Genres Of Film

Action

• High-energy physical stunts

• Two-dimensional good guys vs bad

guys

• Designed for audience escapism

• Began in Post-Cold War(1960s)

Notable examples

• 007 James Bond spy series

• Terminator Series

• Rambo series

Adventure

• usually exciting stories,new

experiences or exotic locales

• intended to appeal mainly to men

• Showcased courageous, altruistic,

patriotic heroes who fight for beliefs,

freedom or against injustice

Notable examples

• Indiana Jones series

• Robin Hood (1922)

• The Three Musketeers (1916,

1921, 1933, 1935, 1948, 1973,

and 1993)

Animation

• not a strictly-defined genre category,

but rather a film technique

• often appeal to children

Notable examples

• Little Nemo in Slumberland

(1911)

• The Adventures of Felix (1919)

• Steamboat Willie (1928)

Biopic

• from the combination of the words

"biography" and "pictures“

• depict and dramatize the life of an

important historical personage

Notable examples

• The Private Life of Henry VIII

(1933)

• The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

• Abraham Lincoln (1930)

Crime-Ganster

• developed around the sinister actions

of criminals

• often highlight the life of a crime

figure or a crime's victim

• provide a view of the secret world of

the criminal

Notable examples

• The Musketeers of Pig Alley

(1912)

• Dead Man Walking (1996)

• The Godfather (1972)

Children/ Family/Comedy

• Light-hearted plots

• Amuses audience through

exaggeration

• Usually has happy endings

Types of comedies

• Comedian-led

• Situation-comedies

Notable examples

• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

(1963)

• The Mask (1994)

• Men in Black (1997)

Disaster

• concentrate on the chaotic events

surrounding the disaster

• have large-scale special effects

Notable examples

• Planet of the Apes (2001)

• Day the World Ended (1956)

• Godzilla: King of the Monsters

(1954)

Documentary

• non-fictional, "slice of life" factual

works of art

• sometimes known as cinema verite

• Nanook of the North (1922)

• Don't Look Back (1967)

• Memphis Belle (1990)

Dystopian

• Generally set in the future

• Often grim, dirty, dark and

unimaginably awful

Notable examples

• Equilibrium (2002)

• Starship Troopers (1997)

• Death Race 2000 (1975)

Fantasy

• transcend the bounds of human

possibility and physical laws

• often in the context of imagination,

dreams, or hallucinations

• appeal to both children and adults

Notable examples

• The Thief of Bagdad (1940, UK)

• Tom Thumb (1958)

• The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

(1953)

Film Noir

• literally 'black film or cinema‘

• Fear, mistrust, bleakness, loss of

innocence, despair and paranoia are

readily evident

• is not a genre, but rather the mood,

style, point-of-view, or tone of a film

Notable examples

• Dark Passage (1947)

• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920,

Germ.)

• The Maltese falcon (1941)

Found Footage• Footage is presented as something

found

• events on screen are seen through

the camera of the characters

involved, who often speaks off screen

• Shaky camera work is employed for

realism

Notable examples

• The Blair Witch Project (1999)

• Paranormal Activity (2007)

• Cloverfield (2008)

Horror

• Designed to frighten and invoke fears

• Often combined with Sci-Fi

• Center on the dark side of life

• Goes as far back as the onset of films

Notable examples

• Le Manoir Du Diable (1896, Fr.) (aka

The Devil's Castle/The Haunted

Castle)-1st horror film

• Notre-Dame De Paris (1911, Fr.) (aka

The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

• Frankenstein (1910)

Martial Arts• contains numerous fights between

characters

• Focus is placed on action

• Characters are many times played by

real martial artists

Notable examples

• Ip Man (2008)

• The Karate Kid (1984)

• Bruce Lee Films

Monster

• centre on the struggle between human

beings and one or more monsters

• The monster is usually created by a

folly of mankind

• Serves as a metaphor for human’s

continuous destruction

Notable examples

• The Golem (1915)

• The Invisible Man (1933)

• The Host (2006)

Musical

• emphasize and showcase full-scale

song and dance routines

• centered on combinations of music,

dance, song

• has been considered the most

escapist of all genres

Notable examples

• The Lion King (1994)

• The Singing Fool (1928)

• The Jazz singer (1927)

Mystery

• emphasize the detective solving the

crime through clues and exceptional

rational powers

• focus on the unsolved crime

• Detective often succeeds in cleverly

trapping the killer or criminal

Notable examples

• Sherlock Holmes films

• Charlie Chan films

• Mr Moto Films

Pirate

• built upon action scenes of sea

battles

• included lavish sets, costumes, and

weapons

Notable examples

• The Black Pirate (1926)

• Captain Blood (1935)

• The Sea Hawk (1940)

Romance• love stories

• center on passion, emotion, and the

romantic

• Many romantic films do not have

fairy-tale, wistful-thinking stories or

happy endings

Notable examples

• King Kong (1933)

• It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

• Romeo and Juliet (1968)

• Titanic (1997)

Sci-Fi

• quasi-scientific, visionary and

imaginative

• often expresses the potential of

technology to destroy humankind

• Began in 1980s

Notable examples

• Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip

to the Moon) (1902)-1st Sci-Fi

film

• Godzilla (1998)

• Flash Gordon series

Sports

• have a sports setting that are central

and predominant in the story

• Features individuals or teams with

tough odds in a large-scale sport

event

Notable examples

• The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

• The Champ (1931)

• The Hustler (1961)

Super Hero

• focused on the actions of one or

more superheroes

• often includes a focus on the origin of

the special powers

• Most are based on comic books

Notable Examples

• RoboCop series

• Batman (1943)

• X-Men series

Teen

• targeted at teenagers and young

adults

• Plot is based on first love, rebellion

against parents, teen angst etc

• Often set in high schools

Notable examples

• 17 again (2009)

• Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010)

• River’s Edge (1986)

War

• often acknowledge the horror and

heartbreak of war

• often been used as 'flag-waving'

propaganda to inspire national pride

and morale

Notable examples

• Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

• The Birth Of A Nation (1915)

• Wings (1927)

Western

• one of the oldest, most enduring and

flexible genres

• Features the early days of the

expansive, untamed American

frontier

Notables

• The Great Train Robbery (1903)

• Tumbleweeds (1925)

• King of the Cowboys (1943)

Cross Genre

Action-Comedy

Horror-Action

Romantic-Comedy

Western-Sci Fi

Sci-Fi - Dystopian

Resources• http://

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• http://filmsite.org

• http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/the

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