Macro elements

Macro elements

All films have different genres and narratives.

Genres are a particular category of media products that are similar in type or form.  Different examples of genres are, musical, action, horror, western, science fiction, thriller and romance. You can identify the type of film genre you are watching by the way the film is put together. For example the type of music that has been added to the film can create a certain mood for the viewer. This mood can also create different emotions for the viewer which adds to the genre. If the genre of film you are watching is an action movie, dramatic music may be added to create tension or in a romantic movie classical music may be added to try and make the viewer cry. In a musical you can identify what genre it is by its elements such as the actors singing songs in a majority of the scenes as well as dancing some examples of musicals are mama mia, oliver twist and high school musical. There can also be certain effects that are added to a film to add to creating a type of genre such as in a romance they may have a shot that zooms into someones eyes and the person they are in love with is seen in the characters eyes or in a western film they may have a shot of a tumble weed and then cut to  an image of cowboy boots. Also in a horror movie there may be scenes with lots of blood and gore as the film is set in a way that is meant to scare an audience.  The cuts in films also add to genre for example there may be lots more cuts in a horror movie than in a romantic movie. Where the film is set also can play a part in the film genre for example a science fiction film may be set in space. Even the characters can show the audience what type of film it is, in a science fiction film there may be aliens, western films may have cowboys and thrillers may have a serial killer.

Story- a sequence of events, often is referred to as the plot.
Narrative- the way those events are revealed to the reader.

Elements of different genres

Horrors

• Fast cuts
• Loud sounds
• Gore
• Fast paced

Comedy

• Funny
• Sarcastic
• Slapstick humour

Western

• Cowboys
• Cowboy boots
• Revolver guns
• Showdown

Romance

• Love
• Weddings
• Sexual Activity
• Intimacy

 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' Clip

This is a clip from  the movie 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' you can tell that it is a horror from the use of sound and the way the scenes are cut.

Films also have a narrative. Narrative is a sequence of events which can often be referred to as the plot.They also have a narrative structure which is the way the events are revealed to the audience. The two types of narrative are linear and non linear. If the film was set out in a linear structure the events that happen in the film are shown in the order that they took place in from beginning to middle to end. In this type of layout the beginning may introduce the characters and the plot, as the film reaches the middle a dilemma may be introduced and as the film comes to an end the dilemma could be solved or sometimes unsolved. This is the most popular form of narrative structure. If the film was set out in a non linear structure the sequence of events that happen in the film would be revealed to the audience in an unexpected order for example in the film Pulp fiction and memento.  The film could start with a person being killed and then show the audience throughout the film how it happened.  This also creates a more dramatic feel to the film as the audience may know who done it but the characters will not. A non linear structure is not as popular as a linear structure.

This image could be something that is seen in a western movie as it is a picture of a typical cowboy. The use of color and the setting can also be used to show that the film is a western genre. 



This image is something that may be seen in a horror or thriller movie as there is a hand coming out of an eye which is probably set out to scare the viewer as it is something that people do not see everyday.