Learning on ScreenLBC/IRN
About the Genres
The genres below indicate the type or nature of programme. Many clips will have more than one, in particular news reports often include speeches, press conferences or interviews and longer programmes have commercial and news breaks. Clips of one-off events, actuality or not fitting into any other genre are denoted as “Special”. “Technical” is used where the production team can be heard. “News” alone is vague and unhelpful as a genre – it applies to just about everything in the collection so is not being used.
- Advertisement
- Includes film trailers
- Biography
- Autobiographical writings, diary extracts
- Book review
- Competition
- Consumer advice
- Debate
- E.g. Oxford Union debate – not Parliamentary, see below
- Discussion
- Used where a group of people are talking together on a particular theme – not for one-to-one question-and-answer format, which comes under Interview
- Documentary
- See also Feature
- Drama
- Radio plays or clips from films eg at awards ceremony
- Election broadcast
- I.e. party political broadcast
- Election coverage
- E.g. live coverage of elections
- Feature
- Can be used in conjunction with Documentary, but where form of programme content is more mixed, e.g. interview, commentary, and sound “pictures” created through music, song and/or dramatic performance
- Fiction
- Film review
- Interview
- Jingle
- Music
- News bulletin
- I.e. presented as “Here is the news” – whole or part of programme - 'news as it breaks, etc.
- News report
- One person speaking on a “news” item, reporting from the scene, etc., within a broader context, often also include interviews or speeches
- Non-fiction
- E.g. where someone is reading from a travel guide
- Obituary
- For factual information on the deceased's life/career; see also Tribute
- Parliamentary debate
- Phone-in
- Poetry
- Press conference
- May make statement or answer questions
- Public information
- Serial
- Fiction or drama, broadcast in instalments
- Special
- One-offs, e.g. visit by the Pope, Christmas specials, space launch countdowns, explosions and other disasters caught on tape, actuality, any clips not fitting into other genres
- Speech
- Someone delivering a speech or statement, i.e. addressing an audience
- Talk show
- Technical
- For where the production team can be heard counting down, commenting on aspects of the broadcast, etc.
- Trailer
- For LBC's own programmes – film trailers, etc. in a commercial break can be included as Advertisement
- Tribute
- Can be used of persons living or dead
- Vox pop
- Views canvassed, questions may be asked but not formal interview, usually full name not given
Further information
About the project
Frequently asked questions
LBC/IRN Archive Teaching and Learning Case Study
Bournemouth University project page
Project blog
