The document discusses how genres have developed over time. It notes that genres were originally divided into three categories by Plato and Aristotle but now there are hundreds of genres. Genres have progressed from being black and white to incorporating hybrids and subgenres. Reality television is discussed as an example of genre hybridity, blending elements of different genres. The role of editors in manipulating footage for reality television is also examined, highlighting how hours of footage can be condensed and stories crafted from selective clips. Finally, the document questions the degree to which audiences have true control and interaction with reality television given editing and other production techniques.

1. Genre in the (post)
Modern World
Team Energy

2. How has Genre has developed
Genre was created by Plato and Aristotle, where they divided literature into three sections; prose, poetry and drama.
However in a contemporary society there’s literary hundreds of genres and that is a good way to show the development of
genre.
hulk vs loki
This clip is good example to show how genre has developed in superhero movies, where marvel has broke the conventions
of a superhero movies and has now added an element of comedy to give a variety to their audience. The idea of the hulk
being a comic character in any shape or form would have been considered very different to his traditional image.
Genre has progressed a great deal throughout the years. It has moved from a stage where genre was very black and white,
where a film or any text only contained one genre but genre has development so much that now there’s the existence of
sub-genres and hybrids.
Genre was created to allow us to identify different text based on certain conventions. specific genres comes with different
conventions which we can associate this different text with, for example a zombie movie the audience would expect
blood, death and with a tone of seriousness etc. maybe something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ4xGaLzpvI
With this development we are now able to see films and text with more than one genre and zombie movies don’t have to
follow their conventions and we get films like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfDUv3ZjH2k
As you can see with Shaun of the dead, zombie movies can carry more than one genres.

3. Genre Hybridity
Genre hybridity is writing that blends elements from two
or more literary genres in an experimental format. This
allows creative flexibility and also allows for an wider
audience target.
These have been thoroughly used in reality tv as the
boundaries between factuality and fiction have been
blurred.
This has evolved over the years and has become more
apparent in films nowadays. With the example of the
movie Dark Shadows; here is a clip…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePV8WGngJRQ
This shows that genres are no longer distinctively
categorized as this trailer is hybrid of horror and comedy .

4. What is reality TV..
Wiki- Reality television is a television programming
that presents purportedly unscripted melodramatic
or "humorous" situations, documents actual events
Annette Hill- A catch all category that includes a wide
range of television programs about real people.
Programming that is unscripted and follows actual
“real life” events as they unfold usually involving
members of the public or groups of celebrities

5. Types of Reality TV
Infotainment Show
Ducosoap
Lifestyle Programme
Social Experiment
Reality Talent Show
Reality Game Show

6. Difference between Reality TV and
Webcams
It is hard to say if the popularity of webcams and the
sudden increase in so-called "reality television"
programs are related events. Both are forms of
entertainment which rely heavily on the voyeuristic
tendencies inherent in human nature, but there are
great differences between "reality television" and a
webcam.

7. “Reality television” is not a form of new entertainment, it has existed since the
advent of the medium. Even game shows, documentaries, and newscasts could
arguably fit into this poorly defined category. reality television, which is highly
dependent on behind-the-scenes control of the content of the show. More to
the point, it is vital to the illusion of "reality" in these programs that the
production stay behind-the-scenes. Most, if not all, modern "reality television"
shows do not merely report on reality, they create a "reality" which they then
edit. There is nothing improvisational about reality television. The attraction to
reality television lies not in its ability to reflect accurately the world we live in,
but its ability to make celebrities out of everyday people.
As with any trend online, communities arose to accommodate the followers of
the new meme. And, much like blogs and webjournals, there is little
differentiation between the producers and the audiences of webcam content.
People who watch webcams as fans have access to the knowledge of how to
create a webcam themselves, and often do.

8. Webcams may be less controlled than "reality" television but the production value of
the medium does not effect the psychology. People have webcams to make
themselves feel important. The image displayed and viewed by the public need not
be graphic in form. Blogs and webjournals, too, give individuals a sense of
importance because others are paying attention to what they write.
This does not explain why people watch webcams. Watching a person on a webcam
in order to imagine one's self on a webcam does not make sense. For one,
campeople rarely acquire a large public following, power, prestige, or riches. No
famous actress has ever started her career as a well known camgirl. This is not the
case with the "stars" of reality television programs. Often the cast member has a
chance to not only win any prizes offered as part of the show, but to use his
appearance on the show to acquire further fame after the show has ended.
http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/1597/02dissertation.pdf?sequence=2
http://pandora.simons-rock.edu/~pprimate/writing/thesis/uploading.html
http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/articles2(2)/webcams.pdf

9. Editing techniques
Editors have the interesting task of turning 24-hour footage for instance, into 1 hour of highlights where they
can create conflicts and resolutions as desired by producers.
The manipulation of footage in such manner is purposed to compress hours of raw footage that is mostly
boring with nothing particularly interesting into the most interesting 1hour show. They can tell any story
they like from those hours by simply putting different pieces of footage from different times together.
This of course, is done according to what the producers want to show/portray therefore to get the wanted
reaction back form the audience.
Robb Roetman is supervising editor for Reveille Studios, which produces Shear Genius
“Reality shows can shoot anywhere from 40 hours of footage to 200 hours depending on the show. After I
figure out which location, scene or event to search through, I can have anywhere from one to six hours of
footage to go through to find that elusive golden moment. When I watch footage I try to look for a moment
that makes me react or entertains me — makes me laugh, cry, sit on the edge of my seat, or teaches me
something. When I find that moment I build a scene around it.”
Sometimes an interview describes something that you don’t have footage to support. “If that’s the case I end
up creating a moment that supports the interview,” Roetman says. “Head turns are great for this.”
The biggest rule for Roetman is that the end product has to move the viewer and the story forward. “It
cannot be simply a montage or a series of shots depicting people going through a process like driving from
point A to B.”

10. Poe’s law by Nathan Poe
“ Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly
impossible to parody a Creationist in such a way that someone won't mistake it
for the genuine article.”
The idea of Poe’s law is that real events and parodies are so extreme now,
that one can be mistaken for the other.
This makes it hard for the audience distinguish one from the other therefore
accepting reality TV as “real” when is it most likely not.
In my opinion, this does not give the audience the much control they claim
to give them since they are basing their judgment on what is carefully
selected and manipulated and isn’t necessarily true (i.e. big brother)
BBC 4 Charlie Brooker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBwepkVurCI

11. What is the role of the Audience and
interaction
LOTS OF REALITY TV WORKS WITH INTERACTIVE
ELEMENTS: THE AUDIENCE IS PERCEIVED TO BE IN
CONTROL. CAN YOU CRITIQUE THIS?

12. Audience theory
Related to a number of academic theories about how products are consumed
by the audience and how active or interactive the consumption is.
Consumers/Audiences
Passive consumers: the audience accept what the text
contains.
Active consumers: the audience is able to read and
interpret media texts for themselves.
Passive consumers: the audience accept what the text
contains.
Active consumers: the audience is able to read and
interpret media texts for themselves

13. Audience theory
Is related to a number of academic theories about how products are consumed by the audience and how active
or interactive the consumption is.
Consumers/Audiences
Passive consumers: the audience accept what the text contains.
Active consumers: the audience is able to read and interpret media texts for themselves.
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE MODEL
The theory is based on the idea that the audience are passive consumers. This mean that they
consume media products without question, accepting the dominant ideology.
The producer encodes a product with an intended message and that message is then directly
received and fully accepted by the consumer.

14. x Factor
XFACTOR: The audience can vote,
therefore we become the text
producers. We believe that we are in
control of who wins.
Image- XFACTOr: Beth Hardy, 30th September 2012 19:00. Mirror (Online) Available
at:http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/the-final-12-x-factor-acts-1352296. Accessed:
November 7th, Wednesday 2012

15. Example of how an audience is
perceived
CASTAWAY (LION/BBC 2000) WOULD BE A GREAT
EXAMPLE OF THIS SITUATION, SIMULATED FOR THE
AUDIENCES’ ENTERTAINMENT. IT SAW STRUGGLES
BETWEENONE CONTESTANT, RON, AND THE
OTHERS…HE SUCCESSFULLY CLAIMED THAT THEY HAD
HIM-HE THREW A CHAIR AT THE WALL AND ON TV THIS
WAS CONSTRUCTED AS THROWING IT AT A PERSON.
WICKHAM P. (2007) UNDERSTANDING TELEVISION TEXT
(PAPERBACK), LONDON, THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE

16. Conclusion
Although mass media has progressed from where it
started I believe there is still space for the mass
media world to evolve. Technology is being created
every day and it is just a matter of time before the
new generation of media is created, technology we
use now becomes a thing of the past and production
companies find a new way to entertain us with new
programs.

17. Any Questions?