genre presentation

1. GENRE
JAMIE LUCAS

2. MY PRODUCTION
Genre is a style or category of art, music, or literature. The genre of my film is
documentary, as it a non-fiction based piece documenting the world of modern
conservation and animal welfare.
Therefore the sub-genre of my film could be a geo-political, war or nature documentary
as it is examining a conflict of people in both Africa and in South America.
5 well known examples of documentaries include:

3. SUB-GENREIn terms of the sub-genre of a film, I outlined the examples, but I wanted to look more
closely at these conventions that follow them.
Geo-political:
-International subjects
- 2 sided conflict addressed
- Taboo subject, new ideas
- Clear narrative structure
Nature
- Wildlife/animals
- Scenic/imagery based
- Lack of narrative
- Multi-strand narratives
War:
- Action based
- Violent
- Militaristic

4. CONVENTIONThere are many types of convention that make up a media text:
- Technical (e.g. camera angles, movements & shots, editing, colour correction)
- Symbolic (e.g. clothing, colours, props, character types)
- Written and audio (e.g. events in the script, dialogue, music, sound effects)
In terms of documentaries more specifically:
Documentaries, in terms of the technical conventions, tend to adhear to the use of wide angles. Documentary
makers like to make the audience feel part of the scene, not far away, so utilise the wide angle as it is the
most natural to our eye and makes us feel part of the action. Occasionally, the use of telephoto lenses are
used for long shots to make it seem as if they are spying on a subject in an investigative way. Grading varies
on the sub-genre, as war often is a cold blue theme whereas nature is more warm orange in colour. Editing is
primarily in a closed structure, following beginning, middle and end to show the story. Montage editing is
occasionally used to show the history leading up to a story to address the audience with the background
information. Re-creational documentaries often use flashbacks over interviews to show what the interviewer
are talking about.
Documentaries don't traditionally follow a strict symbolic convention as documentaries are a form of a non-
fiction text thus making the message explicit and clear, without symbolism. As the message needs to be
delivered directly, and the crew cannot change the clothing, props, or character types as that would be
interfering with the natural state of the story they are documenting, symbolic convention is not used often in
this media text. Some of the more staged/re-creational documentaries may alter the clothing or props to fit a
more exciting and dramatic symbolic meaning, however this is rare in more traditional documentaries. For
geo-political nature documentries there is however often the symbolism linked to animals as beings of peace
and innocence and acting as a binary opposite to the malicious and ill spirited human race.

5. In terms of the written and audio convention in documentaries, it tends to follow a narrative either
conducted as a voice over or as extracts from a interview that will dictate the way in which the media
text is ordered. Voice overs usually introduce a changing in the scene, an introduction, talk about how
times have changed or even speak about something that the interview subject may have missed. As
watching someone being interviewed for the duration of a documentary is boring for long periods of
time, the audio taken from that interview may be used to roll over the clips. Sound effects are not
traditionally used as it would break the realism, and music tends to follow the nature of the scene, for
example in war scenes dramatic music would be used. Often to spark interest, at the start of a
documentary, unusual or dramatic bits of radio calls, phone calls from the real event are used to add a
sense of tension and excitement about the issue the documentary is addressing.
CONVENTION

6. ADHERE/DIVERGE
For my documentary, I plan to both adhere and diverge to the conventions set out both by the genre
and sub-genres that I am creating a text in.
Adhereing:
I plan to base the narrative on the conventional method of a voice over, as I feel this will be the basis
for the structure of the story. I plan however to shoot on telephoto lenses, this is because I want to get
a sense of that investigative spying on an issue sense that I feel that wide angle lenses don't bring.
Additionally I won't be using any sound effects as this would look fake and unreal in my text. I definitely
think with nature shots, that I will grade it with a orange hint to add that sense of a warm, utopian
feeling for the audience.
Diverging:
In terms of ways I plan to challenge my genre, I plan to address the issue from 3 different angles. My
subjects are from different perspectives on the issue, but as oppose to looking at an argument from a 2
sided argument, I will be looking at 3 in one text to investigate fully the ranges of ideas of how to
address the issue in a multi-strand fashion. I also plan to challenge the convention of nature
documentaries focusing on the wildlife, and will instead focus on the people as I think the audience will
connect more instinctively this way. Despite traditional war documentaries having a cold blue tint I plan
to use a warmer orange hint to make it feel more utopian and that this planet of wildlife is almost
paradise like.

7. ADHERE/DIVERGE
For my documentary, I plan to both adhere and diverge to the conventions set out both by the genre
and sub-genres that I am creating a text in.
Adhereing:
I plan to base the narrative on the conventional method of a voice over, as I feel this will be the basis
for the structure of the story. I plan however to shoot on telephoto lenses, this is because I want to get
a sense of that investigative spying on an issue sense that I feel that wide angle lenses don't bring.
Additionally I won't be using any sound effects as this would look fake and unreal in my text. I definitely
think with nature shots, that I will grade it with a orange hint to add that sense of a warm, utopian
feeling for the audience.
Diverging:
In terms of ways I plan to challenge my genre, I plan to address the issue from 3 different angles. My
subjects are from different perspectives on the issue, but as oppose to looking at an argument from a 2
sided argument, I will be looking at 3 in one text to investigate fully the ranges of ideas of how to
address the issue in a multi-strand fashion. I also plan to challenge the convention of nature
documentaries focusing on the wildlife, and will instead focus on the people as I think the audience will
connect more instinctively this way. Despite traditional war documentaries having a cold blue tint I plan
to use a warmer orange hint to make it feel more utopian and that this planet of wildlife is almost
paradise like.