LO3 - Genre Theory

A films "genre" means the category it would fall under, such as: comedy (treatment, not a genre), action, horror, thriller, adventure, animation, sci-fi, social realism.

Exam Questions

Analyse how the production techniques are used to create meaning in a media product you have studied
(12 marks)

Analyse the concept of genre and representation in a media product you ave studied
(12 marks)

These common elements are called generic conventions/characteristics/elements/tropes

Plenary

The film I have chosen to study is Django Unchained, it is an action film.

Sub-genres

Horror - slasher/zombie/hammer/gothic

Key Theory 1: Barry Keith Grant (1995)

All genres have sub-genres (a genre within a genre)

The sub-genre of my film is western as it is set in America in the late 1800's and features cowboys and horses.

Key Theory 2: Patrick Phillips (1996)

Genre offers audiences comfortable reassurance. Genres fulfil audience expectations by following predictable patterns.

Django unchained reinforces the stereotypes of its genre as it has protagonists and an antagonist; it also features weaponry and lots of violence. More specifically, it reinforces the stereotypes of it sub-genre (western) because it features horses, old guns, cowboys, taverns and is set in late 1800's America.

Key Theory 3: Branston & Stafford (1999)

Genres: help to minimise risk and predict expenditure, are a blueprint for success, genre conventions also make it easier to market and sell products to audiences.

The genre of Django Unchained helps to market the product as action is one of the most popular genres and the films takes the conventions of the genre to the extreme as it is very violent.

Niche

Actors, emotions

Key Theory 4: Rick Altman (1999)

Emotional pleasures (happy, sad, nostalgic), Visceral pleasures ("gut responses" - excitement, fear, laughter), intellectual puzzles (make the audience think).

Th genre of Django Unchained (action(western)) gives visceral and emotional pleasure. At points in the film such as when D'Artagnan gets ripped apart by dogs the audience feels disgust and sadness where as when Django rescues Broomhilda the audiences feels happy.

Key Theory 5: David Bordwell (1989)

Any theme may appear in a genre.

Theme - the ideas, ideologies, concepts and myths that are encoded into a media text.

The main theme in Django Unchained is slavery. This theme is mostly relevant to the genre of my film (action) but it could appear in films of other genres such as social realism and possibly romance.