• explain the contexts in which long form televisions dramas are developed by producers and consumed by audiences• explain how media contexts may have influenced the genre conventions in the set episodes of the two long form television dramas you havestudied• refer to relevant academic ideas and arguments• make judgements and reach conclusions about the similarities or differences in genre conventions between the two set episodes
EXAMPLE ESSAY
- Highlight the points where it is answering the question.
- Paraphrase the core argument.
- Highlight where the core argument is reiterated.
- Highlight references to context.
- Highlight references to theorists.
The statement that genre is no longer “relevant” when regarding LFTVD’s producers and audiences, is a generalisation; I would argue it is not so clear cut. Neale would theorise that genre is built upon repetition but also difference, leading to genre hybrids, which includes Deutschland 83 and Stranger Things, appealing to a broad audience. However where is the line between hybrid and a whole new categorisation lacking familiar codes? Genre codes and conventions are established through intertextual relay however intertextuality and genre can exist separately and arguably in LFTVDs genre codes are potentially less important than its use of intertextuality and narrative to address the audience. Although genre codes and conventions attract audiences, different cultural, political and historical contexts provide audiences with the knowledge to recognise the repetition of genre codes, and with producers' intentions to engage mainstream audiences to increase revenue, keeping to genre codes could risk profitability. It is evident that utilizing genre is an effective marketing skill however many LFTVDs have the resources to rely on elements such as high production values, the star system, tone and exoticism rather than genre to market themselves, emphasising individual difference rather than generic similarity.
Stranger Things self-consciously includes genre tropes due to its prevalent use of intertextuality of 1980’s America and Spielberg films. This use of intertextuality constructs nostalgia which has been popularised by movies such as Super 8 or music videos such as Titanium. However, I would argue that nostalgia is more “relevant” than genre, given how many genres the audience is being asked to decode. For example, there are TV tropes of romance, horror, coming of age, sci-fi, crime etc.; it’s hard to pinpoint if the producers are intentionally utilising genre hybridisation or these tropes are just by-products of making an intertextual reference to Spielberg classics that contain these conventions. Baudrillard would argue that the Duffer Brothers vision of 1980s America is built upon simulations (from horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, to those Spielberg classics) and maybe we can conclude that LFTVDs today have developed far beyond genre conventions and instead producers can produce simulations of shows and TV already created. However, is the concept of genre still relevant? Without genre, producers would not be able to create simulations and therefore nostalgia, because though the genre hybrid may be complex, producers still play on the faint lines of conventions to encode a sense of familiarity for the audience.
However, it's important to understand that contexts can influence the codes and conventions of LFTVDs. There is a shifting balance of social attitudes (for example, gender roles, sexualities, social status). We could argue that D83 is patriarchal as it employs a male protagonist however, he is unprofessional and untrained compared to Lenora, his ruthless boss. Applying Hall to this text may encourage us to see Lenora as a countertype that reinforces the patriarchal hegemony, but again, Hall allows us to consider the socio-cultural attitudes of the modern audience in relation to the preferred reading of the text. In this context, we might see Lenora as an empowered woman ahead of her time (wearing not sexualised clothing). However, the narrative implies that Lenora’s authority is not unusual in Marxist East Germany, however this information could only be known by a German audience, where an American/international audience probably wouldn’t. This may lead to contrast between how different audiences decode the narrative and genre of LFTVD’s. Do the producers use Lenora to stay true the historical diegesis of 1980’s Germany which reinforces the conventions of the historical genre, or do they use her empowering authoritarian figure, as a countertype of a spy genre, to align with the values and ideologies of a modern audience? The nature of genre can therefore be seen to be subjective based on how familiar the audience/ producers are with the societies being represented. Perhaps genre is relevant depending on different audiences and we can't assume its relevant to all viewers.
Furthermore, one can’t discuss the “relevance” of genre without considering economic contexts. There is a clear disparity between production budgets for US television dramas and European television dramas. Deutschland 83 had a budget of €8.5 million for the first season whereas, Stranger Things had a budget of $48 million. With Stranger Things budget they could afford to use high end visual effects, expensive “RED dragon” cameras, CGI which made up 50% of the first season and hire famous film stars like Winnona Ryder. Their budget allowed the producers to capture the codes and conventions of their desired genres and attract audiences. Whereas D83 wasn’t as a success perhaps due to their lower budget. In my opinion D83 relied heavily on genre codes and conventions to lower economic risk as, the Spy genre is very popular in the UK and America. However, producers disregarded the historical bankability of genre in favour of telling quality and thought-provoking narratives that explore cultural and historical contexts more thoroughly than a conventional spy-thriller might. Jorg Winger said in a New York Times article that he received numerous complaints about minor historical errors, like, for example, an inaccurately worn West German army uniform. “Every TV series builds its version of the past,” he said. “We were not going for historical detail; we were going for psychological realism.” However, the absence of historical genre codes and conventions, loses revenue as the more genres, the more audience you attract, the higher the profit. Hesmondhalgh theorises that cultural industries rely on ‘big hits’ to cover the costs of failure. Hence industries rely on repetition through use of stars, genres, franchises and repeatable narratives. I would agree that this is relevant when regarding both LFTVD’s but would argue that Stranger Things, as a huge production, doesn’t need the “repeated genres” for it to be successful, as they had such a huge budget, whereas Deutschland and many other European LFTVD’s must rely on genre codes and convention to attract a large enough audience. Therefore, budget can influence the generic codes and conventions available to represent the values, attitudes and ideologies of those countries. So, I think a lot of producers (e.g. Independent producers or low budget producers) find genre very “relevant” as it's an effective marketing tool that they can afford. However, audiences' appetite for big budget shows continues with genre codes and conventions not as a priority.
In conclusion, I think genre’s “relevance” in the LFTVD arena is dependent on the economic, cultural and historical contexts that the producers and audiences exist in. An audience’s appreciation of genre or recognition if something is counter typical depends on if they can notice the familiar tropes in the first place. And even if genre is noticed, doesn’t the power of nostalgia/intertextuality and budget code more economic success. We can't assume all audiences and all producers find the concept of genre not “relevant” when it comes to LFTVDs, however with the serialisation the form coexists with, when does a genre hybrid become a whole new category.
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