Genre Explained

What Is A Genre?

A genre is a style or category of a piece of media, genre originates from the french word for type. You can also have sub-genres and hybrid genres. 

What Are Conventions?

A convention is considered an idea which we share about certain genres. It is unlikely that you will see all of the conventions in one particular piece of media. We find pleasure in knowing what might happen in media due to common conventions with particular genres of media however we are also open to the fact that our expectations may be wrong.

What Is A Sub-Genre?

A sub-genre is a more specific way of thinking about a piece of media. Music is one type of media which has a lot of sub-genres in it, for example within the genre Rock you can have the sub-genres of Alternative Rock, Heavy Metal as well as some others. 

What Is A Hybrid Genre?

A hybrid genre is a genre which blends from two or more different genres together in one particular piece of media. Film is a type of media which has a few hybrid genres in the industry. For example there is a hybrid genre know as a Rom-Com, this is a cross between a romantic film and a comedy film. Another example of a hybrid genre would be a comedy horror film.

How Do Genres Evolve Over Time?

Different genres come from everywhere for all different types of media however it is only ever truly considered a genre if a whole range of different people can recognise it. The music industry is constantly coming out with new genres. The different music genres would've evolved over time as more ways were found to produce different types of music and as musicians came up with different styles of music. This lead to influential individuals in the music industry such as artists to define there new style under a new genre, once they defined it by this genre other artists produced music which fell into that genre causing the genre to widely recognised.

What Is Iconography (Outer Form) And Thematic Categorisation (Inner Form)?

Iconography will be used to describe the visual elements of a genre. It is a important aspect of genre. We will expect to see certain objects on the screen when we know what genre of film or tv show we are watching, for example if you are watching a western you expect to see dusty roads, saloon bars, sheriffs as well as other objects which we associate with that genre. Another example is with a modern horror movie, we would expect to see young girls/boys, normal objects of the time, use of dark light, dramatic music, as well as others. Thematic Categorisation is when films have the same themes. A good example of this is teen movies which generally work around the same theme which is basically of a coming of age, sometimes there will be a prom involved. A teen movie is not the only genre which has a coming of age theme around it as there are some others. Another example is in western films where the theme is generally that justice is found. Although this theme is in other movie genres as well such as a crime film, it is used on a regular basis with western films.

How Can The Audience Use Genre?

Genre can be used by audience to categorise what films they like to watch, it helps the audience to identify what film they would like to watch next as that film would be categorised under a genre which they already know they like.

How Can Producers Use Genre?

The producers will be able to produce a film tailor made for a high grossing target audience by looking at what the popular genres are at the current time. This allows the producers to maximise their profits and also maximise their viewing figures. For example if they know that the comedy genre is more popular than the sci-fi genre then they are more likely to produce a film in the comedy genre as it is more likely to make more money due to the larger target audience for the comedy genre.

What Are The Problems With Genre Theory?

I think that one of the main problems with genre theory is that individual groups of friends can come up with their own genres to define types of media. This becomes a problem when they try to define a certain type of media to a person from a different group of people.  I think that for a genre to be truly recognised and used it has to be understood by the industry of that media as well as outsiders of that industry of media in order for it to be an effective genre.