Hi there

So I’m going to talk a bit about what media making we did in the studio and what purpose it served. So for the class, with every project brief, we were required to write an exegesis (which is quite similar to an essay) and with that exegesis we submitted a piece of media that supported what we wrote. So in the exegesis we would argue one thing about the genre and the media making would demonstrate what we argued.

At the start of the semester we looked at things like tropes and conventions and how they function within genre. But as we went through the semester we began exploring  (more broadly) how genre functions and what genre means to not only the film itself but to film making as well.

For example if you were to make a western film or discuss the Western. You could highlight the implications of that genre, discuss whether they are good or bad and through your media piece you can show your ideas or subvert whatever it is you’re arguing against.  So if you don’t like that the bad guy in the Western is almost always a symbol of modernity you can do something about that.

In our final media pieces we had a choice between making one 8-10 minute short film or a series of 2-3 minute film sketches. And no one made a loving tribute to their favourite genre.

Instead we looked at things that weren’t quite right in our chosen genres. We looked at things that we think could be changed or simply things that interest us. And through these different ideas we explored, exploited and exploded genre.