We have been studying various Media theorists and the genre concepts that they enforce. Rick Altman, Edward Buscombe, Richard Maltby, Ian Craven and John Fiske are all influential Media theorists, and it is of the utmost importance to understand their theories and apply them to my own project.
Richard Altman, the writer of A Theory of Narrative, believes that genre is negative, it restricts space for thought and discovery and turns viewers into passive voyeurs- taking in everything the Media feeds them. However, the main point of this theory is that genre doesn't acknowledged the hybrid- and every film or genre of music draws from various other genres, so it is ignorant just to put things into one box. John Fiske, a media scholar, shares the belief of Altman, that there are a variety of characteristics within each genre, but the viewer needs to decide what genre is the 'main' genre- where most of the icons within that genre are present. In terms of Dora and I's music video for 'Pumpkin Soup' by Kate Nash, the female solo artist genre is strongly apparent by the styling of the music video, the song we've used and a few scenes that have been influenced by singers like Gwen Stefani and Beyonce (a 'studio' scene cut with juxtaposed with situational scenes) - however, indie-pop subgenres are very influential as the styling has a 'kooky' edge and we've tried to incorperate humour into the situational scenes.
Edward Buscombe, an editor at the British Film Institute believes that iconology is the best way to achieve generic definitions- and this also comes under the umbrella of auteur theory, where symbolism within the Media is so distinct that you can tell who made the film- not just what genre it is. In basic terms of genre- the symbols of money, guns, New York accents and suits are common attribute of gangster films like Goodfellas. In regards to auteur theory- camera shots from a car boot, close ups of women's feet, characters framed in doorways and the phrase 'Bingo!' are all trademarks of the auteur Quentin Tarantino. We have tried to use iconology within our project to try and present the indie-pop edge to the audience via the forms of retro dresses and make up as well a kind of sillyness and 'not taking yourself too seriously' mindset that comes with singers like Katy Perry and Kate Nash.
Richard Maltby & Ian Craven strongly hold the belief that the success of Hollywood relies on predictable elements with a slight variation- as audiences like to pre-read texts and know exactly what they're watching before they go in to see a film. We have tried to go against this by creating a very unique storyline and look to our music video.
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