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Genre (first teaching 2022) Typeit
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Genre is a French word meaning . Classification of media products into genres has helped the media industry to organise production and marketing in terms of making use of available and suitable props, locations, actors and production staff, as well as promoting media products as being of a particular type.
What makes a genre possible is the existence of common elements across a range of productions. In other words, it is the identification of across a series of productions that results in them being described as being of a particular type. An important term in genre analysis is , meaning the way in which something is usually done. Because certain media products tend to do things in particular ways, we recognise similarities between them and consequently describe them as belonging to a particular genre.
If repetition is a key requirement for the identification of a particular genre, then so too is . When engaging with a media product, e.g. a film, we become aware not only of how it is similar to other films but also how it differs. Genres exist not only because there is repetition across a number of films, but also because there are differences across a range of films.
The theorist theory of repetition and difference states that genres are instances of repetition and difference. Genres are created through a process of repetition and recognition leading to anticipation of enjoyment and expectation. The theory suggests popular cinema relies on finding pleasure in difference and repetition, i.e. recognition of familiar elements and the way those elements are linked in an unfamiliar way or the way that unfamiliar elements might be introduced.
The theory goes on to state that film and its genre are defined by:
+ How much it conforms to its genre’s individual conventions and
e.g. a film must match the genre’s conventions to be identified as part of that genre
+ How much a film the genre’s conventions and stereotypes
e.g. the film must be considered unique and not just a clone of an existing film
The function of genre can provide a template for a team (producer, director, etc.), and provide assumptions about which audiences film should be to, while providing certain rules of engagement for audiences.