Film Genres

EPE 222 Educational Technology 1

What is 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

Many films straddle several film genres.

Major Categories of FilmContrasting Types of Films

Non-fiction Fiction

Feature films Shorts films

Silent Talkies'A' (or first-run) pictures 'B' pictures (and lower)

Regular 3-DBlack and white Color

Wide screen'Pan and Scan' formats

Animated Film Live-action filmsDomestic films Foreign-language films

Original version Prequels, sequels, and remakes

Mainstream Independent (aka indie)

Rated films Unrated films

Main Genres (Traditional

Genres)

.

Action

Rambo III (1988) by Peter Macdonald

Top Gun (1986) by Tony Scott

Action films

Usually include high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and pacing,

Adventure

The Three Musketeers (1993) by Stephen Herek

Raiders of the Lost Arks (1981) by Steven

Spielberg

Adventure films

Usually exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales, very similar to or often paired with the action film genre.

Comedy

Dr Strangelove (1964) by Stanley Kubrick

Mrs Doubtfire (1993) by Chris Columbus

Comedies

Light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter (with one-liners, jokes, etc.) by exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters.

Crime/ Gangster

The Maltese Falcon (1941) by John Huston

The Big Sleep (1946) by Howard Hawks

Crime (gangster) films

Developed around the sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life.

Drama

I am Sam (2001) by Jessie Nelson

Citizen Kane (1941) by Orson Welles

Dramas Serious, plot-driven presentations,

portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction.

Epic/ Historical

Schindler’s List (1993) by Steven Spielberg

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005) by George

Lucas

Epics Include costume dramas, historical

dramas, war films, medieval romps, or 'period pictures' that often cover a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop.

Horror

Exorcist (1973) by William Friedkin

Dracula (1931) by Tom Browning

Horror films Designed to frighten and to invoke our

hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience.

Musical

Moulin Rouge! (2001) by Baz Luhrmann

The Jazz Singer (1927) by Alan Crosland

Musical/dance films

Cinematic forms that emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant way or they are films that are centered on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography.

Science FictionE.T: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) by Steven Spielberg

Alien (1979) by Ridley Scott

Sci-fi films Often quasi-scientific, visionary and

imaginative - complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters, either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc.

War

From Here to Eternity (1953) by Fred Zinneman

The Birth of a Nation (1915) by D.W. Griffith

War films Acknowledge the horror and

heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting (against nations or humankind) on land, sea, or in the air provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film.

Western

The Last of the Mohicans (1992) by Michael Mann

The Great Train Robbery (1903) by Edwin S. Porter

Westerns

The major defining genre of the American film industry - a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier.

Film Criticism

What is Criticism?

Criticism is the attempt to discover and interpret the meanings and

intentions of the film or filmmaker that extend beyond a film’s surface

features.

Tasks of the Critic

• Teases our implicit or subtle meaning

• Clarifies seemingly contradictory messages or values in a given film.

• Creates a novel way of interpreting or understanding a film

Modes of Criticism

• Newspaper and Television Reviewing.

• General-Interest Journal-Based Criticism

• Scholarly Criticism

ACTIVITY (Individual)FILM CRITIC

• Film Critic DEADLINE

Next meeting Sept 20, 2014.