What's your media production genre research process?

1 Identify your goals

The first step in your genre research process is to identify your goals and objectives for your media production project. What are you trying to achieve? Who are you trying to communicate with? What message or theme do you want to convey? How do you want to express your style and voice? These questions will help you narrow down your genre options and focus on the ones that suit your purpose and vision. For example, if you want to educate and inform your audience about a complex topic, you might choose a documentary or an explainer video genre. If you want to entertain and engage your audience with a fictional story, you might choose a comedy, drama, or thriller genre.

2 Analyze existing examples

The next step in your genre research process is to analyze existing examples of media production in your chosen genre or genres. You can find these examples on platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, Steam, or any other relevant media outlet. Additionally, you can use online tools like IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, or Podchaser to filter and sort media by genre, rating, popularity, or reviews. The goal of this step is to study and learn from the best practices, trends, and techniques of your genre. When analyzing these examples you should pay attention to aspects such as the format and structure--such as the length, the number of episodes or seasons, the introduction, the climax, and the resolution--the content and style--like the tone, the mood, the theme, the plot, the characters, the dialogue, the visuals, and the sound--and even the audience and feedback of the media production--including its target demographic, preferences, expectations, reactions and reviews.

3 Compare and contrast

The third step in your genre research process is to compare and contrast different examples of media production in your chosen genre or genres. To do this, you should create a visual tool such as a table, chart, or mind map to organize and compare your findings. The goal is to identify the similarities and differences between different media productions in your genre and to discover what makes them unique, successful, or appealing. You should look for aspects such as the strengths and weaknesses of each media production, such as the quality, originality, relevance, impact, and flaws; the opportunities and threats of each media production, such as the market demand, competition, innovation, risks, and challenges; and the gaps and niches of each media production, such as unmet needs, unsolved problems, untapped potential, and new possibilities. In doing so, you can gain valuable insights into the success of various media productions in your chosen genre.

4 Define your parameters

The fourth step in your genre research process is to define your parameters and guidelines for your own media production project. After analyzing and comparing different works within your genre, you should have a better understanding of what works and what doesn't work, as well as what makes your media production stand out. This step is about creating a framework and roadmap for your media production process. You should decide on the format and structure of your media production, such as the length, the number of episodes or seasons, the introduction, the climax, and the resolution. Additionally, you should consider the content and style of your media production, such as the tone, the mood, the theme, the plot, the characters, the dialogue, the visuals, and the sound. Lastly, you should think about who your audience is and their feedback of your media production - such as their target demographic, preferences, expectations, reactions, and reviews.

5 Test and refine

The final step in your genre research process is to test and refine your media production project. Once you have defined your parameters and guidelines, you should start producing your media content and testing it with your audience. Surveys, polls, focus groups, beta testing, or analytics can be used to gather feedback and measure performance. The aim is to evaluate and improve the media production project, ensuring it meets goals and objectives and satisfies audience needs and wants. You should look for aspects such as the effectiveness and efficiency of the media production (clarity, accuracy, coherence, consistency, quality), its originality and relevance (novelty, creativity, value, significance, impact), as well as its engagement and satisfaction (interest, emotion, enjoyment, loyalty, recommendation).

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?