precise concept (especially now) and is flawed.

Even if you struggle with the precise aspects of theory, you must adopt a complex approach when discussing theory.