1. Key concepts GENRE
KEY CONCEPT - GENRE
• Genre is a French word for 'type' or
category. Genres have certain distinctive
main features. These features have come
to be well understood and recognized
through being repeated over a period of
time.

2. Key concepts GENRE
GENRE
• Genres have a certain amount of
predictability and repeated elements,
which make them distinctive and which
help to define them. All genres have a
portfolio of key elements from which they
are composed. Not all examples of a
genre will have all the elements all the
time. It is these elements which make up
the formula or a repetition of elements
of a given genre.

3. Key concepts GENRE
GENRE
Repetoire or repetition of elements
• Protagonists
• Stock characters
• Plots and stock situations
• Icons
• Themes

4. Key concepts GENRE
Protagonists
• All genres have recognisable protagonists
or lead characters. These may be heroes
and/or villains. Sometimes these lead
males and females are so predictable that
they have the same qualities across a
number of genres.

5. Key concepts GENRE
Protagonists
• Male characters are portrayed as
courageous and they are good
looking, and likely to rescue a lady
in distress at some point. These
male protagonists are usually
loners, with some form of fallibility
or weakness.
• Spiderman is deeply in love with
Mary Jane.
• Exercise: Name 2 male leads with
weaknesses.

6. Key concepts GENRE
Protagonists
• The lead female is also usually very good
looking and plays second fiddle to the male
hero.
• Although there are exceptions to this case –
Ripley in the Aliens trilogy is a strong female
character.
• In other genres such as quiz shows, news
programmes and garden programmes also have
a kind of protagonist who isn’t much different
from one show to another.

7. Key concepts GENRE
Stock characters
• Another part of the formula of genre,
includes recognisable though minor
characters. These are called stock
characters.
• In science fiction texts the stock
characters are the scientist, aliens, robots.
• In news programmes the on the spot
reporter, academics who are specialists in
their field, eye witnesses, weather
man/woman would be considered stock
characters.

8. Key concepts GENRE
Stock characters
Exercise: Can you name the stock
characters from any other media text.
For example horror films, soaps, sit-
coms, reality TV programmes.

9. Key concepts GENRE
Plots and Stock Situations
• The storylines or parts of them are also
predictable and recognisable. However
complicated the stories are in soaps, there
is bound to be a scene in which someone
turns up from the past and has some form
of confrontation.
• In horror films there is the presence of the
stock situation of the monster killing
someone or a shootout in a western.

10. Key concepts GENRE
Icons
• This element is crucial to genre because, it is
the aspect of genre we immediately recognise
and lock into. The main types of icon are
1. Props
2. Costumes
3. Settings
4. Themes
5. Stars
6. Sounds

11. Key concepts GENRE
Icons/Iconography
Iconography: Those particular signs that we associate
with particular genres.
• Props: Props such as guns can instantly tell us about
the genre of the film. A Colt 45 will inform the audience
it is a western, a laser or ray gun that it is a science
fiction film. Props also stand for the main ideas and
themes of the genre. For example Big Ben in news
programmes stands for authority and integrity.
Name other props that are associated with specific genres.
2. Costumes: Specific costumes can be associated with
specific genres. For example: astronaut suits –
Science Fiction, sombrero – westerns, expensive suits
– gangster, bright colourful colours on TV – children’s
programmes, suits – News programmes.

12. Key concepts GENRE
Icons
3. Settings: These elements are typical,
distinctive and recognisable for a given genre.
Their importance varies from text to text. The
settings of quiz shows such as Weakest Link
and Question of Sport are very distinctive.
4. The themes or ideas which run through and
come out of the stories are very much part of
genres. Themes also tie in with the value
messages that the genre is projecting. For
example, all genre narratives say something
about conflict between good and evil. But the
theme of the fear of technology is central to
Science Fiction films, not other genres. Fear of
the unknown is central to horror.

13. Key concepts GENRE
Icons
5. Stars: Some stars or celebrities become
associated with specific genres. Arnold
Schwarzenegger is associated with action
films, John Wayne with westerns, Bruce
Lee/ Jackie Chan martial arts, Hugh Grant
with romantic comedies.
6. Sounds: Some sounds are instantly
associated with specific genres. A
creaking door with horror, a sound of a
space ship with science fiction.

14. Key concepts GENRE
GENRE
• Repetition and Difference: Most media
texts have a pattern of repetition and
difference. They have identifiable
similarities, but also contain new elements
or similar elements used in new ways.
• Hybridity/Hybrid: The fusion or
combination of different genre styles