Pop Genres 2020

Week 12: Reality TV part 2

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

As discussed in the previous lesson, Reality TV is a TV show with combined elements of documentary, free cinema, direct cinema and documentary TV. In the modern era, Reality TV is equipped with many entertainment and special effects, which is what we know as Reality TV (Smith, 2020).

Reality TV can be said to be the hybrid reality genre. As according to Wood (2004), Reality TV is a kind of hybrid programme with expression elements of fact, fiction, entertainment and advertisement. Fact; is the discourse of sobriety that represent the state of affair of the real world. Fiction; is a unique imaginary domain of creativity. Entertainment; like exhibition activities such as concert, competitions and game shows, convoy a theatrical sense of reality as performance. Advertisement; promotion of particular a product which reveals the material reality with magical inducements and satisfactions.

However, this explanation is too perfunctory, because with the evolution of the times, the expansion of the media and the continuous improvement of technology along with the economic solution. Therefore, Reality TV has also derived a diversified state via re-enactment, diversion, absorption and infomercial. Re-enactment, the use of fictitious technology to create continuity of context, is to establish reality through fictional events. Diversion is an entertainment mode that diversifies the original monotonous form into extraordinary form through diversified methods. Absorption, a reconstruction method by combining with factual reference and fictional technique to enhance the dramatic impact. The infomercial is the combination of advertising and current affairs, which narrates the story of the product by utilizing news broadcasts method along with the explanation of experts and consumers (Wood, 2004).

Reality TV can also be said to be a diversified genre, which combines many aspects of fine follow. As according to Author, Reality TV was first derived from Tabloid Journalism and popular entertainment in its early history, combined with recording method of documentary TV (Hill, 2005). If combined with the development notions of re-enactment, diversion, absorption and infomercial mentioned by wood (2004), then it is the so-called formats of infotainment, docu-soap, lifestyle and reality game show. Infotainment is a combination of information and entertainment, usually reporting a major event including “hard news”, interviews, interviews with celebrities and stories with drama, a compelling event or a trend, representing the spirit of the times, despite these The topic is often not current affairs news at all, but attracts the audience to know some new information (Hill, 2005). Docu-Soap is the combination of observational documentary and character-driven drama. To put it simply, it is to record the facts of special characters when facing various situations, such as rescue 911, cops airport is the so-called popular factual shows (Hill, 2005). Lifestyle is a leisure and fun program, is the involvement of ordinary people and their ordinary leisure interests with experts who transform the ordinary into the extraordinary (Hill, 2005). Reality game show is a kind of competition or competition show. Participants from the ordinary world participate in the competition for rewards. As for entertainment effect, the producer will request the contestants with emotional play. For example, Survivor, it has competition, adventure and emotional interaction to capture the audiences (Hill, 2005). The above programs are successful with high ratings, as the Hill(2005) said because these programs have captured the popular essence and subsequently created a hybrid type of program. More importantly, the hybrid programmes focused on telling stories about real people and real events in an entertaining style. Therefore, it captures the passionate love of the audience and stimulates the audience to follow.

From the view of the development history of Reality TV and its elements, Reality TV is a multi or diverse-reality genre, because it combines actual recording, without scripts, get real people, to participate in real events, and with diverse shooting techniques and entertainment effects. Just like the smartphone, which is a modern multi-communication device (Jackson, 2018). Before the arrival of the smartphone, it was derived from a home phone to a portable phone, and with the development of telecommunications, the portable phone was refined, like the popular Nokia and Mortola at the time. With the widespread use of mobile phones, mobile phone companies have added some functional features such as mini-games, calculation, and weather information. In the digital era of today, smartphones combine business, film and television, camera, online shopping, and other computer-like functions (Jackson, 2018). Therefore, Reality TV can still be thought as a genre and it is a genre with multi-category of reality, like smartphones, absorbed all aspects of reality, and then created a new reality we know.

Smith, P. (2020). ENGL602 Popular Genres: Reality television part one [PowerPoint slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-5350845-dt-content-rid-13171084_4/xid-13171084_4

Wood, B. (2004). A world in retreat: the reconfiguration of hybridity in 20th-century New Zealand television. Media, Culture & Society, 26(1), 45-62. DOI: 10.1177/0163443704039709

Hill, A. (2005) The rise of reality TV. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television. (pp. 15 – 40). Oxon: Routledge. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-5350878-dt-content-rid-13171279_4/institution/Papers/ENGL602/Publish/PopGen_Critical%20Reader%2012%20copy.pdf

Jackson, K. (2018). A brief history of the smartphone. Sciencenode. https://sciencenode.org/feature/How%20did%20smartphones%20evolve.php

Week 11 Questions – Reality TV

How real is Reality TV?

Real-tv show is a kind of TV program that conforms to the actual situation. It uses real-time shooting and video recording to record the actual situation to achieve the effect of authenticity to the audience. As according to Smith(2020), there are many definitions, but generally it is the genre that represents everyday conditions, personality or individual activities, unscripted moments, human interests and the fusion with entertainment to reveal the unmediated reality. Although, reality-tv has many perspectives to focus, but the common thing is to get real people to do real things.

The development of Reality TV can be said to be a combination of the ideas of creators of the past decades. For instance, conception and inspiration of Reality TV Show mainly come from the early documentary, direct cinema, Cinéma Vérité, free cinema and documentary on television. Then with the combinations of creation of actuality from the documentary, the realism and fly on wall filming technique from direct television, the daily life activitism from the free cinema, and the meticulously produced documentary television, which is what is called Reality TV today (Smith, 2020)

Although Reality TV shows do not have scripts, so everyone will feel the show is real compare to films or dramas. However, Reality TV shows are not as real as we thought, as Fox (2018) argues in many cases, there is nothing remotely real about it, which implies Reality TV shows have many modulation methods. There are many kinds of modulation behind the scene, but the most common is the editing behind the scenes production and the arrangement of contestants.

First, the contestants are often asked for emotional experiences such as enthusiasm and sadness to achieve the effect of the show. Second, the ending is not in line with reality, which means that many Reality TV shows choose an ending that meets the audience’s expectations or preferences. Third, enthusiasm from live audiences is required, for example, when the winner walks out of the stage, the cheering volume of the audiences must reach the satisfaction of the producer. Fourth, the interaction between the participants is also arranged, including dialogue content, friendliness and conflicts. Fifth, lying About personal marital status is acceptable, the producer of the show helped them customize their own story, which is completely fictional to make the story and character more interesting. Sixth, the contestants have received expression training before the shooting of the show, such as anger, fear and frustrations when under certain difficult conditions (Gavilanes, 2018).

Other than common techniques behind the scene, the most prominent is the Shooting Script, which is a shooting procedure that describes the details of the entire show, for example; the photographer will follow the instructions of the producer to move the direction and location to be shot. Usually, before the shooting, the producer will likely to make some arrangements by pairing specific people as roommates and partners and then create conflicts in between (Metz, 2019). Furthermore, in extreme cases, a shooting script might include a storyboard which is a visual representation of words or texts that physically illustrates what will occur in a scene (Author). In other words, the show has already told the audiences what will happen next.

In addition, “frankenbiting” is an editing instrument of the production unit behind the scene. Producers have a lot of control over what happens in the show, and they only unite people under certain circumstances. And the producer behind the scenes can choose which recorded clips to broadcast and which clips are not. With the frankenbiting device, the producer can essentially build alliances, secret crushes, battles and relationships, even some of the shots taken several days apart may appear as one scene or situation (Metz, 2019).

Lastly, from an ordinary person to an actor, although the contestants of the Reality TV shows are all from the real world or non-actors. However, it is quickly apparent that some of the contestants would become like actors and with more screen times if they successfully passed through the competitions of initial seasons. For example, the shows like; “Survivor”, “The Bachelor and “Idol shows”, participants have the opportunity to get more treatment like actors or singers, and gradually change from an ordinary person to an actor to participate in more performances such as spokespersons, advertisement and other activities (Gater & MacDonald, 2015). Nevertheless, as long as entertaining, no one will complain, the audience will come back and the ratings continue to increase.

In general, Reality TV Shows are not so real, because the production unit utilised many arrangements and editing techniques. The only real thing is contestants are real people from the real world.

Smith, P. (2020). ENGL602 Popular Genres: Reality television part one [PowerPoint slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-5350845-dt-content-rid-13171084_4/xid-13171084_4

Fox, M. (2018). Reality TV: Is it for real. UC Magazine. https://magazine.uc.edu/issues/1210/reality-tv.html

Gavilanes, G. (2018). They Beg You for Sob Stories: 10 People Reveal What Actually Goes Into Filming a Reality TV Show. People. https://people.com/tv/judge-judy-sheindlin-new-court-show-headed-to-imdb-tv/

Metz, W. (2019) How Reality TV Works. Howstuffworks. https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/reality-tv.htm

Gater, B., & MacDonald, J. B. (2015). Are actors really real in reality TV? The changing face of performativity in reality television. Fusion Journal, (7), 1-13. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jasmine_Macdonald2/publication/294881583_Are_Actors_Really_Real_in_Reality_TV_The_changing_face_of_performativity_in_Reality_Television/links/56c559f808aeeeffa9e5e730/Are-Actors-Really-Real-in-Reality-TV-The-changing-face-of-performativity-in-Reality-Television.pdf

Week 12: Anastasia Shearer

Can reality tv still be thought of as a genre given the high level of hybridity that exists?

Genre hybridity is the combination of two or more genres. For example, the film ‘Back to the Future 3’ combines the genre of science fiction with the western genre (Oxford Reference, n.d.). We have seen genre hybridity many times in the film industry with having romantic comedies and spoof horrors. Reality television is no different and has come up with many hybrids such as docusoaps, docudramas and docu-soap surveillance (Smith, 2020).

Over the many years that television has been in existence each genre has come further away from the rooted rigidness that once defined them. To put it in simpler words, all genres are at some level hybrid and what was once categorised has been interlaced (Wood, 2004). Woods (2004) wanted to study the hybridity of reality TV and began by dividing television four ways; fact, fiction, entertainment and advertising. Each way can and has created reality in their own way.

Fact, meaning factual programming refers to programmes such as “the news, current affairs, documentaries, practical advice shows and religious broadcasts” (Woods, 2004, p.47). These programmes focus on broadcasting evidence based national and international current affairs rather than opening the floor to interpretation (Woods, 2004).

Fiction, is exactly as it sounds like. These programmes often offer “television shows, drama, feature film, and some forms of comedy” (Woods, 2004, p.47). The characters and events that are in these sources of entertainment don’t exist in our world and only make sense in their own imaginary one.

Entertainment, show people who exist in and outside the source of entertainment. These people act how they usually would within the set of entertainment. Gaming shows, musical acts, talk shows, variety programmes, broadcast sport, and some forms of comedy (probably live comedy), are the entertainment side of television. Its reality but with a theatrical spin on it (Woods, 2004).

Lastly, advertising which is used to sell materialistic products in under 60 seconds. Every advertisement is designed to offer something that could live within your home and outside the television world. Advertisements shift reality and they redefine how our life would like with this product (Woods, 2004).

These four ways are further split and combined with other genres. Wood (2004) calls them reenactment, diversion, absorption and infomercial.

Absorption introduces the combination of reality and situational reconstruction. These reality tv shows include but aren’t limited to shows about law enforcement, medical and emergency services, dangerous stunt shows, natural disasters and the supernatural. The premise of this combination of fact and fiction is to present factual situations that have been reenacted to create more excitement and the lines blur between what is fact and what is fiction (Wood, 2004).

Infomercials are like advertisements except much longer. They will have people demonstrate and make testimonials around the product and why you should buy it. Infomercials combine advertisement with fact (Wood, 2004).

Diversions are people who are being themselves whilst in a seemingly normal setting. It combines entertainment and fact, for example, home video compilations, behind-the-scenes content and bloopers.

Lastly, re-enactments are films that are based on real people or real life events that use techniques often reserved for fictional pieces. The lines between reality and fiction blur as this hybrid takes creative liberties in constructing a narrative (Wood, 2004).

As shown above hybrids between genres is already bountiful in the entertainment industry. By showing how reality tv has hybrids between fictions, fact, entertainment and advertisement as well as divulging deeper into how modern day reality tv has developed through infomercials, absorption, re-enactment and diversion. It has only gone to further understand how genres and rigid categories are a system of the past and that maybe genres need to be expanded to encapsulate all the new types of entertainment being created.

References

New Zealand Television. Media, Culture & Society, 45-62.Oxford Reference. (n.d.). Hybrid genre. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20111108103413377

Wood, B. (2004). A World in Retreat: The Reconfiguration of Hybridity in 20th-Century

Question 11

How real is reality television?

Despite being regularly promoted as an unscripted or spontaneous genre of television, many still question the validity of reality television. However, before we analyse whether ‘reality’ television is an accurate depiction of real life, we first need to define what reality television is.

Reality television as a genre is distinguished for its application of “real people” in sensational situations. However, Hill (2005) elaborates by stating that reality television is “a range of popular factual programming” (p. 41) with various styles and techniques. These include non-professional actors, unscripted actors, surveillance footage, hand-held cameras and events unfolding in front of the cameras (Hill, 2005). These styles and techniques are what help reality television differentiate from other television genres. However, Kilborn (1994) argues that the term ‘reality television’ has become a “catch-all phrase” (p. 423). Kilborn (1994) elaborates that this difficulty establishing a distinct definition of reality television is due to its misuse to describe fictional genres rooted in real-life situations. Alternatively, he defines reality television as “an attempt to simulate real-life events through various forms of dramatised reconstruction” (p. 47).

Furthermore, reality television has an extensive history with documentation styles of media. Thus, it shares numerous characteristics with the genre. Smith (2020) states that “the techniques, technologies, constraints and worldviews of early cinema and television documentary makers have constructed the ways that we perceive ‘reality’ on the screen”. Characteristics of documentation and cinematic styles such as direct cinema, cinéma vérté and free cinema, can be seen implemented in the reality television genre (Smith, 2020). Consequently, by implementing many features from the genres, reality television often blurs the lines between factual and fictional media.

This blurring of fact and fiction may be the result of audience expectations. Ouellette and Murray (2004, as cited in Smith, 2020) state that audiences do not crave a faithful depiction of reality and a far more interested in “the space that exists between reality and fiction” (Smith, 2020). As a result, Kilborn (1994) states that reality television producers often feel inclined to distort or exaggerate the content they are presenting to improve overall interest in their shows. This perspective has had a significant influence on the authenticity and consequently, the popularity of reality television.

In conclusion, while reality television may orientate around genuine people or situations, the historical and modern influences on the genre make it impossible to define reality television as entirely accurate.

References.

Hill, A. (2005) The reality genre. In A. Hill, Reality TV: Audiences and popular factual television. (pp. 14 – 40). Oxon: Routledge.

Kilborn, R. (1994). ‘How real can you get?’: Recent developments in ‘reality’ television. European Journal of Communication, 9, 421-439. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323194009004003

Smith, P. (2020). Reality television [PowerPoint Slides]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/

Week 5: Mollie Chater

In what ways might Akira, Nausicaā and Mononoke be considered prescient?

The three Anime’s Akira, Mononoke and Nausicaa all focus on greed and power-hungry authorities (Anderson, 2018) or higher ups that determine social life for others and societies in ways that cause problems for everyone else but themselves. This shows how governments look out for themselves when faced with situations and no matter how much they say we are important when it comes to facing situations we are left to defend for ourselves this can be seen in society with court orders, and police brutality claims from topics like the Rodney King Riots and the BLM movement, where the government claims to understand and want to help the situation, yet continue to allow injustices to happen. Humanity within all three anime’s have also somewhat been destroyed or broken, to a point where the class system is separated so vastly that even society cannot deny the damage done (Dobay, 2019). Technological advancement, throughout all three applies to both technology in the idea of computers and cameras and also weaponry used against the people in order to gain more power.

The most overwhelming element the anime’s all show is the idea of power and its corruption that it causes of people.

References

Anderson, K. (2018). Akira is a Spiritual Experience. Nerdist. Retrieved From https://nerdist.com/article/akira-30th-anniversary-anime-spiritual-experience/ Dobay, A. (2019). The Many Layers of Princess Mononoke. Follow the Moon Rabbit. Retrieved From https://www.followthemoonrabbit.com/princess-mononoke/

Week 3: Mollie Chater

What gaps are there in Hergé’s representations of women?

The adventures of Tintin see women take a backseat throughout Herge’s work with very little female characters and when there are females withing the works, the are depicted as oblivious, fragile things in a foolish way.

One way to look at the lack of female representation in Tintin is to understand the times at which the works were created. Even as time continued however it became apparent that Herge would do nothing to change the way women were seen in both his work and to him. At one stage Herge claimed that ‘’Women have nothing to do in a world like Tintin’s” (Mountfort, 2020). When women do feature in Herge’s work they are always seen as wives or houseworkers aiming at being a subtle nod that Herge himself did not have much if any respect for women.

Herge paints Tintin as the hero in ‘The adventures of Tintin’ to give the idea that Tintin lived in a man’s world, by always making the women seem as if they were the damsels in distress when featuring them.

Herge does not have a representation of real women in his work, he has a representation of what he believed at the time women should be like and how they should behave, and how men were the dominant sex during ‘The Adventures of Tintin’. So the gap of women’s representation within Herge’s work is that there are no proper representations at all.

References

Mountfort, P. (2020). Tintin, gender and desire. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2020.172982

Week 2: Mollie Chater

What issues do his albums raise in terms of representation of ‘race’, and particularly ethnic and cultural stereotyping?

Stereotyping is a fixed belief around a group or class of people (Mcleod, 2017). We use stereotyping in the social world when we are in society. We can stereotype both subconsciously and consciously due to how we were brought up, our values, opinions and even our peers can be factors that create stereotypes that we can identify.

Herge Continuedly depicted that other races than his own were less than intelligent and that many other cultures needed western guidance, due to behaviour differences. This racism can be seen in ‘The Blue Lotus’ and ‘Tintin in the Congo’.

Multiple times is stereotyping used throughout Herge’s work with negative depictions of different races. With both negative traits and behaviours being shown by anyone other than Tintin.

References:

Mcleod, S. (2017). Stereotypes. SimplePsychology. Retrieved From https://www.simplypsychology.org/katz-braly.html

Week 9: Anastasia Shearer

Question 3: What are some of the problems around cosphotography in terms of various (potentially unwelcome) gazes?

A big problem around cosphotography is the sexualising and objectifying of cosplayers, especially female cosplayers. This is a common problem in Japan because the age demographic for cosplayers are astutely younger compared to other places in the world with 90% of cosplayer participants being females in their twenties. Furthermore, in Japan there are weekly hall events in which cosplayers can attend to be photographed, the problem being that the majority of photographers are male. However, the rules in Japan around cosphotography are stricter than they are in the west. Some cosplayers will already have cards that have photographs of them that they can give out to their fan base and which also helps them to further build up their following, whereas other cosplayers known as toreareta will want to have their photograph taken. However, they still have the right to be concerned about where the photographs will be displayed and will often only consent to be photographed by a small group of trusted contacts. Additionally, the Japanese cosplay culture has a social ritual involved in asking for permission to photograph someone that is more official and expected than in the west (Mountfort, 2018). This ritual involves the photographer politely approaching the cosplayer and asking for their permission to be photographed. If the cosplayer agrees they will go through a set of poses. The photographer will take one or more pictures depending on if it’s been specified. Both the photographer and the cosplayer will thank each other, and sometimes the photographer will give them the prints once they have been developed (Mountfort, 2018). It is rituals such as these that may make the cosplayer feel heard, respected and comfortable as they have given consent. As well as this, the ritual helps to protect the female cosplayers from being demonstrated to hentai lech (the Japanese way of saying pervert). Japan also corners off designated areas for female cosplayers to further prevent any uncomfortable interactions with said perverts.

Some female Japanese cosplayers have criticized this approach as they feel that when they cosplay they have the strength and empowerment to ward off any lurking eyes and unwelcome photographers. Some cosplayers have taken their publicity into their own hands and have started posting the photos themselves without the sexualised clickbait tagline. But it has also had the opposite effect, it has been shown that though many female cosplayers from east Asia enjoy the attention they receive whilst out in costume, the cosphotography can lead to feelings of insecurity about their appearance or feeling as though they are being publicly sexualised. This has shown to either make them stop cosplaying and participating in these events or at least stop attending them alone.

Sexualisation is not the only way in which cosphotographers and the public make cosplayers feel. Sometimes the photographers aren’t there to enjoy and appreciate the cosplayers efforts at all, instead they diminish and mock the cosplayers efforts. It was found that 10% of non-costumed attendees only go to these conventions to later upload the photographs and publicly mock the cosplayers (Mountfort, 2018). Many studies have been done around the detrimental side of social media, and that unfortunately does not surpass the world of cosplay. Fat shaming of female cosplayers, mocking of costumes and just general trolling is thrown upon the cosplay community both from inside and outside the cosplay community (Mountfort, 2018).

References

Mountfort, P. (2018). Planet cosplay. Intellect Books.

Week 1 Questions

How has the academic reception of popular genres changed over time?

As time goes on society changes, fashion changes, music changes, values and opinions change and so does genres and popular genres. As we grow and develop ideas in society so do the genres that are created and viewed. Academically, a change in popular genres could be the relevance of genres used in academia during the time they are being received. Another way popular genre can be received academically is when someone takes offense to what is being portrayed within the genres, this can include politics and social issues that society is confronting depending on the year and time the genre becomes popular.

What might the value of studying them?

Learning is always valuable, Popular genres opens up new worlds and ideas for people to learn and create from, popular genres is so vast in its amount of definitions that it allows everyone to be able to enjoy some part of it regardless, if it is literature, film, games or media. Studying popular genres allows people to gain knowledge from topics that we can understand and find interesting as so many ideas and opinions pass through the genres. Through popular genres we can gain new ways to look at the world and new influences that can help better our work by enabling us to understand more about how the world around us is shaped by views and outlooks as well as being able to understand create flow and ideas.

Popular genres can also be good for our societies because we use old and new genres to determine how we live and change our views. We can grow as a community by learning from mistakes shown within popular genres studying them can give us insight on ways we can process and overcome situations before they happen and can plan to be able to change situations that need to be fixed.

Week 4: Mollie Chater

What features make Akira cyberpunk, and how does it reference the wider subgenre? Link for question 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sttm8Q9rOdQ&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0ZOnQmyGabIr8FMiM6Lkz-DBE1–cZrqPuIA2StGx-4WIjVmBrOKS9GeA

Cyberpunk is a genre defined by a sub-genre of science fiction set in a dystopian future, usually seen where the government reigns supreme and the opposing side is the underworld that has been corrupted by time and a lack of wealth due to the governments cruelty (Dystopia). The words joined Cybernetics and Punk to make a world that is focused on technology with a nihilistic aura surrounding the whole subgenre.

Akira (1988) is an anime style film set in Neo-Tokyo, set in the cyberpunk genre. The whole film fits into the idea of cyberpunk with the government on top, technology and the ambience of neon lights and techno music all add to the features of the genre. The film shows the idea of corruption and power greed that influences anyone who can get their hands on it.

One of the main ideas of the genre is the technological side. Technology is advanced to the point where people are half human half cybernetics, and the streets are lined with screens and lights, and yet even with all of the advancement the streets are dirty and anyone lower than the high-class government, lives without luxury.

The idea of cyberpunk shown in Akira is that although technology is so advanced the people rise up against it and learn overpower it, showing a darker side to such a neon lit up city and life.

Cyberpunk is meant to get viewers to try to not rely so heavily on technology as even though we enjoy it and how it can make our lives easier, it can also be used as a tool against us and if we rely on it too much we can get swept up and be abused by it.

References: Dystopia, N. (n.d). What is Cyberpunk? Retrieved From https://www.neondystopia.com/what-is-cyberpunk/