Blog post two - understanding genre

This week, I'd like to begin by establishing the three different areas (the weird cards we had to pick out; which was for me. Comedy and Animation) that i am going to discuss in relation to the topic of the week which is, you guessed it. Genre.

What is genre?

Genre is usually a label, something that is applied to a type of media. (Romance, science- fiction, horror, comedy, etc.) Why do this? What does adding extra words to a piece of media do? Well these words allow the consumers to navigate their way through the wide spread of media that is available in the current world. To secure what they want to watch, based on their own preferences.

"Genre can be understood as the categorisation of media texts according to shared characteristics"

Genre is also something that can affect both the consumers and the creators.

So it shouldn't be something so easily overlooked as a type of label that you want your own product to be seen as or associated with.

For example, lets take Disney as the creator and discuss how they want their media; animation to be presented. I personally love seeing the potential that could of been zootpia through different genres, my favourite part of the video is the thriller edit, as it gives a nice contrast to what disney films could be like if they were created to an older audience.

Zootopia

So, after a quick google search; the film is categorised as genre of a Family, animation, Comedy, adventure, mystery and crime film. What I have included above, is a video that i am using as the main example of how Disney's well known and adored Zootopia could have been perceived if the creators chose a different direction on how they wanted their animation to be received by their consumers.

"A comedy is defined as a film in which the main emphasis is on humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement and most often work by exaggerating characteristics for humorous effect."

This definition that I found on wikipedia created a nice base to continue my thought on why this popular genre is used by Disney. They are creators that target their products (ie; films) towards a younger audience and as such there content in their films must be age appropriate. As we have seen over time - less films that are against the socially acceptable 'norm'. Mulan for instance, would bring issues in a modern audience if it contained the issue of a 'cross dresser' being called out upon. (yes I know its minor and was only commented once upon in the entire film but it still has a point) as it degrades current social standards of equality and undermines the minority.

So comedy is usually a lighter form to present a film. As the expectations is to be entertaining and providing commentary that pokes fun at modern society and its issues. Which is what zootopia does exceptionally well! Disney created this world to be established by animals and the different species are catergorised under 'predator' or 'prey'. By doing this you can already see there is a rivalry and separation between the two. So notions like a bunny becoming a cop is laughed upon in this setting. what I also appreciate is the subtle attention drawn out by each animal and the quirks they have that add to the comedy of the film. the most iconic is the sloths slow movements during the number plate retrieval.

All in all, comedy used by Disney in most of their films as this genre is accepted and even sought after by a large population which then expands there audience from their targeted audience of children to also teens and adults. the genre is fun and offers an easy way to capture the audiences attention to deliver their story and most importantly their underlying messages.

Thanks for reading!

references --

ZOOTOPIA BUT IN 7 DIFFERENT GENRES. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 20 February 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NezWUqPDwNA

Comedy film. (2018). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 6 February 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_film