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105MC Lecture 16 November

105MC Lecture 16 November. Will Barton GENRE. Genre. Genre=Type, Category, Sort of Thing Media Genres are collections of media objects that share certain characteristics – so we know what sort of thing they are. The uses of Genre.

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105MC Lecture 16 November

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  1. 105MC Lecture 16 November Will Barton GENRE

  2. Genre • Genre=Type, Category, Sort of Thing • Media Genres are collections of media objects that share certain characteristics – so we know what sort of thing they are

  3. The uses of Genre • Audiences know what to expect, how to consume and understand, how to react • Genre is about sameness and difference (simultaneously) • Pleasure from recombining a repertoire of elements • Media creators like genre because it makes audience reaction and market predictable

  4. Genre objects • – TV Cop shows, Soaps, Romantic novels, Slasher movies are popular but are seen by highbrow critics as inferior to, for example, “literary” novels, one-off television plays… • Where there’s art, there’s genre: The distinction is more about snobbery than anything real. Shakesperean love sonnets, classical symphonies, oil portraits are categories but aren’t usually called genres.

  5. Taxonomy and Genre • Aristotle put things into categories 2500 years ago – the Poetics classifies plays as Tragedy and Comedy and lists the characteristics of each type. • But when we talk about genre, we are usually talking about popular culture. As Steve said on Monday, genre is usually applied to “entertainment” rather than to “art”.

  6. Problems of definition. Genre texts are similar but different. • Genre boundaries are not completely fixed – you can’t specify everything an object must have to belong to a genre. SciFi is usually – but not always set in the future (Star Wars – A long time ago in another galaxy), often but not always about space travel, usually involves technology, but doesn’t have to, and so on. There’s no single element that all SciFi objects share, but there’s a range of things, at least some of which have to be present for it to be SciFi.

  7. The similarities are not just about content – they are also about form. • The similarities are not just about content – they are also about form. Soaps are by definition open-ended serials, Detective stories almost always begin with a crime puzzle and end with an explanation and the identification of the criminal. Animation is a genre defined entirely by its representational technique.

  8. Genre is also defined negatively • – there are things that should not happen in a particular genre. Space ships cannot appear in cowboy films. Vampires don’t turn up in Mills and Boon romances.

  9. Genres develop and change over time. • Typically they become more complex and may subdivide into sub-genres. Forensic science dramas such as CSI are now a whole subgenre of TV Crime shows.

  10. Genres may become tired, used up and may even die. • Wild West films seem to be a dead genre at present. But genres may be revived – everyone thought that sword and sandal films – about the Roman Empire, had died out in the early sixties and then Ridley Scott made Gladiator. New genres come along. Slasher movies only began in the 1970s.

  11. Genres can overlap • – comedy/horror (Beetlejuice, well most of Tim Burton’s stuff, actually), wild west musical (Calamity Jane, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers), SciFi Noir (Bladerunner), war story/romance (from Here to Eternity) comedy/horror/musical (Rocky Horror Show)…

  12. Sometimes objects defy genre conventions. • From Dusk Til Dawn starts as a crime thriller and turns into a vampire movie. Audiences felt cheated, insulted.

  13. Genre links to Narratology. Many genres have standard story lines. Detective story. Murder discovered. Lots of suspects Detective asks questions False starts and red herrings Detective identifies murderer.

  14. Genre in Journalism • War reporting • Interview • Review • Sports reporting • Opinion columns • Photojournalism • Page 3 • Financial journalism • Investigative journalism

  15. Genre in Advertising • 2 Women in a Kitchen • Daz doorstep challenge • Car Ads • Celebrity endorsement • Topping and Tailing

  16. Making use of genre • Short cut to meaning – audience knows what to expect • Familiarity- audience feels comfortable and has sense of belonging • Surprise – you can subvert the genre conventions

  17. Advantages of genre • Easier to market • Media have conventions about how to handle genre objects – eg what time to show certain types of TV • Audience is predictable – so funding/advertising etc easier to get

  18. Drawbacks of genre • Work becomes stale and predictable • Audiences may become tired of repetition (Big Brother) • Can the genre adapt and develop, or is it trapped?

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