Section a media theory
- 1. Section A Question 1B Genre Theory ‘Genre isa tool thathelpsusstudytextsand audience responsestotexts bydividingtheminto categoriesbasedoncommonelements. What isgenre? The word genre meanstype of category.The aim isto categorise a large numberof filmsintoa small numberof categories. Buckingham – Traditionallygenrestendedtobe regardedasfixedforms,burcontemporarytheory emphasisesthatboththeirformsandfunctionsare dynamic.Changesingenre reflect changesin society andour values. (1993) Goodwin– “Music videosare simplyanextensionof the lyrics”.FromGoodwin’s5waysto analyse a musicvideo:Relationof visualstosong - doesyour video illustrate,amplifyorcause disjuncture.Of his6 featuresof a musicvideo,1:Music videosdemonstrategenre characteristics. “What genre isyour music? Ryall – Genre are recognisable throughrepeateduse of codesandconventions.Ashow we know a horror filmisa horror film.He suggeststhatthe typesof conventionsfoundingenre canbe grouped intothe followingcategories: Iconographies:Symbolicformsassociatedwiththe genre Narrative:Structure,Open/Close Representation:Characters/stereotypes Ideologies:beliefsandideasof the ideal concept,themes) (1978) Altman – “There isno such thingas pure genre anymore,genre isprogressive anditwill always change”. “Genre is survivingdue tohybridisation –or genres“borrowing”conventionsfromone anotherand thusbeingmuchmore difficulttocategorise”. (1999) Strengths ofgenre theory- Everyone understandswhatgenre is.The potential forthe same concept to be understoodby producers,scholarsoraudiences make genre atool useful forall.Itisalso accessible asa conceptalsomeansthat iscan be appliedacrossawide range of texts. Weaknessesofgenre theory 1. May reduce creativity,forcing people tofollowconventionsso that the fit into a genre box. 2. Fail to see the art as you try to pigeonhole everythingintospecificboxes.