Genre essay

The media production I am going to write about in relation to genre is my short film that was done for A2, ‘Jeté’ which was my preferred piece from the course.

The genre of my short film is a drama. Dramas are quite a broad genre; therefore it is difficult to name the specific components as they often contain a wide variety from many different ones to make them successful however there are many sub-genres of drama; my film falls into the subgenre teen drama, similar to the full length film ‘Step-up’. ‘Jeté’ may also be classed as a dance film, which in recent years, due to increased popularity has become a new genre in itself. Steve Neal (1980) said that all genres are instances of repetition and difference. This means that certain generic feature had to be included, which in my case was that, due to the fact that dramas also usually reflect reality, I made the decision to use natural lighting, costumes and props. For example, I used daylight as much as possible throughout the film, shooting outside scenes during the morning and inside scenes, leaving natural light to come through the windows. In terms of costume and props, the main character wore a leotard and tights when dancing and had her hair up in a pony tail for most of the film, which also reflects the stereotypes of a dancer. In a dance genre, there are usually specific components such as the fact that the film is based around music and dance. This was the case in my film, as it built up to my protagonist auditioning at a dance college consisting of several scenes in which she danced, including montage shots when she rehearsed and an audition scene. This was done to create a sense of verisimilitude.

The narrative of a drama usually tends to emphasise on the plot and what happens next, which arouses curiosity about the story line. I have followed this convention through the use of the framing. For example, when our main character is at the audition, I did not include the judges in the shots which left the audience to merely hear their voices as they spoke creating a sense of mystery. At the end, I have also created suspense by leaving the film on a cliff-hanger where the final shot is a close up of the protagonist’s face showing her smiling slightly as she opens a letter. We do not, however, learn the outcome and what the letter says. This draws the audience in as it allows the audience open to their own interpretation of what happens next. This is a convention of the drama genre, yet is possibly more related to TV dramas such as Eastenders or Hollyoaks which always leave their viewers in suspense at the end of each episode and wanting to watch more. In this way, I have challenged conventions.

It is important for the target audience to identify with the main character as this is one of the conventions of a drama. In a film or a TV drama, there is a lot longer to establish that connection between audience and the protagonist. However as I was doing a short film, it was important to help the audience relate right from the start. In doing this, I decided to challenge conventions of the dance genre through the representation of our main character, Faye. In most dance films, the protagonist represented is usually under-privileged and the cast is made up from multi-cultural backgrounds. I, however have a white, middle classed girl. I found that this helped our target audience to identify and relate to her as they are the same age and of the same background. This also helped us create a simple representation that would target our audience directly. However having done his I realise we have ignored a more multi-cultural audience and thus our short film targets a particularly niche audience – the feedback we received from distributing this on YouTube confirmed this as well. We have also helped the audience to relate to her through the use of camera angles and shots. For example, I included extreme close ups of her facial expressions, which brought the audience closer to her.

Editing and mise-en-scene is really important to genre as it very quickly helps to establish moods and atmospheres. The ways in which I have used the locations help to reflect and demonstrate the mood of the central character. The scene in which she rehearses is set in a dance studio with white walls. This reflects the fact that she is relaxed and in a comfortable environment. This contrasts to the scene in which she has her audition which was in a room with black walls which showed a situation where she was not at ease and nervous.

The point of a drama is that the audience believes that it could really happen or has happened and I believe my product fitted successfully into the drama genre using techniques such as believable characters helping to successfully create a sense of verisimilitude.