Build Knowledge: MIGRAIN: Genre

 1) What example is provided of why visual iconography are so important?

Genres are categories or types of media text. Genres are recognisable through the repeated use of generic codes and conventions.Generic codes and conventions are the aspects of a text which the audience recognises as the shared characteristics of a genre.

2) What examples are provided of the importance of narrative in identifying genre?

in the reading the example given is Good examples of this are Independence Day (1996: dir. R. Emmerich),

Deep Impact (1998: M. Leder) and, more recently, The Day After Tomorrow (2004: dir. R. Emmerich). In The Day After Tomorrow a father has two goals: to persuade the government to act on his advice and then to rescue his son. In both plots he accepts the help of others e.g. accepting information from other scientists or letting his colleagues accompany him as he travels to New York where his son is trapped.

3) What is the difference between character representation in action movies and disaster movies?

in disaster movies the character tend to fall in love and also try and get out a crisis but in action they are focused mainly abouthow to get out of the crisis

4) What are the different ways films can be categorised according to Bordwell? 

He came up with many more potential methods of categorisation – these are just some examples: 

• Period or Country, e.g. US films of the 1930s 

• Director / Star, e.g. Ben Stiller Films 

• Technical Process, e.g. Animation 

• Style, e.g. German Expressionism; 

• Series, e.g. Bond; 

• Audience, e.g. Family Films 

5) List three ways genre is used by audiences.

Genre refers to the labelling of texts through the identification of shared characteristics. Texts within certain genre categories will have certain things in common that will enable the audience to see similarities between texts. 

6) List three ways genre is used by institutions or producers.

sometimes these iconographies are enough to act alone, e.g. the mise en scene of deep space, usually indicates the genre of sci-fi. Sometimes, however, the iconographies work together to indicate the genre. Someone sitting behind a desk is not genre specific. However, add high key lighting, a modern mise en scene and a screen behind the character at the desk and the combination of media language choices creates an image we associate with a news broadcast. 

7) What film genre is used as an example of how genres evolve? What films and conventions are mentioned?

both Star Wars and Star Trek use recognisable iconographies of Science Fiction (see below) but they do not use them the same way. Star Trek tends to use a more futuristic setting which relates to an idealised (utopian) world of the future. The Star Wars universe is far less ideal and is portrayed in some parts as more ‘rough and ready’, however, they both share enough characteristics to be considered within the same genre.

1) List five films the factsheet discusses with regards to the Superhero genre.

batman and robin,gothem,arrow, Marvel’s Agents  of Shield, green lantern, guradians of galxery , the x men, spiderman , superman, kissass, sincity 2

2) What examples are provided of how the Superhero genre has reflected the changing values, ideologies and world events of the last 70 years?

  Parody: Batman (1966) was intentionally funny and camp and  wouldn’t let its audience take the superhero too seriously. It  had an ironic tone that flagged up the daft nature of the genre  and allowed the audience to enjoy the awareness of that. After  Batman, the classical and parodic versions of the genre were  largely located in children’s animation, from Spider-Man whose  animated adventures were on TV from the late 1960s, to the less  than serious versions of the genre in Mighty Mouse (a perennially  popular cartoon first made in the 1940s), Atom Ant (from the late  60s), Captain Caveman (from the late 70s) amongst many, many  more.

3) How can Schatz's theory of genre cycles be applied to the Superhero genre?

Schatz says that during the innovative and classical parts of a genre’s development, genres are ‘transparent’ - that is the audience does not see  the genre, rather they ‘look through it’ to the story being told. During the parody and deconstruction phases genres become ‘opaque’ - audiences  look at the form itself. They are aware of the genre rather than just the story being told. Deconstruction is a crucial time because if there is no  successful deconstruction of the genre there cannot be a return to innovation and the genre may (sometimes temporarily) disappear as it cannot  move beyond parody, Sometimes a genre disappears for a while and then comes back at the innovation stage (horror has done this many times).  Sometimes a genre struggles to re-innovate itself and then it can struggle to find an audience. The Western is often used as an example of a  genre that has never really made it past the parody stage other than in a few single examples and it struggles to innovate in a way that allows it  to become a genre that modern audiences want to see.

 a text analysis of rush hour 3 from google

General
1) Why did you choose the text you are analysing?

i am analgising this as i really love the movie rush hour and it was a massive part of my childhood 

2) In what context did you encounter it?

growing my dad loved the movie so we watched it and i lived the movies 
3) What influence do you think this context might have had on your interpretation of the text?

i think my influence will be positive as i have really like the movie and i believe the text analysis is accurate 
4) To what genre did you initially assign the text?

comedy and action
5) What is your experience of this genre?

i love these two genres as growing up my dad would always put it on to watch and it remind me of my childhood 
6) What subject matter and basic themes is the text concerned with?

 it talks about the plot of the movie and the camera angles

7) How typical of the genre is this text in terms of content?

its a typical start for action movies to start off normal then get into than intense scene 

8) What expectations do you have about texts in this genre?

a positive analysis and comment on the text talking about the comedic side of it

 
9) Have you found any formal generic labels for this particular text (where)?

where it talks about the digital sound and of the opening scenes and the movie it gives formal way of looking at it rather than how we casually watch it as the audience the text analysis the format of the movie 

10) What generic labels have others given the same text?

 the camera cuts again shows a more formal side of the movie in comparison off how the audience see it

11) Which conventions of the genre do you recognize in the text?

the text explains how the beeping of cars foreshadow how something bad might happen which is common in action movies as it starts off good then shows signs that something bad might happen then it does happen

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12) To what extent does this text stretch the conventions of its genre?

the text gives multiple examples of how the movie links to its genre and gives examples of typical action and comedy conventions 

13) Where and why does the text depart from the conventions of the genre?

its departs as it doesn't go into full detail of the full movie 

14) Which conventions seem more like those of a different genre (and which genre(s))?

dancing in the middle of traffic isn't a typical action convention however does link to the comedy side of the movie
15) What familiar motifs or images are used?

the foreshadowing of him dancing and being distracted from everything going on around him is common in action as in action movies the hero is distracted while something bad is happening and then they try and save the day

Mode of address
1) What sort of audience did you feel that the text was aimed at (and how typical was this of the genre)?

action and comedy as it is a typical action and comedy analysis as it talks about the action side linking to the funny side
2) How does the text address you?

as it shows to the audience how the plot fits into the genre and how it is portrayed to us as viewers 
3) What sort of person does it assume you are?

a person that has a good sense of humour and finds the movie intriguing and funny

4) What assumptions seem to be made about your class, age, gender and ethnicity?

i believe that it is a more general to a range of different   kinds of people 
5) What interests does it assume you have?

it assumes that you like the city and being within it 

Relationship to other texts
1) What intertextual references are there in the text you are analysing (and to what other texts)? Intertextuality is when a media product references another media text of some kind.

the texts talks about how the plot is which links to another movies e.g. even the first rush hour had a similar plot

2) In terms of genre, which other texts does the text you are analysing resemble most closely?

it resembles most analysis as it talks about the plot, camera work, sounding e.g.

3) What key features are shared by these texts?

again talking about the plot, camera work, sounding e.g.

4) What major differences do you notice between them?

some are more detailed then others for example the text i analysed is shorter and less in depth than the other ones like i analysed in the beginning of the task