Genre blog tasks

Task 1: Genre factsheets

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

They are important to indicate a genre.

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

Star Wars and Star Trek

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

Period or country, director or star, technical process, style, series and audience.

4) List three ways genre is used by audiences.

Audiences use genre to give them expectations of other films, compare different media texts under the same genre and to be able to reject a text with their previous knowledge of that genre.

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

Attracting an audience and marketing texts.

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.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Super, Spiderman, Green Lantern and Guardians of the Galaxy.

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

As the context of production changes you can see how the plot of superhero movies relates to what was going on at the time of production which shows how movies like these are political and shows views of world events at that moment.

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

Innovation began with conventional codes started to form through comic books and early films. Then classical films from the 1950's were produced with typical conventions. A parody was then created, Batman (1966), which was intentionally funny to communicate to audiences that superhero films shouldn't be taken too seriously.

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?

I enjoy the show as I think its complex and features a combination of genres.

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

Sci-fi, psychological and action.

3) What is your experience of this genre?

I expected alot of things such as the involvement of aliens, fighting and to see how and why certain characters act.

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

It talks about how trauma impacts characters and how they act as well as protecting the earth.

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

I think its typical as it has alot of conventions of sci-fi such as robots and aliens.

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

In the sci-fi genre I expect a narrative on something about earth being taken over.

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

Alien invasion, Dystopian sci-fi

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

Robots and aliens - Sci-fi

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

Under the psychological genre, it is very conventional and fits perfectly with that genre.

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

I think it departs from the psychological genre during the beginning of the show and it isnt a constant theme which is different as in psychological shows, psychological issues are typically a constant thing throughout the narrative that influences the characters.

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

Later in the show, as well as in the movies, a lot of horror conventions are used, such as jump scares or fast-paced scenes.

12) What familiar motifs or images are used?

Hands are used as a motif to represent, subtly, how characters struggle to truly communicate with each other.

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)?

Young adults or adults, as there is a more mature theme.

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

This show assumes that those of the working class or lower rely on government powers and the upper class for support.

3) What interests does it assume you have?
An interest in psychology and sci-fi.

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 is no intertextuality.

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

Black Swan as it shows how manipulation affects others psychologically.

3) What key features are shared by these texts?

They both give a deeper insight into the characters mental state.

4) What major differences do you notice between them? 

Black Swan has no conventions of sci-fi where whereas Neon Genesis Evangelion does.