Steve Neale

Genre and Semiotics

Steve Neale (1980) defined genres as “specific variations of the interplay of codes” which moved from one film to the next through a process of “repetition and difference”. This definition might seem ridiculously complex, but a little explanation will help clarify what he meant.

First, using the language of semiotics, Neale described films as a “series of signifying processes” which created “meanings and positions”. For instance, the use of costume can help locate the story in a particular social and historical context, the audience knows a character is angry if the actor delivers their lines in a violent or aggressive manner, and the use of pulsing heartbeats and eerie music in a scary film can make us cower behind a pillow in fear.

Of course, films can also encode certain ideologies and values through the representation of character, setting and plot. This is epitomised by war films which might shock the audience with their depictions of senseless violence or position us to view the conflict as a heroic battle between good and evil. You should also consider Laura Mulvey’s concept of the male gaze and the negative impact the narrow representation of gender on the big screen has on the audience’s attitude towards women.

Anyway, a film’s message is encoded through costumes, sets, dialogue, non-diegetic sound, camera shots and movement, lighting techniques, narrative structure, and many other signs. This is what Neale meant by the “interplay of codes”.

We can then try to group texts according to their combination of these codes. If you are searching for something to watch on your favourite streaming service, for example, you can expect science fiction films to have spaceships, interstellar travel, alien creatures, and dystopian futures. By contrast, horror films will include supernatural disturbances, evil powers, and gore. These are the “specific variations” of codes.

Although we mostly think about genre as the “repetition” of codes, each film will actually construct meaning through their own unique combination of signs. Some science fiction stories are set “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” while others “boldly go where no one has gone before”. This is the “difference”.