Genre

Introduction to Genre

Genre is a French word meaning 'type' and refers to types or categories of media products. Soap operas, situation comedies, police series, quiz shows and news programmes are just some of the genres to be found on television. Television is a highly 'generic' medium with comparatively few one-off programmes falling outside established generic categories. Genres are identified by the particular conventions they use which we come to recognize through regular contact. Conventions are any elements which are repeated in such a way that they become familiar, predictable and associated in their use with a particular genre. Conventions include:

Character

Plot

Setting

Costumes and props

Music

Lighting

Themes

Dialogue

Visual style

To take the example of news programmes - it is conventional to announce the beginning of the news with dramatic music, employ one or more newsreaders who are seated and are of 'smart' appearance and dress, neither too young nor too old (30-55 for men, 25-45 for women !) and not too 'obviously' from one region. The studio setting may include a desk, a computer terminal, a sheaf of papers, the illusion of a 'panel' behind and to the side of the newsreaders where images and motifs appear. The lighting will be high key, without shadows. The visual style will usually include long shots at the beginning and end of sections with medium close ups (head, shoulders and chest with some of the desk in shot) for the majority of the time. There will also be frequent use of computer graphics, where these are available, in addition to the footage recorded at the scene of the news event. The stories will be selected according to established news values (described in the chapter 'TV News') and the dialogue will be written in a concise, formal style and may include stock words and phrases such as: '..the full extent of the tragedy..','news has just come in..', '..and finally..'. .These conventions make up the distinctive look and sound of TV news.

How much we take these conventions for granted, how 'natural' they appear to us, only becomes really clear when we imagine, or witness, these conventions being broken. The temporary loss of studio lights has in the past resulted in a news bulletin being broadcast with shadows and unlit areas in the studio which appears odd and 'unsettling'. Imagine though, a news broadcast presented by a sixteen year old 'new age traveller' whispering in a thick West Country accent in extreme close up. Furthermore, imagine the same news reader being without a desk, computer or ear piece, reciting the news facing away from camera in rhyming couplets scattered with slang and obscenities.

This example shows the ideological significance of genres. While the content, treatment and messages of genres are reinforced through repetition, those media forms which do not work within these formulas face a more difficult task in being accepted. The codes and conventions of genre, which are, incidentally, in a state of constant adaptation, 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 unconventionally dressed teenager with a strong regional accent within one or two feet from us - a distance that normally signifies intimacy or aggression.

Genres then, reflect the dominant values of a society. Like these values however, they are not fixed or uncontested. Thus, genres change, sub-genres evolve and new genres emerge . What may seem 'normal', 'acceptable' and 'conventional' one year may be cliched, outmoded and unacceptable several years later. Black or female newsreaders, for example, have been appearing more frequently in recent years due to a variety of pressures both within and outside television institutions. TV representations of the police today are not always the gentle, uncorruptible father figures they appeared to be in police series of the 1950's such as 'Dixon of Dock Green'.

For the television industry, such gradual shifts in the conventions of the various genres allows for creativity within the boundaries of tried and tested formulas. Successful formulas are only rejected after ratings begin to fall. Yet novelty is as important to the success of a genre as repetition or the use of conventional elements. Within the predictability of news presentation and dominant news values, there is unpredictability in the exact items that will be reported - where, how and to whom the conflict, accident, incident or disaster occurs. Within police series, new locations, characters, stories and styles of filming are constantly being tested. Changing too many elements, or not enough may lead to confusion or disinterest in the audience. As Fiske notes:

'Genre serves the dual needs of a commodity: on the one hand standarisation and familiartity, and on the other, product differentiation.' (1987 Television Culture Routledge)

Exercises

Task

Take a single page of a television guide. Identify as many genres and sub-genres as possible from the page, listing the programmes under each category. List separately any programmes which do not seem to fit a pre-existing genre.

Look at one the genres and compile a detailed written list of the dominant conventions (use the conventions suggested above to assist). Results can be written up as a page of a 'cook book' of genres - listing 'ingredients' (conventions) and 'cooking instructions' (how they interract or develop) for a particular genre or sub-genre ( see exercises in situation comedy chapter for an example).

Exercise

Devise and outline a proposal for a police/detective or sit-com or game show programme. You should consider such aspects as plot, settings, characters, music, lighting and other generic conventions. There should also be an indication of choice of cast, approximate costs, advertising stategies and other production considerations. Your outline should be accompanied by a script/storyboard extract, video clip or trailer of the proposed product.

Essay

'Conventions are the structural elements of genre that are shared between producers and audiences. They embody the crucial ideological concerns of the time in which they are popular and are central to the pleasures a genre offers an audience.' Fiske, J. (1987)

Discuss with reference to any genre you have studied.

Sources:

Alvarado, M. (1987) 'Television and Video' Wayland

Clarke, M. (1987) Teaching Popular Television Heinemann Educational in association with BFI

Buxton, D. (1990) 'From the Avengers to Miami Vice: form and ideology in television series.' Manchester University Press

Kerr, P. (1990) Understanding Television ed. Goodwin A and Whannel, G. Routledge

Lusted, D. ed. (1991) 'The Media Studies Book' Routledge

Fiske, J. (1987) 'Television Culture' Routledge

Strinati, D. (1995) 'Popular Culture' Routledge