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Origins & Types Introduction |
Genre Sub-Sections
Film Genres Introduction | Main Film Genres | Film Sub-Genres
Minor Film Sub-Genres | Other Major Film Categories
Best Pictures - Genre Biases | Summary of Top Films by Genre | Top 100 Films by Genre | AFI's Top 10 Film Genres
Film Genres: Film genres are various forms or identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of films that are recurring and have similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, syntax, filmic techniques or conventions - that include one or more of the following: settings (and props), content and subject matter, themes, mood, period, plot, central narrative events, motifs, styles, structures, situations, recurring icons (e.g., six-guns and ten-gallon hats in Westerns), stock characters (or characterizations), and stars. Many films are considered hybrids - they straddle several film genres. Genres History: By the end of the silent era, many of the main genres were established: the melodrama, the western, the horror film, comedies, and action-adventure films (from swashbucklers to war movies). Musicals were inaugurated with the era of the Talkies, and the genre of science-fiction films wasn't generally popularized until the 1950s. One problem with genre films is that they can become stale, cliche-ridden, and over-imitated. A traditional genre that has been reinterpreted, challenged, or subjected to scrutiny may be termed revisionist. |
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Action Films | Biographical Films (or "Biopics") | ||
Adventure Films | 'Chick' Flicks | ||
Comedy Films | Detective & Mystery Films | ||
Crime & Gangster Films | Disaster Films | ||
Drama Films | Fantasy Films | ||
Epics/Historical Films | Film Noir | ||
Horror Films | Guy Films | ||
Musicals (Dance) Films | Melodramas, Women's or "Weeper" Films | ||
Science Fiction Films | Road Films | ||
War (Anti-War) Films | Romance Films | ||
Westerns | Sports Films | ||
Supernatural Films | |||
Thriller-Suspense Films | |||
(click here) There are dozens of minor sub-categories, such as martial-arts action films, espionage thrillers, black comedies, and more. |
The Major Categories or Classifications of Film: Mega-Genres There are other major types (or mega-genres), classifications, or general categories of films (defined in this site's glossary of film terms), including: |
Basis in Reality: | Non-Fictional (or documentary), or biopics; also Reality Films (or Movies) - derived from Reality TV | Fictional Film (also called Narrative Film); there are also Docu-Fiction or Docu-Dramas (part fiction, part documentary) or Semi-documentaries |
Length: | Feature-length films | Shorts (or short subjects), anthology films (films with two or more discrete stories), or serials |
Audio: | Silents | Talkies |
Quality and Funding: | 'A' (or first-run) pictures; mainstream (big-budget Hollywood) studio films, sometimes blockbusters; professionally-made films | 'B' pictures (and lower), also called B-movies, or even Z-movies; independent (aka indie), avant-garde or experimental-underground films (usually low-budget), or art-house films; amateur films or guerrilla-filmmaking |
Visual Presentation: | Regular 2-D | 3-D or Stereoscopic |
Color: | Black and white or monochrome | Color |
Viewing Format: | Widescreen | 'Pan and Scan' formats |
Type: | Animated films (hand-drawn, CGI, etc.) | Live-action (or un-animated) films |
Language: | Domestic films | Foreign-language films (sub-titled or dubbed) |
Originality: | Original version | Prequels, sequels, re-releases and remakes |
Rating: | Rated films - regarding the degree of violence, profanity, or sexual situations within the film: G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, or X | Unrated films |
Purpose: | Message Pictures (usually serious) or Propagandistic Films | Purely for Entertainment Pictures |