MINI MOCK

 ‘To what extent does the first episode of Humans conform to conventions of the Sci-fi genre’? 

plan

• Genre conventions; zeigtest, allegorical metaphor - genre conventions, representation. Van Zoonen's feminist theory etc, hypersexualisation

Conforming to genre conventions relates to the strictness employed by the producer, to ensure the piece stays true to the stereotypical expectations of a specific genre. The first episode of 'HUMANS' extensively uses genre conformity to deliver an authentic take on the genre of SciFi, whilst including some subversive elements to engage with the audience in order to deliver the preferred reading.

Humans is highly allegorical, being metaphorically representative of real world issues, such as the treatment of women in the twenty-first century, mostly achieving this through the use of mise-en-scene. Within the ending sequence, the character of Niska has been hyper-sexualised through the use of the mise-en-scene of her costume. She wears a mesh, see-through jacket, allowing the audience to clearly see her underwear underneath. Whilst this does arguably suggest that she is attractive to a hegemonic standpoint, due to the connotations of her being confident within her body, the costume heavily binary opposes that of the male actors within the scene. The male actor wears multiple layers of conservative, blue clothing, which symbolically reinforces his masculine identity. This binary opposition reinforces the difference in how men and women are viewed by society, making allegorical reference to gender inequality, a key convention of the SciFi genre. This idea is similarly anchored by the use of dialogue, where the male actor tells Niska, 'Panties down. Not off.' With the use of imperatives implying he is in charge, and she does not have a choice. Her lack of dialogue creates the narrative that she is passive, and he is in control. This use of lexis once again captures the zeitgeist views of some men within the 21st century, maintaining the allegorical aspects which are a key component of the SciFi genre. Within this scene, Humans highly conforms to SciFi conventions.

In relation to stereotypical conformity to the SciFi genre, Human's relies heavily on the mise-en-scene of setting and symbolic coding. Within the pre-credit sequence, the camera pans slowly out of what appears to be a lens, this creates hermeunitic coding, as the audience wonder what the lens is inside. Once the camera completely pans out, the mechanism is revealed to be the insides of an eye. This further emphasises a sense of mystery, due to the binary opposition between human biology and machine, making reference to the conventional use of cyborgs within the SciFi genre. Throughout the rest of the scene, the colour pallet consists of the simplistic colours white, black and blue, simplicity being yet another conventional aspect of the SciFi genre, in terms of aesthetics. The use of audio further emphasises the producer's decision to strongly conform to SciFi genre conventions, with zapping sounds and synth-wave music being used throughout the sequence.

Despite aesthetically and allegorically conforming to the SciFi genre, a few representations within the episode subvert stereotypical SciFi genre conventions. SciFi is stereotypically perceived to be futuristic, yet the inclusion of the 'nuclear family' concept within the narrative is familiar to the audience. This is highlighted through the mise-en-scene of setting, particularly during the breakfast scene, where the family are positioned within an average, working class house. The inclusion of childish paintings on the wall create a familial environment, with props such as the plastic cereal boxes being regular and recognisable for the audience, opposed to futuristic, which is expected of the SciFi genre. The characters within this scene unexpectedly conform to stereotypical archetypes; the moody teenager, the innocent child, the busy mother etc, which is an expected convention of comedy/family shows opposed to the SciFi genre. This could have been employed by the producer, to allow Humans to be purposefully familiar, as the audience will form a deeper connection with the show.

Overall, Humans extensively conforms to the SciFi genre specifically through the employment of mise-en-scene in relation to costume, props and setting. Despite the inclusion of some subversive aspects, such as the nuclear-family narrative and the inclusion of unexpected archetypes, the show successfully utilises these to allow the audience to connect to the media, overall allowing for Humans to serve as a warning for what human life could become in the future, yet again, strongly conforming to the SciFi genre.