Apply the concept of Genre to your AS coursework.
For my AS coursework, I produced and
created a three minute moving image sequence that was to be representative of a
segment from a potential film. Genre may be defined through a set of
distinguishing features that pertain to certain content; this can be identified
through varying codes and conventions (either syntactic or semantic) of that
particular genre. My moving image sequence remained well within the realms of
the horror and supernatural genres; thus enabling the entitlement of a hybrid
genre. Rick Altman deduces that genres are more often than not defined through
media language that is relevant to particular ideologies and narratives. My
three-minute sequence conformed to the horror genre through various semantic
elements such as close-up camera angles of blood and gore, low-key lighting
edited with an overlay of quick-cut camera shots and editing. Syntactically, my
moving image conformed to a narrative that followed suit to that of the
conventional and well-known, “The Chase” narrative; in which there is an
element of pursuit between two characters, in my case, this applied to a
“predator versus prey” scenario. This syntactic element reiterated the
hybridity of my moving image, as through incorporating variants exclusive to
the supernatural genre, for example, a close-up camera shot of one of my
protagonists lunging at the neck of the secondary character. Aside from this,
another convention of a supernatural genre that I included within my film opening
was that of enigma codes, more specifically, a range of close-up camera angles
that focused on an unidentified object that aided the narrative. Because of the
hybridity of my moving image, this allowed for audiences to utilise one of the
fundamentals of the Use’s and Gratifications theory: Escapism. Escapism acts as
an emotional response towards genre from the audience, and with the merging of
two genres, my moving image successfully allowed for escapism to be achieved as
it allowed audiences to escape from the “mundane” as my moving image focused on
the supernatural, entities of which don’t exist in reality. This particular
element of the theory (Escapism) however, may typically be applied to fictional
texts, as Aristotle noted that emotional responses differ depending on the type
of genre that an audience wishes to engage with, in turn, these emotional
responses are absent with theoretical commentaries/documentaries as the text
doesn’t allow for audiences to escape reality. Following on from my moving
image, I also created a blog and social media accounts that detailed every step
of the editing and production process, whilst also engaging with the audience.
Tom
Ryall (1978) suggests that genre provides a ‘framework of structuring rules’
that in turn ‘acts as a form of supervision over the work and production and
filmmakers and the work of reading by the audience’. Like my moving image, my
blog also conformed to this ‘framework’ that was built up by the horror genre,
this was done through a muted colour scheme, interactive gore and creative
outlets (recipes for making your own blood) that largely appeased to the horror
community and fan base. My blog also acted as a tool for a more inclusive
community, by utilising social media platforms and creating accounts on Twitter
and Instagram, wider members of the horror and supernatural genre community can
indulge into other pleasures by sharing the experience of the media text; much
to reiterate Daniel Chandler’s Theory. Sharing the codes and conventions of
both the horror and supernatural genre gave me scope for subverting the conventional
portrayal of cinema, which incorporates elements of repetition. Neale (1980) suggested
that the ‘pleasure of cinema lies in the process of difference in repetition’,
this being applied to my own moving image, I can confidently say subverted his
theory as I utilised codes and conventions of two widely different genres, thus
straying away from conventional repetition throughout the media text.
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