The Theorists

Question 1

Andrew Goodwin

Answer 1

Thinks that music videos follow the conventions

1. Convention depends on genre of the music
2. Star persona is important and companies use close ups to sell then to audience
3. Voyeuristic images are used to attract the audience
4. They often contain interlextual references to other media
5. There is a link between the lyrics and the visuals

Question 2

Robert Stam

Answer 2

1. Suggests genre is hard to define
2. Doesn’t really exist and is just a concept made up by critics and theorists

How to use it?
Give examples from your work that suggests that genre IS or ISNT easy to define

Question 3

Steve Neale

Answer 3

Thinks that film genres are constantly changing and evolving and are not set in stone.
He thinks there are 5 main stages in film genres

How can you use Neale?
Which stage does your film fit into? Explain why
1. The form finding itself (psycho)
2. The classic (Halloween) - poscig
3. Stretching the boundaries of genre (nightmare on elm street)
4. Parody (scary movie)
5. Homage (scream)

Question 4

Rick Altman

Answer 4

Define genre in to main ways:
Semantic elements
(Such as knives, blood, dark colours, eerie music)
He thinks these are easier for audiences to understand

Syntactic elements
(Themes such as fear, revenge, rage)
He thinks these are more subtle and harder to pick up

Identity semantic or synthetic elements in your that might help audiences identity the genre of your film/ music video

Question 5

Laura Mulvey

Answer 5

Suggests that women in all media are objectified.
She is a feminist who believes that all women are often shown through the ideas of men (male gaze) and are seen in voyeuristic ways

Question 6

Richard dyer

Answer 6

Think that audiences want media products that offer them solutions to their problems

Question 7

Blumler and Katz

Answer 7

Thinks that audiences want media products that gratify particular needs (uses and gratifications) e.g escape, entertainment etc

Question 8

Stuart Hall

Answer 8

Encoding and Decoding tests AND preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings. Think audiences will react in different ways to media products

Question 9

Pluralists

Answer 9

Thinks that media operates on a supply and demand basis and so the media must give the audience what it wants in order to succesful and survive

Question 10

Tajfel and Turner

Answer 10

Inter group discrimination theory
- think that audiences enjoy watching texts where they can feel superior to the characters in terms of money, class, success, and structure

Question 11

Levi Strauss

Answer 11

Media texts often represent characters as binary opposites

Good vs evil etc

Question 12

Vladimir Propp

Answer 12

Texts often represent characters

Hero
Villain 
Princess 
Helper
Dispatcher

Question 13

Angela McRobbie

Answer 13

Says that men and women are often represented through stereotypes in the media

Women are shown as weaker, victims, mothers, carers

Men are shown as aggressive, strong, managers, leaders

Question 14

Stanley Cohen

Answer 14

Believes that certain groups in the media are demonised

Question 15

Todorov

Answer 15

Main stages to compete a narrative

Equilibrium
Disruption
Resolution
Equilibrium