Reflecting on theory
There are three main theories that that we have to take into consideration when creating a film. Genre Theory, Narrative Theory and Audience Theory.
Genre Theory
Genre theory or the genre of a film determines what kind of film it is and what audience it would attract. When creating a short film, tow main genres pop up the most. These genres are determined by the storyline and how the Director would like to portray his/her particular story. Genres such Thriller and social realism are some of the most common in the short film sector whilst comedy and horror are rare. This is greatly due to the fact that it is very difficult to produce a ‘short’ comedy as it would usually just end up being ‘corny’, as the director’s sense of humour may not fulfil that of their audience.
This theory relates to my production as it is important for me to give the audience a clear picture of the underlying message. It is important for the underlying message to be fully understood, especially within the short film sector of the media as I need the viewers to be able to understand and identify what my text is about. Failing this could cause me as the producer to lose viewers and any further publishing of my work
Narrative Theory
Narrative theory relates to the narrative of the film (the way in which the story is related). The narrative in any short film is not merely just the story line, for instance ‘boy meets girl’ but how the story relates and why that event happened.
Below is a link to a definition of what Narrative theory is. I have found ‘media-know-all a very useful site to help me understand the key concepts in my media studies..
“In media terms, narrative is the coherence/organisation given to a series of facts. The human mind needs narrative to make sense of things. We connect events and make interpretations based on those connections. In everything we seek a beginning, a middle and an end. We understand and construct meaning using our experience of reality and of previous texts. Each text becomes part of the previous and the next through its relationship with the audience”.
This theory is important and can be related to my media production as I will have to take into consideration and include the codes and conventions of Narrative theory which include:
Genre
Time
Form
Character
It is important that I include the above conventions as this will vital for my audience to be able to relate to and understand my storyline.
Audience Theory
Audience theory is how the audience perceive and respond to the text. It is important for me to remember that my storylines dominant meaning is actually decided by the audience and how the perceive and respond to what they are viewing.
Below is a quote from media-know-all which I found useful in helping grasp how important the audience is to my story line.
“A media text in itself has no meaning until it is read or decoded by an audience”.
It is crucial for me to include audience theory in my production as this will determine the predominant message of my storyline and narrative.
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