Genre Conventions Table

Firstly, what does the term 'genre' mean? Genre is the style or category of art, music or literature and helps to influence the audience through certain genre conventions. This can be based upon the setting, props and costumes (as shown in the table below.) Genre conventions are important for films and audiences because they provide a way to create a certain mood, or atmosphere, that can influence the viewer.

Genre	Genre Conventions, Narrative and characters:	Genre Conventions: Micro-elements (sound, mise-en-scene etc.)	Examples
Action	Chase scenes, villain and hero, conflict, fight scenes, explosions	Guns, gadgets, iconic settings such as London, New York (cities)	James Bond Jason Bourne Indiana Jones The Matrix
Adventure	Fast paced, running, a problem and the film is them finding the solution to that problem, saving someone’s life	Strange surroundings that aren’t regular to experience like mountains or the jungle, fast music, quick cuts, fast cars, weapons, explosives, sound effects	The Adventures of Robin Hood The Jungle Book The Legend of Tarzan
Romance	Slow moving, old-fashioned, no use of explosives, couples, falling in love	Slow moving, not a lot of cuts, slow and romantic music, set in nice weather and a field (realistic settings), candles	Love Actually The Notebook Titanic 27 dresses
Comedy	Slow moving, relatable situations, extreme situations that are unlikely to happen	Can pretty much be set in any normal location (city, bar, apartment etc), realistic pace and music to match or completely contradict the characters emotion	Airplane American Pie How to be Single
Horror	Creepy costumes, strange characters (sci-fi?), use of supernatural and special effects, victims, vulnerable women and children, murder, villain and hero, enigma codes	Haunted areas (old theme parks, haunted houses, hospitals), creepy/dramatic music, really distinctive sounds that have been enhanced to scare you, sudden loud sounds then silence to add tension and make the audience on edge, dark lighting	The women in black Jaws Texas chain saw massacre The cabin in the woods