Genre? Tell Me More! - CIU110 #2

Genre

Genre to me is the separation of creative media pieces. It’s how we organise them, how we section them and make specific pieces easier to find.  Genre is used across almost all styles of creative media. And example of one of these styles is Film. Film contains a huge amount of different genres and sub genres, such as Romance, Horror, Drama, etc. 

Another definition of genre is “Genre can be understood as the categorisation of media texts according to shared characteristics. Arising from film studies (and before that literary and art criticism), the term can also be applied to fiction, popular music and television as well as media not usually thought of in generic terms, such as magazines or even news reporting.”(Hartley, J. (2002). Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, The Key Concepts. 3rd ed. USA: Routledge, p.96.)

In this post I will be writing about the genre of the film Your Name.

Your Name

Your Name is a Japanese animated romantic drama. It's plot consists of a teenage boy and girl embarking on a quest to meet each other for the first time after they magically swap bodies in their dreams. 

Genre In Relation to Your Name

The genre that this post will be focusing on within Your Name is Romance. This animated film can be classed as romantic through the manipulation of characters and the main plot.

The characters in Your Name slowly fall in love over the course of a few weeks, constantly swapping between each other bodies. They never meet while this is happening, but begin to release their feelings towards the middle of the film. They grow closer together progressively until the main climax occurs and they stop swapping bodies and their connection is cut. This puts obvious stress on their relationship but also makes them realise their love for each other. This issue is resolved at the end of the movie when they are finally united with each other years later. 

How Genre is Used In Audio

Genre is used throughout audio, although most commonly seen in the music industry. It separates various types of music into sections, making it easier for certain styles or artists to be found in relation to the music they produce. Some examples of genre in the music industry are, but not limited to; Rock, Pop, EDM, Jazz, Blues, Classical, etc. 

What I Have Learnt About Genre

I have learnt that genre can be a lot more than just a label that separates cd's in a music store or DVD's in a movie store, but a classification of fiction, magazines and even news reporting.