Monday, 25 January 2016

Genre Theory

Genre is a type of media text. There are lots of different genres that fit into separate categories. Some media texts may overlap and follow more than genre e.g. Rom-Com. Different genres have different rules. A genre is a contract between the producer and the consumer; the audience know what they are going to see because of the genre.
The genre rules follow codes and conventions.  A convention is the expected way of doing something, in a Rom-Com you expect two people to meet, fall in love, realise they can’t be together, break-up and at the end they rekindle and live happily ever after.  An example of this is the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. The three codes are symbolic, historical and technical.
Signifiers are elements which create a meaning to the audience. An example of this is the image of a gun. The audience understand that shows violence and someone has power over another. Guns are mostly seen in action and crime dramas, audience members expect this.
The three codes are symbolic, historical and technical.
Symbolic is the use of colour schemes, iconography and imagery.
Historical makes sure that the media text matches the period of time. For example, in Downton Abbey the setting, the mode of transport and the costume is how it would have been of that time.
Technical is the use of special effects and graphics on screen.

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