1. MEDIA STUDIES
Theoretical Concepts
GENRE
STEVE NEALE

2. GENRE
WJEC: SPEC
The idea that genres may be dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference, variation, and change.
The idea that genres change, develop, and vary, as they borrow from and overlap with one another.
The idea that genres exist within specific economic, institutional and industrial contexts.
THEORIST
Steve Neale
Steve Neale is a British analytic philosopher whose work reflects meaning, interpretation and communication in Hollywood cinema.

3. GENRE 1.Pleasure (Audience Gratification):
Neale's work reflects on the concept of ‘Genre’, and how genres depend on their ability to change or adapt in order to survive. If films follow genre conventions too much, they become too predictable.
1.Pleasure (Audience Gratification):
Neale argues that audience/viewer pleasure is derived from ‘repetition and difference’ and that there would be no pleasure experience, without difference.
2.Expectations (Meeting Audience Needs):
Neale therefore believes that Genre must fulfill audience expectations - giving the public what they want and desire from a media text, while also being different in its construction.
5.Familiarity with Innovation:
Neale calls this approach ‘Familiarity with Innovation’. If genres do not adapt over time, they become too formulaic, too predictable, and therefore eventually die out.