2. JOHN FISKE
John Fiske (born 1939) is a media scholar who has taught
around the world. He was a Professor of Communication Arts at
the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His areas of interest
include cultural studies, popular culture, media semiotics and
television studies. Fiske discussed how genre acts as a
convenience for producers and audiences. This would suggest
that genre merely acts as a way for an audience to easily
establish a film in a category. It has been suggested that
western and modern society requires order and cannot receive
texts without it being associated with a category or conventions
to follow. This would apply to our short film as it our narrative
follows romantic conventions with the relationship between Ellie
and Sam, the use of flowers and their representation of love and
the constant communication between the pair , thus making it
convenient for our audience to receive it in that way.
3. JOHN HARTLEY
Hartley has published over twenty books about communication,
journalism, media and cultural studies, and over 200 papers. His
works have been translated into over a dozen languages. He
published his first book, Reading Television, in 1978. The book,
co-authored with John Fiske, was the first to analyse television
from a cultural perspective, and is considered a defining
publication in the field. His theory based on genre is that it is
interpreted culturally, therefore indicating that we establish
genre based on the culture that surrounds us. This would link to
our short film as it is clear that the issue within our short film
the way Ellie desperately wants to attend the prom – a very
westernised event that has culturally developed into a coming of
age event. Therefore, this would link to Hartley’s theory as it
would suggest that we have constructed our genre based on
what is culturally a romantic event that all teenagers attend.
4. DANIEL CHANDLER
Daniel Chandler (born 1952) is a British visual semiotician based
(since 2001) at the department of Theatre, Film and Television
Studies at Aberystwyth University (where he has taught since
1989). His best-known publication is Semiotics: The Basics
(Routledge: 1st edn 2002, 2nd edn 2007), which is frequently
used as a basis for University courses in semiotics, and the
online version 'Semiotics for Beginners' (online since 1995). He
spoke of how genre is too restricting on films and can lead
directors into moving away from adding their own individuality
on their products because of the conventions of genres in film.
This would link into the nature of our genre as we follow a
romantic drama theme and therefore any use of comedy or light
heartedness would be unusual. Therefore, in this sense we were
restricted in the way we constructed our short film as without
these conventions we may have chosen to use more light-
hearted aspects.
5. DAVID BUCKINGHAM
David said that "Genre is not ... simply 'given' by the culture:
rather, it is in a constant state of negotiation and change.“ He
believes that genres change over time and are moulded
constantly by society. Also that children and young people have
identities that do not exist at all or are constantly changing. He
also believed that media reveals the bad side of the world
leading to parents keeping their children indoors to hide them
from this reality . Children consequently spend to much time
around various types of media such as TV's and computers
which would lead them to learning to much about the world and
are going through constant change due to the amount views,
opinions and cultures that they observe. This would link to the
genre of our short film as it touches upon the power of image in
this culture. The inflation of the use of social media and the
pressure on young people to be appealing online and to their
peers is a key aspect of our film in that Ellie craves to have a
normal teenage life and attend the prom.
6. BARRY KEITH GRANT
Grant spoke of how despite their being a set amount of genres
within film, that there is an endless amount of sub genres that
ultimately take over the meaning of a specific genre. Some may
argue it divides films into more specific categories and would
make it easier for audiences to understand the films nature.
Similarly, Grant argues that it is these sub genres that really
establish the films content as it zooms in on certain conventions
the film will follow. Our short film is directed towards a romantic
drama sub genre and therefore will look into the trials and
tribulations of achieving a romantic relationship. Interestingly, in
the 1960’s romantic drama was orientated on the struggle for
marriage or how couples had to face obstacles before they
could be married which created a dramatic situation. However,
in today’s culture is more based on obstacles couple face to
have sexual relations and have more casual interactions.
7. RICK ALTMAN
Altman created two categories for his theory of how genres create
pleasures for the audience.
The Semantic Element:
• Things that are signified and made obvious that they are being
shown to the audience. For example in the portrayal of American
Street there will be big bold jewellery, money, young attractive girls
and expensive cars on screen.
The Syntactic Element:
• Things that appear not so obvious to the audience. This could be
how the director is portraying a certain mood or theme with colours
or tones.
Altman makes it clear in other theories that the audience is given
certain pleasures especially in the conclusion of films. For example, in
our final scene Sam is in Ellie’s home an aspect the audience almost
asks for throughout the plot as they think the father is being too
controlling. Therefore, in doing so and not ending the plot with the
extended dismay of the father the audience is given the pleasure of
seeing a positive and emotional ending.
