Genre Theory Flashcards
Genre
A category or type of media recognised through genre signifiers (clues which tell us the type of media we are consuming).
Genre signifier:
Narrative Type
How the ‘story’ is told.
Genre signifier:
Character types
Different types of characters often associated with the specific genre.
Genre signifier:
Iconography and setting
Iconography refers to the props that help to define a genre (for example the backwards baseball cap of early rap artists).
Settings can be associated with genre.
Genre signifier:
Technical codes
“Technical codes are codes that are specific to a media form and do not live outside of them”.
“e.g our understanding of different camera shots, and their connotations make sense when we look at films and photographs but mean nothing to us outside of those forms”.
Technical codes in media include: Camerwork, Editing, Audio and Lighting.
Genre signifier:
Audio Codes
Audio can either be diegtic or non-diegtic.
Three aspects of audio are:
Dialogue, sound effects and music.
Steve Neale’s genre theory of repetition and difference
Steve Neale states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference.
Repetition:
How much does a film conform to it’s genres conventions and stereotypes. A film must match the genre’s conventions to be identified as part of that genre.
Difference:
How much a film subverts the genre’s conventions and stereotypes enough to be considered unique and not just a clone of an existing film.
Steve Neale states that Hollywood’s generic regime peforms two functions:
To guarantee pleasure and meaning for the audience.
To offset finical risks of film production by providing collateral against innovation and difference.
Narratology
The study of the way stories are structured.
Diegsis
The act of telling a story through narration
Mimesis
The act of telling a story by showing (via representations)
Narrative codes
The media language used to tell the story
What is Propp’s Theory
Propp theorised that every narrative has eight characters:
Hero (protagonist), Villian (antagonist), False Hero, Helper, Dispatcher, Princess, Father and Donor.
What is Todorov’s Narrative Theory
Todorov theorised that every narrative follows a five part structure:
Equilibrium, Disruption, Realisation, Restored order and new equilibrium.
What are Roland Barthe’s 5 codes?
Hermenutic (engima) code: a question mystery or clue which is not immediately resolved which draws the audiences attention in…
Proairtec code (action code): Tension built through action
Semantic code: Additional meanings/connotations through mise-en-scene (e.g costume, lighting, camerawork etc.)
Symbolic code: The deeper meanings
Referential/cultural codes
