1. Key Media Concept - Genre

2. Distributors/marketers like genre because:
• They can market the film using stars connected to a genre.
• They can use genre signifiers in trailers and posters.
• It can be easier to predict and target an audience through
genre films
• It can be easier to reach a target audience - cinema trailers
are often similar genres to the one you’re watching

3. Audiences like genre because:
• It helps them choose/categorise
• Prediction, expectation anticipation
• A sense of expectation , pleasure and anticipation
also comes from the repetition of key elements
• Even when genre conventions are broken, the
success of this depends on us knowing the ‘rules’
in the first place. Pleasure from surprise..
• Audiences want a mix of the familiar and the new
in genre films

4. Genre as an academic approach
• Genre is a critical tool, a concept that helps scholars
to study films and filmmaking as well as audiences’
response to film
• Genre study allows a form of scientific methodology
to be used in studying things, which display
similarities. Comparing films within the same group
and between groups has several benefits.
• So what do the academics say about genre?....

5. Genre is about repetition & difference
• ‘Genres are instances of repetition and
difference‘ (Neale, 1980)
Now apply this to your own work - What elements
can be seen as repetition of genre conventions and
what can be seen as difference?
Stephen Neale

6. GENRE - Lacey’sRepetoire of Elements
Lacey considers the 'repertoire of elements' that work in
combination to suggest a media text belongs to a particular
genre or mix of genres.
He provides a useful framework to follow when analysing
genre. Lacey breaks a text down into these five areas to
identify the elements in each:
– Setting
– Character
– Narrative
– Iconography
– Style
Remember – Lacey does not see genres as fixed but as
dynamic and changing over time.
Nick Lacey

7. GENRE - Lacey’srepetoire of elements
• Narrative:This refers to the story structure as well
as the specific narrative devices, which genres
employ (car chases, gunfights, weddings, etc.).
• Characters: Narrative is usually developed
through characters and their functions
(hero, villain etc). Some characters are so closely
associated with a genre that they become generic
types. For example, in horror movies, the ‘final
girl,’ who maintains her personal dignity, usually
defeats the psychopath.
Nick Lacey

8. GENRE - Lacey’srepetoire of elements
• Setting: Some genres have a distinct location but
this can be subject to change, for example horror
films have moved from the gothic to the
suburban. Genres can also be associated with
time periods like the gangster films set during
prohibition in America but successful films have
updated this.
• Iconography: Films contain visual and audio
images, which become instantly recognisable and
associated with the genre. Eg: Gangster films
feature the iconic ‘Tommy’ gun spraying bullets in
the hands of a man in a sharp suit usually
standing on the running board of a car.
Nick Lacey

9. GENRE - Lacey’srepetoire of elements
• Style: Iconography refers to the objects but style
describes the way they are presented. Camera
angles, editing, lighting and the use of colour all
contribute to the style of a film.
Now analyse your production work using Lacey’s
theoretical framework:
• What elements can you identify that establish a
particular genre? (Go through the 5 areas)
• Are there overlapping/mixed genres?
• Is it difficult to categorise your work by genre?
• Do you challenge genre conventions?
Nick Lacey

10. Quick recap on genre…
• Nick Lacey considers the 'repertoire
of elements' in relation to:
– Setting
– Character
– Narrative
– Iconography
– Style
Nick Lacey

11. Now you have explored genre as a
concept and applied it to your
work, do you think there any problems
with the genre approach?

12. Genre is not clear cut Christine Gledhill
• There are no 'rigid rules of inclusion and
exclusion‘ (Gledhill, 1985).
• It is difficult to make clear-cut distinctions
between one genre and another: genres
overlap, and there are 'mixed genres' such as
comedy-thrillers (Chandler, 2000) .
Daniel Chandler