Jean Baudrillard;
Hyperreality is a kind of social reality in which a reality is created or simulated from models - its a reality generated from ideas. Hyperreality refers to something being too perfect and schematic to be true.
Steve Neale;
Declares that "genres are instances of repetition and difference" (Neale, 1980, 48). "Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre" (Neale 1980)
Tzvetan Todorov;
Argued that "any instance of a genre will be necessarily different" (cited in Gledhill 1985, 60)
Lacey;
considers that there are a "repertoire is elements" that work together to suggest genre and that these are a useful framework to use for analyse; setting, character, narrative, iconography and style. But did not see genre as fixed but as dynamic and changing over time.
GledHill;
There are no "rigid rules of inclusion and exclusion" (Gledhill 1985). "Genre… are not discrete systems, consisting of a fixed number of listable items" (Gledhill 1985)
Chandler;
It is difficult to make clear cut distinctions between one genre and another; genres overlap, and there are "mixed genres" such as comedy thinners (Chandler 2000)
Burtons Six Elements;
Burton suggests that each text in a given genre shares particular key elements to make up generic formula, these include: Protagonists, Stock, Characters, Plots and Stock, Situations, Icons, Background and Decor, Themes.
This essay will be written based on the product of my film opening in relation to genre, which was produced in the first year of my media course. The genre for this film opening was a romance movie, as this was a genre I was interested in learning more about. Daniel Chandler (2001) details that the word genre comes from the word for 'kind' or 'class''. The term is widely used in rhetoric, literacy theory, media theory to refer to a 'distinctive type of text'. However, this is not fixed, and so hybrids of genres can be formed. This is the jointing of more than one genre, for example: a comedy and romance movie is more commonly known as a 'Rom-Com'. Hybrids are a great method of targeting to a larger audience, as both comedy and romance film audiences will come together to watch a Rom-Com film. This of course creates a larger profit. All genres have a sub-genre, a genre within a genre. This means that they are divided up into specific categories. Barry Keith Grant (1995) suggests that this allows audiences to identify them specifically by their familiar and what becomes recognisable characteristics.
Prior to producing this product, I obviously had to research a lot about the genre conventions for romance and decide whether to conform or to challenge particular conventions. Steve Neale declares that "genres are instance of repetition and difference" (Neale 1980, 48), which means that the product should consist of generic features in which are constantly repeated throughout in order for the product to be recognised by existing target audiences. However, "difference" implies that these convention also need to be challenged, in order to make films of the same genre different to one another. Otherwise, all films of the same genre will become repetitive and audiences would know what to expect, it takes away the excitement and engagement from the audience. As I was only creating a two minute film trailer, I decided not to challenge genre conventions. Although I obviously wanted my product to differ from existing products, I felt that the first two minutes are whats going to attract and engage the audience into watching the entire film. Therefore challenging convention within the first two minutes, runs the risk of audiences getting confused as to what genre of film they're watching. Establishing the genre was required in the film opening scene, it is going to allow consumers to immediately know whether this is the type of film they would be into; they will either turn it off or continue watching the film.
Editing and Mise-en-scene is significant to genre as it reflects very quickly the certain moods and atmospheres within the film, hence why things such as 'props' were important. The obvious things such as: a Christmas tree, fairy lights, candles and just the colour red screams the word 'Christmas'; therefore the audience can easily recognise the Christmas season. The candles actually add such a romance feel to the film, there's just something so soothing about a candle burning. The editing of Our Last Christmas contained multiple 'cross dissolves' between each shot in order to have a soft transition which every romance movie involves. Every shot was fairly long to keep the slow pace throughout. An example of a romance film containing a slow pace with soft transitions is The Holiday, it definitely set the atmosphere of romance. A vast majority of romance films follow the romantic journey of a young, female lead character. The reason behind this is that stereotypically, the female sex dominant the romance audience; therefore they are most likely to relate to actions or behaviour by the lead character. This hence emotionally connects audiences to the film. Our Last Christmas has a young female character whom dominants the screen time throughout the entire opening; informing audiences that they're looking at the main character of the film. We left her to be typically girly, owning a diary, the bright colour scheme in her room and the pictures of her and friends placed on her bedroom walls. Stereotypically, girls or even teenagers are known for being a little aggressive; hence why Amira (the main character) threw her diary across the room after a close up of her looking quite distressed. The intention for Amira was to be a 'normal female teenager', allowing audiences to emotionally connect and relate to her.
Genre places a media text into a grouping, giving it an identity recognised by the mainstream society and I believe that my product is successfully fitted into the romance genre by the way in which it is constructed.
Steve Neale;
Declares that "genres are instances of repetition and difference" (Neale, 1980, 48). "Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre" (Neale 1980)
Tzvetan Todorov;
Argued that "any instance of a genre will be necessarily different" (cited in Gledhill 1985, 60)
Lacey;
considers that there are a "repertoire is elements" that work together to suggest genre and that these are a useful framework to use for analyse; setting, character, narrative, iconography and style. But did not see genre as fixed but as dynamic and changing over time.
GledHill;
There are no "rigid rules of inclusion and exclusion" (Gledhill 1985). "Genre… are not discrete systems, consisting of a fixed number of listable items" (Gledhill 1985)
Chandler;
It is difficult to make clear cut distinctions between one genre and another; genres overlap, and there are "mixed genres" such as comedy thinners (Chandler 2000)
Burtons Six Elements;
Burton suggests that each text in a given genre shares particular key elements to make up generic formula, these include: Protagonists, Stock, Characters, Plots and Stock, Situations, Icons, Background and Decor, Themes.
Apply the concept of genre to one of your coursework productions
Prior to producing this product, I obviously had to research a lot about the genre conventions for romance and decide whether to conform or to challenge particular conventions. Steve Neale declares that "genres are instance of repetition and difference" (Neale 1980, 48), which means that the product should consist of generic features in which are constantly repeated throughout in order for the product to be recognised by existing target audiences. However, "difference" implies that these convention also need to be challenged, in order to make films of the same genre different to one another. Otherwise, all films of the same genre will become repetitive and audiences would know what to expect, it takes away the excitement and engagement from the audience. As I was only creating a two minute film trailer, I decided not to challenge genre conventions. Although I obviously wanted my product to differ from existing products, I felt that the first two minutes are whats going to attract and engage the audience into watching the entire film. Therefore challenging convention within the first two minutes, runs the risk of audiences getting confused as to what genre of film they're watching. Establishing the genre was required in the film opening scene, it is going to allow consumers to immediately know whether this is the type of film they would be into; they will either turn it off or continue watching the film.
Editing and Mise-en-scene is significant to genre as it reflects very quickly the certain moods and atmospheres within the film, hence why things such as 'props' were important. The obvious things such as: a Christmas tree, fairy lights, candles and just the colour red screams the word 'Christmas'; therefore the audience can easily recognise the Christmas season. The candles actually add such a romance feel to the film, there's just something so soothing about a candle burning. The editing of Our Last Christmas contained multiple 'cross dissolves' between each shot in order to have a soft transition which every romance movie involves. Every shot was fairly long to keep the slow pace throughout. An example of a romance film containing a slow pace with soft transitions is The Holiday, it definitely set the atmosphere of romance. A vast majority of romance films follow the romantic journey of a young, female lead character. The reason behind this is that stereotypically, the female sex dominant the romance audience; therefore they are most likely to relate to actions or behaviour by the lead character. This hence emotionally connects audiences to the film. Our Last Christmas has a young female character whom dominants the screen time throughout the entire opening; informing audiences that they're looking at the main character of the film. We left her to be typically girly, owning a diary, the bright colour scheme in her room and the pictures of her and friends placed on her bedroom walls. Stereotypically, girls or even teenagers are known for being a little aggressive; hence why Amira (the main character) threw her diary across the room after a close up of her looking quite distressed. The intention for Amira was to be a 'normal female teenager', allowing audiences to emotionally connect and relate to her.
When considering the soundtrack for my film opening, along with the genre, I intended to have something quite subtle which would ease the audience into a gentle loving romance movie. The song we used was the non lyrical version of Jingle Bells, which was released in 1857; a song that would establish the genre as a Christmas movie as it is the ultimate Christmas classic known by everybody. I blended the shot of Ameerah turning down the music to sync with the soundtrack as it faded out and into a brand new tune along with her narration. While I was doing my timed analysis' I noticed that narration was a technique used in all romance film openings that I researched to introduce the characters and provide their personal backstory. This narration would often create the foundation for the relationships shared between certain characters, such as introducing the protagonists love interest. Therefore, it was necessary for me to include this in my film opening. As the love story of Ameerah and Bruno comes to life in the second flashback, the beat of the soundtrack becomes more positive and hopeful
Genre places a media text into a grouping, giving it an identity recognised by the mainstream society and I believe that my product is successfully fitted into the romance genre by the way in which it is constructed.
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