Genre
Genre is how we classify different groups of products and texts (films, television shows, music). We look at the different aspects of the product to determine what genre the product fits into. We can make the decision by looking at how many times a certain point is repeated throughout the product or series of products. For example, we would know we were watching a science fiction film if it was set in the future or in a place different to our own i.e. a dystopian future or space. But the problem is that many different people have different opinions on what ‘genre’ really is, and people will also put a certain film into one category with someone else looking at the exact same film and may give it a different label.
The gene of a text is something that helps its audience decide if they are going to like the product. It is an efficient way of deciding what to watch. I know that a classic like ‘The Exorcist’ is an amazing film, but because it has the label of a horror film, I know that it is not something I would choose to watch for enjoyable viewing.
David Bordwell
One theorist, David Bordwell, said that a texts genre is defined based on the content (themes, narrative, setting) that belongs to them. This is probably the most common answer when people are asked what they think genre is as it is the easiest to understand.
Daniel Chandler
Daniel Chandler believes that genre is all about the relationship between the creator and the consumer. The creator provides a reading position, or a viewing position, for the ideal reader/viewer, who is the consumer. Each person viewing the text is different, so one viewer may see a man dressed in all black and assume that he is the villain, whereas another person might not read that character as the villain, but maybe just a person that is in a vulnerable position.
John Fiske
Fiske’s opinion on genre is that it is an attempt to add a structure to a wide array of texts that are created for the benefit of creators and consumers. He talks about how consumers apply their personal experiences to films. For example, if we have already watched a sci-fi film, we will know what to expect ; future settings, special effects, new technology.
Dennis McQuail
Jane Feuer
Feuer talks about how genre is a sort of ritual. We create these films with a genre in mind so many times that it begins to become repetitive.
Comments
Post a Comment