Iconography

Iconography is an essential part of genre; and is typically, in media, the 'icons' that hold meaning for an audience. Without iconography, the audience would find it difficult to establish the genre of a media text, therefore audience enjoyment would probably decrease. It originates from the study of art, and the concept of iconography applies as much to real life as to media.

In life, icons may include things such as a tie or glasses. A tie has connotations of intelligence, organisation or authority- it carries many other meanings to the individual, though the main ones are seen by the majority. Seeing a tie as a icon or symbol for these characteristics allows people to make judgements on the person wearing the tie, and possible assume their actions/behaviour. 

Similarly, in the media, icons are typical to certain genres. For example, in film, a western is clearly demonstrated by icons such as a cowboy hat, a gun, a saloon. These have become icons of westerns as they have featured in many films of the western genre over time. Each genre and subgenre has iconography to suggest to an audience what type of film they are watching. To convey this most effectively, producers would have to place icons in a film trailer and/or the opening few minutes so that audiences are immediately aware of the genre, and start to make assumptions about the narrative.

In my own opening sequence, I would have to think about the iconography associated with thriller films (contrast lighting, a murder victim, knives as a weapon etc.) and place a few of these in my opening sequence to suggest genre and also narrative/plot.