2. WHY WAS IT IS USEFUL TO CONSIDER YOUR
WORK IN RELATION TO GENRE?
It was useful to consider genre in relation to my teaser
trailer and ancillary texts because then we could determine
who our target audience was going to be and what would
be the best way to successfully market our film to our
selected audience; for instance our film ‘Young, Ruthless
and Useless’ is a teen drama, we used a ‘like us on
Facebook’ logo on our poster as most people aged 15-25
are on a social networking site, we also used lots of genre
signifiers such as young actors, narrative themes such as
drugs, romance and conflict so it has a realistic subject
matter which our audience can relate to, all of these points
helps to attract our potential target audience.
3. Neale states ‘Genres are instances of repetition and
difference’ meaning that films of a specific genre say
Western films for instance, are similar in the way that the
setting is usually a desert like wasteland, and there is usually
a good guy versus bad guy scenario, where good will always
overcome evil in some way or another. I think what Neale is
trying to say is that although films of the same genre have
different storylines and plot, the key conventions of that
genre will still be there so the audience can familiarise with
the conventional elements but are excited to see the new
parts.
4. LACEY’S REPERTOIRE OF ELEMENTS
Lacey uses
setting, character, narrative, iconograph
y and style to help to figure out which
media text belongs to which genre.
5. ‘Young, Ruthless and Useless’ – Teen Drama
Setting- The college setting suggests that is it a teen film as it is a typical teenage
setting. Later you are shown the pub which is a conventional teenage rebellion
setting which suggests that it has elements of drama.
Character – All of the characters shown in the teaser trailer are teenagers no
older than 18 which implies that the genre is a teenage film, directed at a teenage
audience. The audience are shown a boy and a girl who appear to be the
protagonists of the film, which suggests that there is also an element of romance
within the film but it is not heavily featured so it doesn’t appear to be part of the
overall genre.
Narrative - There is a clear narrative
Iconography – It is evident that this is a teen drama film by the use of young
characters aged 17 – 18, the college location is also a key setting for a teen
drama
Style – The editing is quick cut so that there is a fast pace which fits the film well.
6. TO WHAT EXTENT YOU FEEL GENRE HAS BEEN
USED IN THE MARKETING OF YOUR FILM?
Genre has been a useful marketing tool
because we have been able to make it
interesting and relatable for target audience
(15-24) 55% female, 45% male (this is
because our main protagonist is a female) by
using typical conventions of a teen drama.
However, other elements have been used in
our marketing, such as the realistic subject
matter, the storyline of ‘Young, Ruthless and
Useless’ is quite realistic with the
experimenting of drugs and alcohol, romantic
relationships, bullying and peer pressure.
