The World of Film

Genres of Film

The Golden Ages 1930s and 1940s

Majority of films created in Hollywood by major actors

Why make films?1. To make money

2. To entertain

3. To educate

4. To be creative

5. To preserve memories

*each reason for filming creates a different type, or genre, of film

Films that ENTERTAIN This is the most popular type of film

Mrs. Doubtfire, Transformers

Films that TEACH These are the films that are produced for use

in business and schools

Often referred to as ‘educational’ films

The American Revolution, Improving your Punctuation

Axiom Educational films can be---but are not always—entertaining; entertaining films can be—but are not always--educational

Educational Films Have 3 primary purposes

1. To Persuade

2. To Educate

3. To Teach

Genres What is a genre?

Defined as a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content.

How many genres are there?

Many

14 common forms, to be specific

1. Sci fi 8. Experimental

2. Western 9. Educational

3. Comedy 10. Foreign

4. Fantasy 11. Nature

5. Cartoon/animation 12. Historical

6. Adventure 13. Documentary

7. Musical 14. Industrial

Cartoon vs. Animated Film

Is there a difference?

--cartoon is computer generated

--animation blends in live action

How about those Documentaries…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines documentaries as

“those that deal with historical, social, scientific, or economic subjects, either photographed in actual occurrence or re-enacted, and where the emphasis is more on factual content than on entertainment.”

Term first used by English filmmaker John Grierson in 1926

Newsreels: introduced as short breaks between features in a movie theater

Social Action: type of propaganda film expressing a specific point of view

Propaganda: emotionally appealing, persuades viewer to form a conclusion

Naturalist: concerned with unexplored parts of the world, including relationship of primitive people and nature

Biography: depicts a subject’s life

Historic: catch-all term for a film about something that happened in the past

Propaganda Consider the effect of beer ads or car ads

during a televised sporting event Typical commercial is 30 seconds

Effectively persuade the audience to buy or do something

Most commercials apply three approaches

1. persuade

2. inform

3. entertain

all at the same time

Animated Films How does it work?

Make a flip book

Run through a projector

At high speed

Creates the illusion of movement

Walt Disney is most famous for this technique

Fun Fact Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is the

first feature length animated movie (1938)

Traditional Disney animation calls for ‘on-one’ shooting—24 drawings per second of film on screen

Misc. Computer Graphics

Special affects

Saves time and money over traditional cel animation

Faster and cheaper than human artists

Toy Story first completely animated film made by Disney in 1995

Claymation California Raisins

Independent Film Refers to a personal film made by an

independent filmmaker

These films have small audiences

Not shown in major theaters

Many become cult classics

Most independent films have their first major showing at Film Festivals

U.S. Domination in Film Market

American made products dominate the film market for three major reasons 1. economics

2. high production quality

3. international popularity of American movie stars