3 Exam Questions Preperation

1.Genre texts have sometimes been criticised for being predictable and unimaginative. Discuss

Introduction: I would start by going through a genre timeline stating the specific most well known films to the genre such as physco and nightmare on elm street and outline where i believe the peak was of this genre in terms of audiences going to the cinema to watch it.

Para 1: Talk about the changes in target audiences and audiences expectations throughout the slasher films genre

Para 2: Audience expectations would change throughout time so the genre would need to as well which it does in the 90s

Para 3: Compare the codes conventions and iconography of Halloween/ nightmare on elm street (70s/80s slasher ) to post modern scream and scary movie

Para 4: Whether changes in the genre and films reflect the zeitgeist of the 80s and 90s especially in reference to it being to predictable i.e feminism bringing out more fighting qualities in the final girl

Para 5: Talk about similarities between old and new slasher films and whether the differences are big enough to suggest the genre isn't predictable

Conclusion: I think that for a while they were guilty of becoming dull and predictable especially for a period in the late 70s and early 80s because they were so similar that audiences knew what was going to happen and that the final girl will survive but with the emergence of Wes craven new nightmare, scream and scary movie i know longer believe this is the case because their narrative plots have changed to appeal to their new audiences.




2. Do media producers rely too heavily on tried and tested genres? Discuss with specific examples

Introduction: I would start by bringing out the example of the zeitgeist that was around in the time of the 70s and 80s and compare that to what happened in the 90s and 00s i.e for teenagers having to rely more on themselves rather than their parents

Para 1: Highlight the limited technology that producers had in the past as a way of justifying that they did actually have to rely on the tried and tested formulas

Para 2: Talk about audience expectations as well as keeping them happy by producing the same story lines, settings and iconography that they had become accustomed to

Para 3: Censorship that stopped producers allowing audiences to see sexual material or extreme violence therefore forcing them to carry on showing what they had previously shown

Para 4: Talk about the "rules" that had proved successful for audiences in the past and why they wouldn't need to change them as long as they kept putting people in seats and making money ( why change a winning formula)

Para 5: The reason for why they would want to change and put new spins on the slasher genre -bring up examples such as positive representation of females because they have daughters or wives they are proud of

Conclusion: I think they did rely on it to a massive extent in the past and this was shown through movies such as Friday the 13Th and nightmare on elm street being similar, however in order to appeal to a younger more higher expecting generation they have had to alter the genre to make it more dynamic such as use more unexpected ways for the killer to murder someone.




3.Outline recent significant development in one genre of your choice. Illustrate your answers with examples

Intoduction: open by saying which genre i would choose and explaining why i chose that genre over others, i would pick slasher as that is what i have got a recent exposure to.

Para 1: State which movies i would be picking to dicsuss the comparsion between, i would pick texas chainsaw massacre 1 and 2 aswell as halloween and scream

Para 2: Explain terms we have learnt in class such as the audiences knowingness that seperates post modern from the movies in the past that have come before it.

Para 3: Highlight Scream and scary movie in particualr making intertextuality refrences to other films in the slasher genres in an attempt to create irony and poke fun of the genre formula and set of "rules" that have been put in place by directors of past genre movies (parody)

Para 4: I would label what is in the mise en scene and make reference to what is going on in society at the time and how it reflects what is being shown in the slasher film i.e the level of blood or sexual material

Para 5: Talk about how post modern slasher films rejuvenated the genre with its use of pastiche, narrative twists and enigma codes that weren't apparent in the likes of physco, Friday the 13Th and others and how the institutions making these films affected what was shown and how it has been developed

Conclusion: The slasher film genre has developed majorly within the last 30 years because of a number of things including changes of audience expectations, censorship and updated zeitgeists i believe producers have been forced to change the style of the slasher genre to keep up with the changing times which is why their is such a difference from what has been displayed 30 or 40 years ago compared to the 21st century.