This document discusses key concepts related to genre recognition and audience engagement. It explains that genres rely on familiar elements to communicate with audiences, but also introduce unexpected elements to intrigue viewers. It also notes that audiences take pleasure in anticipating, expecting, and predicting genre conventions. Finally, it states that genres are beneficial for industries and audiences, as audiences consistently pay for and take pleasure in genre materials that provide familiar formulas and reinforce conventions through repetition.

1. E
NR
GE
OF
TS
C EP
C ON
K EY

2. RECOGNITION AND ATTRACTION
The story makers depend on recognition for
instant communication with the audience.
If it is familiar then the audience know
the kind of person or scene that they are
dealing with.
Alternatively the story makers can trade in
recognition in order to tease the
audience, by doing something, which they
do not expect. This is often the case in
sequels. So the attraction of genre
material is the mixture of familiarity and
the unexpected.

3. ANTICIPATION, EXPECTATION AND
PREDICTION
All media material gives some kind of
pleasure to the reader of view. This is
why the audience buys the product.
There is a kind of pleasure gained from
being able to anticipate what will happen
next, e.g. Mystery Thriller Genre (Murder
She Wrote)
There is a kind of pleasure gained from
expectation of what should happen next,
e.g. Action films

4. REPETITION AND REINFORCEMENT
The building blocks of genre, its elements,
as well as the messages that genres
communicate, all depend on being
repeated, so that they continue to be
known and understood by the audience.
The more the stories use the same or
similar elements, the more the audience
accepts that this is what the genre is all
about. They become ‘natural’.

5. FORMULA
When we recognise and make sense of
genre material we take all elements
together. This combination of elements
special to a genre represents o kind of
formula.

6. GENRE, INDUSTRY AND AUDIENCE
Genres are good for industries because
they are generally good for profits.
They are good for profits because, the
audience pays for them consistently.
The audience is attracted to genre
material and pays for it because it
takes pleasure amps satisfaction from
the material.