This document discusses key concepts related to genre, narrative, representation, audience, and media language. It defines genre as a categorization based on common elements like plot points. Narrative refers to the story and structure, such as linear or circular. Representation is how media presents versions of reality intentionally through production choices. Audience theories explore how media affects or is interpreted by viewers. Media language includes signs like camera shots and editing that convey meaning.

1. G325 question 1b

2. Genre
•A text is classified in a genre through the identification of key elements which
occur in that text and in others of the same genre. These elements may be referred
to as paradigms, and range from costume to music to plot points to font
(depending on the medium).
•Types of genres-
Sub genres and genre hybrids.
•Christopher Brooker said only seven basic plots exist-
OVERCOMING THE MONSTER
RAGS TO RICHES
THE QUEST
VOYAGE AND RETURN
COMEDY
TRAGEDY
REBIRTH
•The descriptive approach – the most straightforward approach to analysing genre
which involves viewing a text as belonging to a category, or as being an example of
an established type.
•The functional approach - where the genre is perceived as “collective expressions
of contemporary life that strike a particularly resonant chord with audiences”. E.g.
Social questions – ‘what is morality?’
•Genre links to short films as films can be classed as a type of genre e.g. Romance

3. Narrative
•Narrative refers to the way the story of a film is told, as well as the actual story
itself. It is also important to consider where the audience is placed in relation
to the narrative and whose eyes we see the story through.
•Narrative structure can be wither circular, episodic or linear.
Circular is when the story begins at the end (for example, the story is a flashback
such as Titanic).
Episodic is when flashbacks can disturb or interrupt a chronological flow (e.g.
Forest Gump).
Linear is the most common narrative structure used – when a story is told in
order in which the events actually happened.
•Some theorists that are relevant to the narrative concept are:
Vladimir Propp who referred to 8 main character types including the hero, the
false hero, the princess and the villain.
Tvetvan Todorov who believed that narratives were circular and that there are 5
key stages - The equilibrium, the disruption, the recognition, the attempts to
repair the disruption and the new equilibrium.
Claude Levi-Straus who said all narratives were based on conflicts.
The concept narrative links to music videos as some music videos use a type of
narrative structure instead of a performance or even both.

4. Representation
•All media texts are re-presentations of reality. This means that they are
intentionally composed, lit, written, framed, cropped, captioned, branded,
targeted and censored by their producers, and that they are entirely artificial
versions of the reality we perceive around us.
•The reflective view - when we represent something, we are taking its true
meaning and trying to create a replica of it in the mind of our audience — like a
reflection. This is the view that many people have of how news works — the
news producers take the truth of news events and simply present it to us as
accurately as possible.
•The intentional view - This is the opposite of the reflective idea. The most
important thing in the process of representation is the person doing the
representing — they are presenting their view of the thing they are representing
and the words or images that they use mean what they intend them to mean.
•The constructionist view- This believes representation can never just be the
truth or someone’s version of the truth as this doesn't take into account the
ability for an individual to make up their own mind or other social influences.
•Hegemony- leadership or dominance. (The hegemonic model says that the
ruling classes maintain their power through control of ideas and culture rather
than force).

5. Audience
•The hypodermic model -the media ‘injects’ messages directly into the minds of
the viewers/listeners/readers .
•Cultivation theory - As audiences watch more and more film and television, they
gradually develop certain views about the world, some of which are ‘false’.
•Desensitisation - If we are exposed to too much violence, or too much blatant
sexuality, we will become less sensitive to real life violence and sexual
behaviours.
•Copycat( or modelling) theory - This approach suggests that people will imitate
what they see in the media – e.g. if young people watch Natural Born Killers,
they will go out on a killing spree. This is not so much a theory’ as an assumption
perpetuated by the Press!
•Uses and gratifications theory - s Instead of researching what the media do to
the audience, this approach studies what the audience does with the media. This
approach also takes account of people’s personalities and personal needs.
•Reception analysis - Audiences are seen as active producers of meaning, rather
than as merely consumers of media meanings. They make sense of media texts
according to their social position e,g, gender, class.

6. Media Language
•Semiotics – ‘the study of signs’.
•Signs we would consider include: Sounds, body language, words, font, tone of
voice, colours, costumes, props, locations, camera work.
•In semiotics, denotation and connotation are terms describing the relationship
between the signifier and its signified.
•Other media language includes types of camera shots e.g. Close ups, long shots
etc.
•Micro elements include mise-se-scene which creates the diegetic world - the
fictional space and time applied by the narrative, camera work (as mentioned
above), editing and sound.
•All of this media language and terminology can be applied to my A2
Coursework as I will be able to talk about the type of shots I use, how I edit my
work as well as what the narrative behind my video means (e.g. The
connotations certain props might have).