Genre

Read Media Factsheet 03 - Genre: Categorising texts and answer the following questions:

1) What example is provided of why visual iconographies are so important?

news broadcast

2) What examples are provided of the importance of narrative in identifying genre?

• Independence Day (1996: dir. R. Emmerich), 
• Deep Impact (1998: M. Leder) and, more recently,
• The Day After Tomorrow (2004: dir. R. Emmerich).

3) What are the different ways films can be categorised according to Bordwell? 

• Period or Country, e.g. US films of the 1930s
• Director / Star, e.g. Ben Stiller Films
• Technical Process, e.g. Animation
• Style, e.g. German Expressionism;
• Series, e.g. Bond;
• Audience, e.g. Family Films

4) List three ways genre is used by audiences.

• They use their prior knowledge of the genre to anticipate whether or not they are likely to enjoy a text. 
• They are able to compare a text through its shared characteristics with another.
• They also use their knowledge of genre to reject a text.

5) List three ways genre is used by institutions or producers.

• Attracting an Audience
• Marketing Texts
• Templates

Read Media Factsheet 126 - Superheroes: A Genre Case Study and answer the following questions:

1) List five films the factsheet discusses with regards to the Superhero genre.

• X Men (1, 2 and 3)
• Wolverine (1 and 2)
• Spider-Man (1, 2 and 3)
• Batman
• The Amazing Spider-Man

2) What examples are provided of how the Superhero genre has reflected the changing values, ideologies and world events of the last 70 years?

• X Men (1, 2 and 3)
• Wolverine (1 and 2)
• Spider-Man (1, 2 and 3)
• Batman
• The Amazing Spider-Man

3) How can Schatz's theory of genre cycles be applied to the Superhero genre?

Schatz says that during the innovative and classical parts of a genre’s development, genres are ‘transparent’ - that is the audience does not see the genre, rather they ‘look through it’ to the story being told.

Task 2: Genre analysis case study

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 - brief answers/bullet point responses are fine:

General

1) Why did you choose the text you are analysing?

Because its my favourite Netflix series

2) To what genre did you initially assign the text?

teen romance

3) What is your experience of this genre?

I like it a lot

4) What subject matter and basic themes is the text concerned with?

Romance, relationships, school, sexuality

5) How typical of the genre is this text in terms of content?

quite typical 

6) What expectations do you have about texts in this genre?

It will have a happy ending

7) Have you found any formal generic labels for this particular text (where - try imdb.com if unsure)?

teen romance, drama

8) Which conventions of the genre do you recognize in the text?

mise-en-scene, costume usually school uniform or casual

9) To what extent does this text stretch the conventions of its genre?

not much

10) Where and why does the text depart from the conventions of the genre?

I'm not sure

11) Which conventions seem more like those of a different genre (and which genre(s))?

Lighting at some parts could remind you of horror 

12) What familiar motifs or images are used?
I'm not sure

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)?

teenagers

2) What assumptions seem to be made about your class, age, gender and ethnicity?

that white people are rich and snobby but are real friends

3) What interests does it assume you have?
money, sports, love

Relationship to other texts

1) What intertextual references are there in the text you are analysing (and to what other texts)? Intertextuality is when a media product references another media text of some kind.

there are references to the Swedish royal family

2) In terms of genre, which other texts does the text you are analysing resemble most closely?

Vinterviken and Royal teen

3) What key features are shared by these texts?

The similarity of storyline and genre

4) What major differences do you notice between them?

The diversity of actors