Macro and Micro

1. Theory of Macro and Micro
elements of Genre
Altman: media theorist who stated that film genre can be talked about in two ways:
1.Syntactic (macro): the stories that the film tells
2.Semantic (micro): how these stories are presented

2. Example: Teen Slasher Genre
Micro (semantic) features:
•Low key lighting and use of shadows
•POV camerawork through eyes of killer
•Slow pace of editing to lure us into thinking
everything is ok, followed by fast pace during
moments of high tension
•Fluid moving handheld camera
•Urgent, persistent music raising tension, and
moment of silence to raise tension
•Use of a mask to hide identity of killer
•Use of murder weapon – often a knife
Macro (syntactic) features:
•Absence of parents/authority figures
•Predominant cast of teenage/young adults
•Popular blonde, geek, jock, and other stock characters
dominate
•Loner killer known by characters – identity revealed at
end
•Theme of revenge
•Series of brutal killings – main characters solve crimes

3. For example Scream (1996)
POV shot - allows
audience to see what the
character is seeing.
Mask to hide the killer's
identity, creating mystery.
Weapons - knife she plays
with the knife foreshadows
what could or is going to
happen.
Typical
blonde
Teenager
Macro
Micro
Absence of
parents/authority
figure