[7.1] Teaching Film/Television Genres, Comics/Graphic Novels, and Popular Music

[7.2] Different Approaches to Genre Study

[7.3] Audience-based Approach

[7.4] Critical/Ideological Analysis Approach

[7.5] Film Versus Television Genres

[7.6] Resources on Different Genre Types

[7.7] Analyzing Different Genre Types

[7.7a] Action/Adventure

[7.7b] The Western

[7.7c] Gangster/Crime

[7.7d] Detective/Film Noir

[7.7e] Comedy

[7.7f] Science Fiction/Fantasy

[7.7g] Horror/Monster

[7.7h] Suspense Thriller/Spy/Heist

[7.7i] Soap Opera

[7.7j] The Talk Show

[7.7k] Sports

[7.7l] Game Shows/
Reality TV

[7.7m] Animation

[7.7n] Comics

[7.7o] Graphic Novels

[7.7p] Music

[7.8] Music

[7.9] References

[7.10] Final Task

Powerpoints

In this final task, working in pairs, you will present an analysis of a particular genre to your peers so that you are informing them about a range of different genres. You and your partner may select a very unique micro-genre to present, particularly unusual genres found on television, such as reality-TV dating-game shows, evangelical talk shows, sports-talk shows, inforcommerical shows, buying/auction shows, MTV-video type shows, as well as particular variations on the genres contained in this Chapter, such as the lab-based crime detective shows. You should be able to find a trailer clip or visual still to illustrate your presentation.

1. E-mail your partner and decide on a particular genre to present to your peers.

2. Do some research on your genre by going on the Web via Google (type in name of genre) or using the links in this Chapter.

3. Summarize the key components of your genre in terms of the:
- prototypical roles
- setting(s)
- language/discourse
- typical storylines in terms of the problems/issues dealt with (“crime”), who solves the problem (“the tough cop”), the means used to solve the problem (“violence”), and themes (“that crime doesn’t pay”), and value assumptions (“eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”).

4. Find a visual still clip (from the Web) or URL that contains a video clip (trailers would be very useful—go to the trailer sites

http://www.apple.com/trailers/
http://www.movie-list.com/
http://home.real.com/?src=rg
http://www.theater.nl/onstage/0,2083,1753,00.html
http://www.hollywood.com/multimedia/
http://uk.imdb.com/Sections/Trailers/
http://www.sonypictures.com/spe/zones/clip_vault_index.html

5. Prepare a summary in Word or Powerpoint. Save your file as a Web page (pull down File =>save as Web Page). Then, move it to your personal Web space.

6. Share your summary with your group members by featuring your URL in your office as a specific time. Each pair will have 20 minutes to present and foster discussion. Peers could provide their own related examples of media texts triggered by the presentation. Peers could also give feedback by further interrogate the value assumptions associated with the genre presented.