8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 1/12

Action Films

This major genre type includes films that have tremendous impact,continuous high energy, lots of physical stunts and activity, possiblyextended chase scenes , races, rescues, battles, martial arts, mountainsand mountaineering, destructive disasters , fights, escapes, non-stopmotion, spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous heroes - alldesigned for pure audience escapism with the action sequences at thecore of the film.

Oftentimes, action films are great box-office hits, but lack criticalappeal because of their two-dimensional heroes or villains .

The main action centers around a male action hero or protagonist -portrayed by these most prominent actors: Bruce Lee, Steven Seagal,Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger and JeanClaude Van Damme. Women in action-films usually play the roles of accomplices or romantic interests of the hero, although modern actionfilms have featured strong female characters to broaden demographicappeal.

They almost always have a resourceful hero(ine) struggling againstincredible odds, life-threatening circumstances, or an evil villain,and/or trapped or chasing each other in various modes of transportation (bus, auto, ship, train, plane, horseback, on foot, etc.),with victory or resolution attained by the end after strenuous physicalfeats and violence (fist fights, gunplay).

© http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 2/12

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 3/12

Historical Films often take a historical or imagined event, mythic,legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavishcostumes, accompanied by grandeur and spectacle and a sweepingmusical score.

They are expensive to produce, because they require elaborate andpanoramic settings, on-location filming, authentic period costumes,inflated action on a massive scale and large casts of characters.

They often rewrite history, suffering from inauthenticity, fictitiousrecreations, hard-to-follow details and characters.

A costume drama or period drama is a period piece in which

elaborate costumes, sets and properties are featured in order tocapture the atmosphere of a particular era.

The term is usually used in the context of film and television. Theimplication is that the audience is attracted as much by the lavishcostumes as by the content.

The most common type of costume drama is the historical costumedrama, both on stage and in movies. This category includes Barry Lyndon, Braveheart, From Hell, and Robin Hood .

There have been highly successful television series that have beenknown as costume dramas/period pieces. Notable examplesinclude Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey , etc.

© http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 4/12

Science Fiction Films are usually scientific and imaginative, and usuallyvisualized through fanciful, imaginative settings, expert film productiondesign, advanced technology gadgets (i.e., robots and spaceships),scientific developments, or by fantastic special effects. Sci-fi films arecomplete with heroes, distant planets, impossible quests, improbablesettings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristictechnology and unknown and inexplicable forces. Many other SF filmsfeature time travels or fantastic journeys, and are set either on Earth,into outer space, or (most often) into the future time. Quite a fewexamples of science-fiction cinema owe their origins to writers JulesVerne and H.G. Wells.

They often portray the dangerous and sinister nature of knowledgeand vital issues about the nature of mankind and our place in thewhole scheme of things, including the threatening, existential loss of personal individuality: plots of space-related conspiracies,supercomputers threatening our freedom, the results of germ-warfareand futuristic genetic engineering and cloning.

Sci-fi tales have a prophetic nature (they often attempt to figure out ordepict the future) and are often set in a speculative future time. Theymay provide a grim outlook. Commonly, sci-fi films express society'sanxiety about technology and how to forecast and control the impactof technological and environmental change on contemporary society.

© http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 5/12

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television thatuses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main elements.Common subgenres are psychological thrillers, crimethrillers and mystery thrillers. After the assassination of PresidentKennedy, the political thriller film became very popular. A rather moreaction-packed subgenre of thriller is the spy genre. Successfulexamples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods such as a high levelof anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, suspense, excitement, tension, and terror. Thrillers films tend tobe adrenaline -rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced. The cover-up of important information from the viewer, and fight and chase scenes are

common methods in all of the thriller subgenres, although eachsubgenre has its own characteristics and methods.

"Homer's Odyssey ” is one of the oldest stories in the Western worldand is regarded as an early prototype of the thriller.

© http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 6/12

War and Anti-War Films often acknowledge the horror and heartbreakof war, letting the actual combat fighting or conflict (against nations orhumankind) provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. Typical elements in the action-oriented war plots include POWcamp experiences and escapes, submarine warfare, espionage,

personal heroism, "war is hell" brutalities, tough trench/infantryexperiences, or male-bonding buddy adventures during wartime.

Themes explored in war films include combat, survivor and escapestories, tales of gallant sacrifice and struggle, studies of the futility andinhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and intelligent andprofound explorations of the moral and human issues.

Some war films do balance the soul-searching, tragic consequences andinner turmoil of combatants or characters with action-packed,dramatic spectacles, enthusiastically illustrating the excitement andturmoil of warfare. And some 'war' films concentrate on the homefrontrather than on the conflict at the military war-front. But many of themprovide decisive criticism of senseless warfare.

War films have often been used as 'flag-waving' propaganda to inspirenational pride and morale, and to display the nobility of one's ownforces while harshly displaying and criticizing the villainy of the enemy,especially during war or in post-war periods.

War films can also make political statements - unpopular wars (such asthe Vietnam War and the Iraq War), have generated both supportive

and critical films about the conflict.

© http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 7/12

Westerns

The western film genre often portrays the conquest of the wildernessand the subordination of nature, in the name of civilization, or theconfiscation of the territorial rights of the original inhabitants of thefrontier. Specific settings include lonely isolated forts, ranch houses, ,the saloon, the jail, the stable, the small-town main street, or smallfrontier towns that are forming at the edges of civilization. They may

even include Native American sites or villages.The western film genre has portrayed much about America's past,glorifying the past-fading values and aspirations of the mythical by-gone age of the West. Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and expanded. In the late 60s and early 70s (, 'revisionistic'Westerns that questioned the themes and elements of

traditional/classic westerns.Usually, the central plot of the western film is the classic, simple goal of maintaining law and order on the frontier in a fast-paced action story.It is normally rooted in archetypal conflict - good vs. bad, virtue vs. evil,settlers vs. Indians, humanity vs. nature, civilization vs. lawlessness,etc.

Western heroes are normally masculine persons of integrity andprinciple - courageous, moral, tough, solid and self-sufficient,possessing an independent and honorable attitude (but oftencharacterized as slow-talking). The Western hero could usually standalone and face danger on his own, against the forces of lawlessness(outlaws or other antagonists), with an expert display of his physical

skills (roping, gun-play, horse-handling, etc.).

© http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 8/12

Adventure Films are exciting stories, with new experiences or exoticplaces. Adventure films are very similar to the action film genre, in thatthey are designed to provide an action-filled, energetic experience forthe film viewer. Rather than the predominant emphasis on violenceand fighting that is found in action films, however, the viewer of adventure films can live vicariously through the travels, conquests,explorations, creation of empires, struggles and situations thatconfront the main characters, actual historical figures or protagonists.

Adventure films were intended to appeal mainly to men, creatingmajor male heroic stars through the years. These courageous, patriotic,or altruistic heroes often fought for their beliefs, struggled forfreedom, or overcame injustice.

Under the category of adventure films, we can include traditional

swashbucklers, searches or expeditions for lost continents, "jungle"and "desert" epics, treasure hunts and quests, disaster films, andheroic journeys or searches for the unknown.

Adventure films share many elements with other genres - there arenumerous examples of sci-fi, fantasy, and war films with characteristicsof this genre.

© http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 9/12

Comedy Films are designed to entertain, provoke enjoyment and elicit laughter

from the audience. The comedy genre humorously exaggerates the situation,the language, action, and characters. Comedies observe the deficiencies, andfrustrations of life, providing a momentary escape from day-to-day life. Theyusually have happy endings, although the humor may have a serious orpessimistic side.

Types of Comedies: Slapstick: This is primitive and universal comedy with broad, aggressive,

physical, and visual action, including harmless or painless cruelty andviolence (e.g., a custard pie in the face, collapsing houses, a loss of trousers or skirts, runaway crashing cars, people chases, etc). The BlakeEdwards series of Pink Panther films are also great examples.

Verbal comedy : This was classically typified by the verbal absurdity of dialogues in the Marx Brothers films, or later by the thoughtful humor of Woody Allen 's literate comedies.

Screwball : The word 'screwball' denotes craziness, eccentricity,ridiculousness, and erratic behavior. In general, they are light-hearted,often sophisticated, romantic stories, commonly focusing on a battle of the sexes in which both co-protagonists try to outwit or outmaneuvereach other ( Katherine Hepburn vs. Spencer Tracy)

Black or Dark Comedy : These are dark, sarcastic, humorous stories thathelp us examine otherwise ignored darker serious, pessimistic subjectssuch as war, death, or illness. A recent classic black comedy was the Coen

Brothers' violent and quirky story Fargo (1996). Parody or Spoof : These specific types of comedy are usually a humorous

or anarchic take-off that ridicules, impersonates, punctures, scoffs at,and/or imitates (mimics) the style, conventions, formulas, characters, ormotifs of a serious work, film, performer, or genre. (e.g.: The Life of Brian (1979) - an irreverent parody of religious films).

© http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 10/12

Drama Films are serious presentations or stories with settings or lifesituations that portray realistic characters in conflict with eitherthemselves, others, or forces of nature. A dramatic film shows ushuman beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between.

Dramatic themes often include current issues, society problems,concerns or injustices, such as racial prejudice, religious intolerance,drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power,alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness, corruptsocietal institutions, violence toward women or other explosive issuesof the times.

Although dramatic films have often dealt frankly and realistically withsocial problems, the tendency has been for Hollywood, especiallyduring earlier times of censorship, to exonerate society and institutionsand to blame problems on an individual, who more often than not,would be punished for his/her transgressions.

© http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 11/12

Horror Films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, causedread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in aterrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at thesame time in a cathartic experience.

Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life, the forbidden,

and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primalnature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation,our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death anddismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality.

Horror films are often combined with science fiction when the menaceor monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth isthreatened by aliens. Horror films are also known as scary movies.

Horror films go back as far as the onset of films themselves, over 100years ago. From our earliest days, we use our vivid imaginations to seeghosts in shadowy shapes, to be emotionally connected to theunknown and to fear things that are improbable. Watching a horrorfilm gives an opening into that scary world, into an outlet for theessence of fear itself, without actually being in danger. Weird as itsounds, there's a very real thrill and fun factor in being scared orwatching disturbing, horrific images.

Horror films developed out of a number of sources: folktales with devilcharacters, witchcraft, fables, myths, ghost stories, and Gothic orVictorian novels from Europe by way of Mary Shelley, Victor Hugo orIrish writer Bram Stoker, and American writers Robert Louis Stevensonand Edgar Allan Poe.

©http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html

8/3/2019 Film Genres Facts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/film-genres-facts 12/12

Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and theaffectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that

their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films makethe love story or the search for love the main plot focus. Occasionally,lovers face obstacles such as finances, physical illness, various formsof discrimination, psychological restraints or family that threaten tobreak their union of love. As in all romantic relationships, tensions of day-to-day life, temptations (of infidelity), and differences in

compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films.Romantic films often explore the essential themes of love at first sight,young with older love, unrequited love, obsessive love, sentimentallove, spiritual love, forbidden love, sexual and passionate love,sacrificial love explosive and destructive love, and tragic love.

Romantic films serve as great escapes and fantasies for viewers,

especially if the two people finally overcome their difficulties, declaretheir love, and experience life "happily ever after", implied by areunion and final kiss.

© http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page