1. A Level Media: Preparing for the year ahead
Understanding Genre
Key quotes:
“Genre conventions can be grouped under the following headings:
Characters
Narrative events
Iconography
Setting
Technical and audio codes.”
Exploring the Media, Connell (ed)
"A genre is a particular type of media commodity. It has characteristic features
that are known to and recognised by audiences because the same formula is
reproduced again and again. .....Unfortunately, genres cannot be clearly
identified as they are not static: they are subject to constant renegotiation
between the industry and the audience.
...The audience know what to expect from a genre but at the same time they
want to find something they don’t expect as it otherwise would be boring. "
Advanced Level Media - Bell et al
“Imagine though, a news bulletin presented by a 16 year old ‘new age
traveller’ whispering in a thick West Country accent in extreme close up......
The example shows the ideological significance of genres. The codes and
conventions of genre tell us a great deal about the beliefs and values at a
particular time of the society that produces them. From the example of the
news broadcast we could suggest that our society tends to put more faith in
the word of a smartly dressed, ‘well educated’, middle aged man or woman
standing four or five feet away, looking us in the eye, than an unconventional
teenager with a strong regional accent....
Genres reflect the dominant values of a society.”
Television: A Media Student’s Guide, McQueen
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2. Understanding Genre: Introductory Activity.
Genre is often seen by students as the most accessible or most straightforward of all the media
concepts they are required to study. For many, genre study is simply seen as identifying genre codes
and conventions but the study of genre is rather more complex. The exercise below is intended to help
you understand the different elements involved in genre study.
ITV has been losing viewers over the past few years and is on looking for new ideas to build
audience. The 8-9pm slot is seen as the crucial period for expanding the audience: currently
Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? all act as ITV signature
shows which return sound viewing figures but audiences must increase if the channel is to
continue to attract advertising revenue. A new series is needed that will keep current audiences
and attract new viewers.
You have been commissioned to produce a pilot for a new series that will help ITV to re-
establish its identity as a mass market television service. The series must be scheduled within
the 8-9pm slot but the brief is wide: you can suggest a series that is broadcast once or several
times a week; programmes in the series can be 30 minutes or an hour in length; you can
choose any theme, style or content. However, it is crucial that the series keeps the current
audience and attracts a newer wider audience.
Prepare a presentation to introduce your ideas for the new series.
You should describe:
content
style
length and frequency
outline of the pilot programme
And
give a detailed explanation of why the series will appeal to a wider ITV
audience.
(Keep your notes and make brief notes on the appropriateness of other proposals)
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3. Which were the most appropriate proposals? Why?
Name of proposed Content Would they succeed? Why?
programmes
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4. Understanding Genre: Text, industry and audience
When producing your proposals for a new series you had to think from an industry point of view
about a text and its impact upon an audience.
In a discussion of film genres, Stephen Neale has described genre as part of a process of “mental
machinery” between “industry, text and subject.” (Genre, 1980, p19)
In other words, for a piece of media to be successful the industry needs to produce a text that meets
the subject/audience’s expectations. To do this it will need to produce a piece that is:
conventional enough for an audience to recognise the genre as something they enjoy and
challenging,
and
unconventional enough for them to feel that they are watching something new, individual and
interesting.
Consider the proposals you have heard for a new series. To what extent were they
conventional enough for an audience to recognise the genre as something they enjoy and
challenging? How?
unconventional enough for them to feel that they are watching something new, individual and
interesting? How?
No genre is fixed and genres are always changing. By making your programmes unconventional, you
are, of course, changing the genre to suit current tastes. As Neale puts it, genres are “systems of
orientations, expectations and conventions that circulate between, industry, text and subject.” (p19)
Write a definition of genre in your own words:
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5. Understanding Genre: Text
This is the most straightforward aspect of genre study because it involves looking at the conventions of
specific genre. In Exploring the Media, Connell suggests grouping conventions under the following
headings:
Characters – representations, stereotypes, behaviour, body language, specific actors/stars
Narrative events
Iconography – props, symbolic codes
Setting- mise en scene
Technical and audio codes – camera use, editing, lighting, diegetic/non diegetic sound, sfx
Use these headings, identify the main conventions of the horror film genre as they are presented in
the opening to Scream (Craven, 1991) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSjFOitjRCI :
Genre elements Conventions presented in the opening to Scream
Characters –
representations,
stereotypes, behaviour,
body language, specific
actors/stars
Narrative events –how
is the narrative ordered
and structured?
Iconography – props,
symbolic codes
Setting- mise en scene
Technical and audio
codes – camera use,
editing, lighting,
diegetic/non diegetic
sound, sfx
What ideologies are encoded in the horror genre? What does the genre seem to say about what it
is like to live in the world?
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6. Understanding Genre: Text and changes in audience expectation
Scream and after
Scream was made in 1996. It was in part a parody of earlier fashions in horror but in many ways it can be seen
as quite old fashioned now.
From your knowledge of contemporary horror films, what are the conventions audience now expect? Think
about: Characters, Narrative events, Iconography, Setting, Technical and audio codes.
..
Has the ideology of horror changed since 1996? How?
As the case of Scream shows and as Bell et al have argued,
“genres cannot be clearly identified as they are not static: they are subject to
constant renegotiation between the industry and the audience."
(Advanced Level Media, 1999)
This can be seen also in the case of documentary as a genre.
On the next page there are a number of definitions of documentary.
Read the comments and award each a mark out of 5 (5: I strongly agree; 1: I strongly
disagree), then
Agree your own definition of documentary, and
Identify what you would see as the key conventions of the documentary genre.
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7. Understanding Genre: expectations and conventions of documentary
1. (Documentary is) the creative treatment of actuality.
Mark: 5 4 3 2 1
John Grierson, an early documentary film-maker and the man who coined the word documentary.
2. (A documentary is) a factual film which is dramatic.
Mark: 5 4 3 2 1
Pare Lorentz (documentary maker)
3. Above all, documentary must reflect the problems and realities of the present.
Mark: 5 4 3 2 1
Paul Rotha (documentary maker)
4. When you see somebody on the screen in a documentary, you're really engaged with a
person going through real life experiences. So for that period of time, as you watch the film,
you are, in effect, in the shoes of another individual. What a privilege to have that
experience.
Mark: 5 4 3 2 1
Albert Maysles (documentary maker).
5. You even have to edit your film as the event is actually happening. Have to decide it is this
and this and this I want to look at; and not this, this and this.. .... You don't show the whole
of the subject; you select; and your selection matters.
Mark: 5 4 3 2 1
Richard Leacock (documentary maker)
6. Documentary must abandon its limited and always serious tone.......Audiences know full
well that Grierson’s public education purpose ... is a virtual guarantee for boredom.
Mark: 5 4 3 2 1
Brian Winston, media academic
Write your own definition:
A documentary is ...
And the main conventions and expectations of documentary are ........ (fill in the gaps on the next page)
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8. Ideological elements
Characters
Iconography
Setting
Narrative
elements
DOCUMENTARY
Industry: why
make doc’s?
Audience expectations and positioning
Technical and audio codes
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9. Watch the following two TV documentaries which are about very different subjects. Do they use the same
conventions? Why were the programmes made? Will they have met audience expectations of documentary?
BBC Panorama Bursting the House Price Bubble PT1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL97yAE7PQw
Planet Earth 2006 - FROM POLE TO POLE 5of 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QiOKMYcRM4
BBC Panorama: Bursting the BBC Planet Earth - From Pole
House Price Bubble to Pole
Characters –
representations,
stereotypes, behaviour,
body language, specific
actors/stars
Narrative events –how is
the narrative ordered and
structured?
Iconography – props,
symbolic codes
Setting- mise en scene
Technical and audio codes
– camera use, editing,
lighting, diegetic/non
diegetic sound, sfx
Audience expectations
and pleasures – are
audience expectations
met? What are the uses
and gratifications?
Industry – why was the
decision made to make
these programmes
Mental machinery – “The
audience know what to
expect ..but.. they (also)
want to find something
they don’t expect” True?
Ideology – what messages
and values are encoded
here?
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10. Understanding Genre: sub-genres
Both Panorama and Planet earth are examples traditional or conventional documentary and Bill
Nichols in Introduction to Documentary has described this form expository or “voice of god”
documentary.
In total Nichols notes six types of modes of documentary and his guide is a very useful tool when
assessing, analysing or considering documentaries and their different sub-genres. Nichols list included
the following “modes” or sub-genres:
1. Exposition
2. Poetic
3. Observational
4. Participatory
5. Performative
6. Reflexive
However, It is important to note that many documentaries use more than one mode of address, so
when you are analysing a piece of documentary or planning your own work remember that it is
possible to mix modes.
Read through Nichols’ list and watch the following two documentary
extracts. Which mode is being used in each?
Ross Kemp on Gangs: South Africa - Cape Town
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZiq95dDju4
Super Size Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfBc-Rla0uI
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11. Modes of Documentary – Bill Nichols
1. THE EXPOSITORY MODE (voice of god)
This mode is what we most identify with the documentary. It tends to speak with authority and aims
to teach the audience. It "emphasizes verbal commentary and argumentative logic" often using a
narrator.
Assumes a logical argument and a "right" and "proper" answer using direct address and offers a
preferred meaning. Most associated with Television News programming.
Key Examples of Expository tradition in documentary include:
Work of John Grierson
Many nature,science and history documentaries
2. THE POETIC MODE – subjective, artistic expression
The poetic mode of documentary moves away from the "objective" reality of a given situation or
people to grasp at an inner "truth" that can only be grasped by presenting the film as a poem, using
poetic images, atmospheric music and often a poetic voice over.
Codes emphasizes visual associations, tonal or rhythmic qualities, descriptive passages, and
formal organization favours mood, tone and texture.
Key Examples of Poetic tradition in documentary include:
Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi
3. THE OBSERVATIONAL MODE – window on the world
Observational (objective) mode is best exemplified by the Cinema Verite or Direct Cinema
movement which emerged in the late 1950s/early 1960s - it attempted to capture (as accurately as
possibly) objective reality with filmmaker as neutral observer. This developed into what we now
often call Fly on the Wall documentary.
Codes/conventions: The filmmaker remains hidden behind the camera, ignored by the surrounding
environment he/she neither changes nor influences the actions/events being captured. Since nothing
is staged for the camera, the camera rushes about to keep up with the action resulting in rough,
shaky, often amateur-looking footage.
Key Examples of the Cinema Verite/Direct cinema Movement:
Frederick Wiseman, Hospital (1970) – fly on the wall, American hospital
D A Pennebaker’s Don't Look Back (1967) - records Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of Britain
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12. 4. THE PARTICIPATORY MODE
Unlike the observational mode, the participatory mode welcomes direct engagement between
filmmaker and subject(s) - the filmmaker becomes part of the events being recorded
The filmmaker’s impact on the events being recorded is acknowledged, indeed, it is often
celebrated.
Key Examples of the Participatory Mode include:
The films of Michael Moore - here the filmmaker directly engages with the material being
addressed, he becomes a character in the documentary - an essential part of the subject.
5. THE REFLEXIVE MODE – awareness of the process
The Reflexive Mode acknowledges the constructed nature of documentary and flaunts it -
conveying to people that this is not necessarily "truth" but a reconstruction of it - "a" truth, not "the"
truth.
Codes/conventions: The artifice of the documentary is exposed - the audience are made aware of the
editing, sound, recording, etc.
Key Examples of the Reflexive Mode include:
Dziga Vertov's Man with a Movie Camera (1929) - documents the mechanization of Soviet life
in late twenties - the mechanical camera and cameraman become part of the subject
Marc Isaacs’ Lift – he is present in a lift and we see him filming its occupants.
6. THE PERFORMATIVE MODE – filmmaker as participant
This mode of documentary emphasizes the subjective nature of the documentarian as well as
acknowledging the subjective reading of the audience - notions of objectivity are replaced by
"evocation and affect".
Codes /conventions: This mode emphasizes the emotional and social impact on the audience
Key Examples of the Performative Mode include:
films by Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock
(Source. Based on www.godnose.co.uk )
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13. Ross Kemp on Gangs: South Africa Super Size Me
Documentary mode
Conventional
documentary features
Specific modal/sub
generic features
Audience expectations
and pleasures – are
audience expectations
met? What are the uses
and gratifications?
Industry – why was the
decision made to make
these programmes in
their respective modes?
Mental machinery –
“The audience know
what to expect .. but..
they (also) want to find
something they don’t
expect” True?
Ideology – what
messages and values
are encoded?
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14. Understanding Genre: sub-genres – music video, a reminder
Music videos are characterized by three broad types: performance, narrative,
and conceptual (Firth,1988). These types describe the form and content selected by
the director or artist to attract viewers and to convey a direct or indirect message.
Performance videos  the most common type (Firth 1988) feature the star or group singing
in concert to wildly enthusiastic fans. The goal is to convey a sense of the in-concert
experience. Gow (1992) suggests "the predominance of performance as a formal system in
the popular clips indicates that music video defines itself chiefly by communicating images of
artists singing and playing songs" (pp. 48-49). Performance videos, especially those that
display the star or group in the studio, remind the viewer that the soundtrack is still important.
"Performance oriented visuals cue viewers that, indeed, the recording of the music is the
most significant element" (Gow, 1992, p. 45).
Narrative videos  present a sequence of events. A video may tell any kind of story in
linear, cause-effect sequencing. Love stories, however, are the most common narrative mode
in music video. The narrative pattern is one of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl
back. Action in the story is dominated by males who do things and females who passively
react or wait for something to happen (Schwichtenberg, 1992).
Conceptual videos  rely on poetic form, primarily metaphor (Firth, 1988). The conceptual
video can be metaphysical poetry articulated through visual and verbal elements. "These
videos make significant use of the visual element, presenting to the eye as well as the ear,
and in doing so, conveying truths inexpressible discursively" (Lorch, 1988, p. 143).
Conceptual videos do not tell a story in linear fashion, but rather create a mood, a
feeling to be evoked in the experience of viewing (Firth, 1988). Conceptual videos contain
the possibility for multiple meanings as the metaphor or metaphoric sequence is
interpreted by the viewer. "Thus the metaphorical relations between images structured
according to musical and visual rhymes and rhythms play a suggestive role in soliciting
multiple meanings from us, the viewers/listeners, that resonate with our experience--
something we can feel and describe" (Schwichtenberg, 1992 p. 124).
 A given music video may actually have elements of more than one category. Andrew
Goodwin (1992), in describing Madonna's videos, suggests that the essential narrative
component of a music video is found in its ability to frame the star, "star-in-text," as all
Madonna's videos seem to do. A story exists solely for its ability to create, or in Madonna's
case recreate, the star's persona. This blending of elements can also enable a type of
music such as rap to have cross-over appeal to a wider audience.
NB All quotations from a long and sometimes difficult article which is well worth reading: “Cultural approaches to the
rhetorical analysis of selected music videos.” Karyn Charles Rybacki and Donald Jay Rybacki
http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans4/rybacki.htm
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15. Understanding Genre: hybrid genres mixing modes.
Watch the opening 15 minutes of Are Your Kids On Drugs?
This went out mid evening on Channel 5
How many different modes are used? What are they?
How is it structured? Go into detail here: include timings, overall structure, links
between sections, mode of address and anything else you think is relevant.
What ideologies are encoded?
Who is the audience?
Do you think the programme was successful in capturing the attention of its audience?
Why?
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16. Understanding Genre: 800 word analysis
Using the ideas covered in this booklet, write an 800 word analysis of one of the
following texts which explains the extent to which it conforms to or deviates from its
genre.
In your writing you should use detailed analysis and examples from the text to
explain why it uses and/or deviates from convention.
Girls Aloud - Call The Shots - Official Music Video available on YouTube
strangers (2004)- short film by: Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpjHSiQLPmA&feature
Dispatches – Britain’s Secret Slaves (Channel 4 documentary)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vWazRB5uHM
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17. Use the following as a guide to help you:
1. Overall genre: what genre/ subgenre is being used?
2. Consider the text - Describe the ways in which the piece conforms to and deviates from
convention? Look at the following textual conventions:
Characters – representations, stereotypes, behaviour, body language, specific
actors/stars
Narrative events –how is the narrative ordered and structured?
Iconography – props, symbolic codes
Setting- mise en scene
Technical and audio codes – camera use, editing, lighting, diegetic/non diegetic
sound, sfx
3. Consider how producer intentions and audience expectations have impacted upon the
conventionality of the text.
producer/industry: What do you think is the aim or purpose of the piece? Why
was the decision made to make these programmes
audience: Who are the intended audience? How does the text position them?
What are audience expectations of this genre? Are they met? What are the
uses and gratifications?
“The audience know what to expect but they (also) want to find something
they don’t expect” Does this happen?
4. Consider the Ideology – what messages and values are encoded? Are they likely to have
changed over time? Has this impacted upon the textual conventions?
5. Sum up. is the text a successful example of the genre?
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18. Understanding documentary genre: a miscellaneous collection of terms
that you might find helpful:
presenter or voice-over narration mode of address
interviews
experts comment
vox pops drama documentary
archive footage “fly on the wall” filming
animation graphics
reconstructions non diegeticmusic
video effects: black and white/slow-motion/fast-motion etc
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