stephen neale – a uk based theorist with an enormous contribution to genre studies. Neale views genre as a process, meaning that they evolve over time.

repertoire of elements – identifiable aspects of text belonging to the corpus

corpus – group of texts identified as belonging to the same genre

hybridisation – mixing one genre with another

historic specificity – belonging to a particular time period

repetition/sameness – repeated successful tropes in genre that allow parts of the genre to be recognised more.

variation/change – the tendency for genre texts to reformulate with new qualities to prevent audiences from becoming tired of a formula

narrative image – expectations of a genre text based on its label often passed from word to mouth

expectations and hypotheses – requirements to be fulfilled, and narrative and other predictions made by an audience based onprior experience of a genre

suspend disbelief – a sense of connection or belief the audience has to maintain to invest themselves in the story

generic regime of verisimilitude –norms and laws of a genre

Repertoire of elements – covers the theory that a certain genre of film will have similar characters.

Corpus – the body of text.

Hybridisation – The merging of different genres to create new genres.

Historic specificity – genres associated with different time periods.

Repetition and sameness/ Variation of change –  Meaning there is a fine line between changing too little and changing too much where it becomes unfamiliar 

Expectations and hypotheses -the assumptions of the audience based on how its represented.

Narrative image –  Telling a story through moving image and how its viewed and he genre is represented.

Suspended disbelief – the audience imburse themselves into the media form ad the characters or story’s.

• Repertoire of elements- the idea that all films in a genre has similar features.
• Corpus- a collection of texts which are similar.
• Hybridisation- a genre which is a mix of new and different genres.
• Historic specificity-genres that are associated with a specific time period.
• Repetition and sameness- features of a genre being constantly repeated throughout other texts.
• Variation and change-features of a genre being changed throughout different texts.
• Narrative image- visual story
• Expectations and hypotheses- the preconceived ideas that the spectator holds due to past viewings of texts from that genre.
• Suspend disbelief- the spectator buys into the film and becomes emotionally attached.
• Generic regime of verisimilitude- what is probable in a genre text which match up with personal experiences/ other texts.

Repertoire of elements – the theory that a certain genre of film will have similar characters

Corpus – a large structured bit of text, the body of the work

Hybridisation – combining two or more things

Historic specificity – associated with specific time periods

repetition and sameness – genre text producers walk a fine line between repeating successful formulas with only minor variations

variation and change – sufficiently allow familiarity but also make the audience feel the product they are consuming is fresh

narrative image – visual story telling

expectations and hypotheses – the assumptions of the audience based on how its represented

suspend disbelief – ‘buy’ into the film, narrative, character etc

generic regime of verisimilitude – what is probable or likely within a genre / very similar

Repertoire of elements= identifiable aspects of texts belonging to the corpus in genre theory

corpus= A group of texts identified with belonging to the same genre

Hybridisation= The mixing of one genre with another

Historic specificity= Belonging to a specific time period

Repetition and sameness= The tendency of genre texts to repeat aspects of successful formulas

Variation and change= The tendency of genre texts to reformulate with new qualities to prevent audiences from becoming bored of a formula

Narrative image= the expectations of a genre text based on its label often passed by word of mouth

Expectations and hypotheses= Requirements to be fulfilled and narrative and other predictions made by an audience based on their prior experience of a genre

Suspend disbelief= allowing yourself to be immersed in a fictional world

Repertoire of elements – the certain features that are expected in a genre which are often described as the ‘repertoire of elements’.

Corpus – the ‘body’, there has to be enough texts in a genre for ir to be recognised as a genre 

Hybridisation – the joining of multiple genres

Historic specificity – genres are associated with specific time periods/ may have been popular then due to cultural, economic or historical factors 

Repetition and sameness/Variation and change – means there is a fine line between media creators changing too little and the text becoming boring and changing too much where it becomes unfamiliar 

Narrative image – the way the text is organised to tell a story 

Expectations and hypotheses – the audiences previous experiences of the genre  

Suspended disbelief – when the audience buy in to the film/characters/tv narrative

Generic regime of verisimilitude – what is likely in the text 

Conventions and rules – Technical, written and symbolic tools used to construct or suggest meaning in media forms and products

Sub-genre – a more specific category within a genre 

Hybridity – the merging of genres 

Genres of order and integration (Thomas Schatz) – Genres of order value individualism and personal sacrifice. This genre sees violence as justified in certain circumstances and the heroes’ role is to reinstate the social order that has been undermined by the threat. Genres of integration value collectives and groups who communicate and cooperate for the general good. Negotiation and compromise are often used to help solve problems so that whatever has threatened the equilibrium can find a way to be integrated into the community. 

‘Genre as cultural category’ (ie an expression of a social, cultural and historical moment; again Thomas Schatz writes about how genres change over time and are indicative of the time in which they were made and of which they are representative)

Stephen Neale – UK-based film theorist, says that genres consist of repeated features (repertoire of elements and differences, views genre as a process

Repertoire of elements – repeated features that are identical and recognisable as a specif genre eg horror = dark, jump scares, night, groups of people

Corpus – Genres evolve as new texts are added to similar texts, some differences are added to engage the audience, body of the genre

Hybridisation – The merging of different genres to create a sub-genre , more than one genre in a text

Historic specificity – Genres that are associated with certain periods of time and were popular at a certain time

Repetition and sameness – Texts could get boring if the they’re exactly the same as other texts

Variation and change – Variations / new features need to be added so the audience remains interested and doesn’t feel like it’s something they’ve seen before

Narrative image – Tells a story through moving image, and closely follows a narrative structure to similar texts in that genre

Expectations and hypotheses – Audiences like to predict what’s going to happen, eg in a horror film you can tell when something’s going to happen like a jump scare because the music builds up or it’s silent and the camera’s moving rapidly between shots

Suspend disbelief – The audience needs to care about the characters in order for them to remain interested in the text this can be done by making them think a certain thing may happen (audience positioning)

Generic regime of verisimilitude – making things very similar so they’re believable

• Conventions and rules – There are certain rules / structures / features that need to be included in a text to make it a certain genre

• Sub-genre – A genre that has derived from the original main genre but doesn’t contain all of the required features and can have differences to this as well

Genres of order – Value individualism and personal sacrifice, violence justified in some situations, heroes’ role = reinstate social order

genres of integration – Value collectives and groups who communicate and operate for the general good, integrate threat to equilibrium to community

• ‘Genre as cultural category’ –

Stephen Neale: A prominent UK based film theorist who has contributed to the field of genre studies.

Repertoire of Elements: A group of conventions that a product of a genre adheres to.

Corpus: A body of similar texts that new texts are added to.

Hybridization: The merging of different genres to create new ones.

Historic Specificity: When a genre is associated with a certain time period.

Repetition and Sameness: The regular conventions of the genre not changing due to new products in the genre

Variation and change: The change of conventions in a genre or the introduction of new conventions.

Narrative Image: How audiences view the genre based on how it is presented.

Expectations and hypotheses: The assumptions of what a product contains based on conventions used in marketing.

Suspend Disbelief: How the creators get an audience to immerse themselves in a product.

Generic Regime of Verisimilitude:

Conventions and rules: The dominant ideas of what a genre should contain.

Sub-genre: A subdivision of a genre

Hybridity:

Genres of Order and Integration:

Genre as cultural category:

Stephen Neale = UK based film theorist who came up with the theory that views genre as a process rather than a collection of groups that always consist of the same elements to make them fit in the same genre.

Repertoire of elements = this is when a film contains similar attributes to all other films of its type. It is full of generic things that the audience would expect from that genre of film.

Corpus = genres evolve continually as new texts are added to the body of similar texts.

Hybridisation = fusing together two different genres to make a new genre. e.g Rom-com.

Historic Specificity = media which is associated with specific time periods.

Repetition and Sameness = when successful methods or formulas are repeated with only slight adjustments.

Variation and Change = varying the product sufficiently to make sure it is still fresh for the audience, but is also still allowing familiarity.

Narrative Image = this is using the power of image to tell a narrative and grab attention.

Expectations and Hypotheses = audiences find it interesting to have a similar and predictable story.

Suspend Belief = allow the audience to become immersed into the story and feel a connection with the characters.

Generic Regime of Verisimilitude = sticking to generally very similar formulas in order to keep the audience engaged and allow a bit of predictability.

Conventions and Rules = generally accepted

Conventions and Rules –

Sub-Genre –

Hybridity –

Genres of order and integration –

‘Genre as cultural category’ –

Repertoire of Elements – Key elements of a film that are consistently repeated throughout a genre

Corpus – Body of the genre

Hybridization – More than one genre of the film

Historic Specificity – Associated with different time periods

Repetition and Sameness – Idea of the genre not changing but become a new product with the genre

Variation and Change – A slight change

Expectations and Hypotheses –

Suspend Disbelief –

Generic Regime of Verisimilitude –