Theoretical Research: Genre Theory

As part of my coursework I've decided to research multiple theories surrounding genres, narrative, representation and audiences. This is because I want to get the best understanding of these elements of film making. In this post I'll be looking into theories about genres, I'll include Daniel Chandler, Steve Neale & Rick Altman's as well as some others.

Daniel Chandler's Theory:

Chandler has stated he thinks conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the notion that they belong certain conventions of content, such as themes or settings and/or form structures and styles that are shared by texts which are regarded as belonging to them. 

These are what Propp believed to be the typical characters that feature in movies, I decided to use visual representations besides them to get a clearer idea of what he meant by each of them so I decided to use the Shrek franchise as I thought it's a universally known property that everyone is familiar with. He also has thoughts about the stereotypes of these characters in a struggle scene and what he named the 'recognition scene'. The aspects he stated that are similar in the struggle scenes are:

• The struggle is nearly always between the hero and villain
• The hero is branded (injured)
• The villain is defeated
• The problem is solved and an issues are settled

Propp had more to say on the topic of recognition scenes (which usually take place at the end of the movie), he thought that in most movies it can be noted that they have these conventions:

• This part of the film contains the hero getting honoured and recognised for his efforts
• The false villain is identified (sometimes also being punished as a result or imprisoned)
• The hero receives a large reward for his actions such as gold 
• The stereotypical fairy tale ending of the hero and the princess (or damsel in distress) figure fall madly in love and end up obtaining the respect from the people or run the kingdom

Other Theories:
Steve Neale's Theory:
Neale argues that pleasure is derived from 'repetition and difference'; there would be no pleasure without difference. We may derive pleasure from observing how the conventions of the genre are manipulated. We may also enjoy the stretching of a genre in new directions and the consequent shifting of our expressions.

Jonathan Culler's Theory:
He's stated that he thinks generic conventions exist to establish a contract between creator and reader to make certain expectations happen, allowing compliance and deviation from accepted modes of intelligibility. Acts of communication are rendered intelligible only within the context of a shared conventional framework of expression. 

John Fiske's Theory:
“Genre attempts to structure some order into the wide range of texts and meanings that circulate in our culture for the convenience of both producers and audiences”.

Rick Altman's Theory:
Altman believed that there were two different approaches to film genre to work, semantic and syntactic are what they're called. Semantic means the way in which the media is presented, examples include the way characters are presented, the music and settings as these all add to the story line. Syntactic is more geared towards how the film/TV show describes the relationship between the character and the setting/situation they're in as well as the structure of the narrative in genres.

Common Distinctive Properties Include:

• Narrative - Similar, with at times formulaic plots and structures, predictable situations, sequences, episodes, obstacles, conflicts and resolutions.

• Characterisation - similar types of characters (sometimes stereotypes), roles, personal qualities, motivations, goals, behaviour.

• Basic Themes - Topics, subject matter (social, cultural, psychological, professional, political, sexual, moral), values and what Stanley Solomon refers to as recurrent 'patterns of meaning' .

• Settings - Geographical and historical.

• Iconography - A familiar stock of images or motifs, the connotations of which have become fixed; primarily but not necessarily visual, including décor, costume and objects, certain 'typecast' performers (some of whom may have become 'icons'), familiar patterns of dialogue, characteristic music and sounds, and appropriate physical topography.

• Filming Techniques - Stylistic or formal conventions of camerawork, lighting, sound-recording, use of colour, editing etc. (viewers are often less conscious of such conventions than of those relating to content).

Problems With Genre Theory:

Although Genre Theory is useful to apply to my coursework there are some issues with it as many theorists have criticised the theory. This is because they believe it's harder to summarise a movie genre and all it's conventions and differences into a few sentences. The main problem with Genre Theory is thought to be the fact that "as we look and analyse various films we find that although they have similarities in other aspects they are very different". This means that Genre Theory would need to constantly need to redefine itself which means technically it's not much of a theory considering it needs to change often (sometimes due to audience members taste changing) so it's more of a summary of the films being made at a certain point in time and with many films having different messages whether they be political, cultural or social etc and their locations can even effect it heavily so it can be hard to make one stand out definition. Proof of all this is easy to find as I can look a two films such as Gladiator and The Terminator and compare them to reveal they have little in common considering Gladiator, a film described as "When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge" wouldn't be similar to The Terminator, a film which can be summarised as "A seemingly indestructible humanoid cyborg is sent from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate a waitress, whose unborn son will lead humanity in a war against the machines, while a soldier from that war is sent to protect her at all costs" in many aspects because they're not alike at all.

How I'll Use This Information In My Coursework:

I found that this research in genre theories very useful as it allowed me to understand different people's perspectives that are well respected within the media world. This means I'm able to make note of any important information that could by useful to my coursework later on in the project as I can apply it to how me and Josh make our short film. I looked at five theories, this is because I thought it'd be good to get multiple theories whilst using a mix of suggested and obscure theorists. This is because it has allowed me to differentiate my Genre Theory post from others in the class as it includes a diverse range of known and lesser known ideas surrounding genre theory. I wanted to do this as it shows I can work independently without having to do any too difficult or drastic that could waste time or prevent me and Josh moving on with our production.