British Film and Comedy
Learning Objectives
- To review understanding of Macro features
from AS Media
- To develop understanding of Macro and Micro
features, focusing on Micro features and
Narrative particularly
Research Seminar Case
Study
 In groups of 3 or 4 you need to:
 Choose a British Comedy film you have all
seen and enjoyed or that you want to see
 Prepare a 5/10 minute presentation on the
film (using any visual aids you like)
 To be presented on (DATE TBC) but start
working on this now – watch the film in the
next week
 Make sure you don’t choose the same film!
Research Seminar Case
Study
 Above all else you need to show you have
engaged with the film – that you know and
understand it….
 ….but think especially about:
 Narrative
 Representation (e.g. gender, age, nationality,
sexuality)
 Other Macro and Micro features
 Please tell me your groups and film next lesson
Some suggested films
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The Full Monty
Shaun of the Dead
Any Carry On film
Ali G Indahouse
Chicken Run
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Love Actually
About a Boy
Notting Hill
Bean
Withnail and I
Any Monty Python film
East is East
Re-cap test
 Complete the sheet in front of you
 Swap with a partner and mark
Storytelling Task
 In pairs, tell the story of your life to your partner
 Before you do this you will need to plan the things you
want to tell and put them into an order you think is
suitable and effective – only tell your story when you are
absolutely sure you have shaped it as you want.
Remember things like:
 The need to immediately engage the interest of the
person you are telling the story to
 The importance of retaining that person’s attention
 The need to put things into an order that will allow the
listener to make sense of what has happened to you
during your life
 One final condition: there is a time limit of 10 minutes to
the length of your story
 This is what narrative is: a story!
 But it also refers to the academic study of the
principles by which stories are structured:
 Characters
 Setting
 Structure:
 Time and space travel (linear or non-linear?)
 Cause and effect
 When thinking about narrative we must always
consider the expectations of the audience –
what are they and are they fulfilled or not?
Do all stories have the
same basic structure?
 Theorists of narrative structure suggest that all
films (and indeed stories) have the same basic
structure:
 We are introduced to a hero and shown the world
they live in
 The normality of this world is disrupted
 The hero sets out to restore order (resolution)
 Why do you think this is?
 Task: can you think of any films where this
structure is not followed? Discuss.
Basic Narrative Theory
Todorov’s Theory – narratives begin in equilibrium
which is then affected by an event leading to
disequilibrium. Problems are then solved so that
equilibrium is once again achieved.
Propp’s Theory – analysed 100s of folk tales and
identified 8 character roles and 31 narrative roles:
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villain
hero
donor – provides some magical property
helper – aids the hero
princess – reward to the hero and object of villain’s schemes
father – rewards hero
dispatcher – sends hero on his way
false hero (or anti-hero)
Strauss’ Theory – looked at narratives in terms of
binary oppositions – he was interested in things
existing in opposition to each other such as good and
evil.
Conclusion
 Films can be seen as stories (or narratives)
 You need to analyse the different ways in
which films as stories (or narratives) use
certain common recurring features of
storytelling or narrative structure.
Micro and Macro features
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We can read films at 2 levels:
1. Macro
2. Micro
Look at the sheets I have given out – you
must store these carefully as they contain
important definitions of Macro and Micro
features
Macro features
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Genre
Star
Auteur
Narrative
Discourse of realism
Mode of address
Issues of representation
Micro features
 Technical codes:
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Camera
Sound
Lighting
Editing
 Performance codes:
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Actor movement/expression/vocal delivery
Costume
Setting
Props
 Other useful terms are:
 “Mise-en-scene” – everything the director puts into any frame
(people, costume, lighting, props)
 “Cinematography” – includes photographic elements,
lighting, framing and composition and special effects
Task - analyzing a film
 We will look at a clip from (CHOOSE
FILM)
 Complete the Macro and Micro template
handed out to you whilst watching the
film
 Using random name generator – talk
about selected aspect of film
 Watch clip of film again
Task – audience
expectations
 We will look at a clip from (CHOOSE
FILM)
 When I stop the film write down what you
think will happen next
 How did the next section of the film
compare to your expectations?
Conclusion
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All films can be seen as stories (or narratives):
 Films as narratives use certain common
recurring structural features
 But these will be subverted in some films
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We can read films at 2 different levels:
1. Micro
2. Macro
 We need 1 to understand the other!