Why tell a specific type of story?

MOVIE GENRES

FAVORITE TYPE OF STORY• We’ve been asked this question a lot during the course of the past few weeks but again

really think about the answer.

• What type of story do you A: Enjoy reading/watching?

B: Enjoy to write about?

• What is it about those types of stories that affect you creatively/emotionally?

WHAT IS A GENRE?• Essentially the term for any category of literature or other forms of entertainment such as

music, movies ect.

• In most cases, a combination of multiple genres create the pieces of art we see today.

Examples of Genres are:

Action Historical Urban

Adventure Horror/Thriller Slice of Life

Comedy Mystery Saga

Fantasy Romance

Crime Science Fiction

ADVENTURE• Adventure features action and danger.

• They may be quest stories, and they’re fast moving.

• Think of stories where the protagonist is actively involved and in motion.

• The main character may be on a long quest, but he’s also involved in event after event after event in the short term.

• Adventures can be not only dangerous but fun and exciting. The main character is actively and physically involved in his story world, a world often quite different from his everyday world.

• Adventure stories allow readers to do and see—experience—what they could never see in the course of their normal days. They let readers experience what it’s like to lead others into action. They let readers play the hero.

THRILLER• Thrillers are all about what might happen and what can be done to prevent a catastrophe .

• Thrillers feature action, with a greater emphasis on event than character. A hallmark of the genre is that the main character(s) face danger, often right from the start. Much of that danger, and many of the lead character’s problems, are the direct result of actions orchestrated by the antagonist.

• In thrillers, the accent is on preventing something—a death, the takeover of a country, the destruction of the world. The issues, the characters, and the story itself may seem larger than life. If the protagonist fails, the consequences could be literally world-changing. The clock is ticking.

• The protagonist, while he may be skilled, is typically not a professional or if he is, there’s a reason he’s unable to use his buddies and professional resources to defeat the antagonist. The protagonist is often compelled to act because his personal moral code says he must do what’s right, even if it costs him.

• The appeal of thrillers is the danger and seeing the bad guy thwarted. Thrillers make viewers feel anxious, allow us to test our responses to danger.

ROMANCE• Modern romances feature the relationship between the main characters. The stories may

be sweet depictions of young love.

• Romances are typically the story of how two lovers meet, woo, and finally decide to stay together. While traditional romances up to the very recent past featured a hero and heroine as co-protagonists and most stories still follow that format, romances can now include same-sex couples and multiple partners of either sex.

• While romances may have secondary plots, the main thrust is the romantic relationship of the lead characters. Modern romances almost always have a happily ever after .

• Romance encourages readers, shows us that love is possible and powerful. Viewers come to romance to see problems overcome by love.

SCIENCE-FICTION• When you think sci-fi, you probably also think future and strange new worlds, typical

elements of the science fiction genre. You could just as easily think of space travel, aliens, parallel worlds and alternate history.

• Science fiction deals with possibilities that don’t yet exist but one day might. So warp speed and travel through worm holes and terra-forming are all legitimate plot concerns for sci-fi. Sci-fi deals with advancements in science and technology and their effects on humanity.

• The particulars of societies and worlds in science fiction may be the direct result of the practices of an earlier era. So you may find a post-apocalyptic Earth or space travelers looking for a new planet if Earth was destroyed by man’s greed or stupidity. Or exploration might have led to contact with aliens, bringing several species into relationships, good and bad.

• Sci-fi takes viewers to other worlds, worlds that haven’t yet been destroyed by man. Sci-fi also lets us push our imaginations beyond the boundaries of what we can see in front of us. Sci-fi tells readers it’s okay to dream. And dream about the impossible.

FANTASY• Fantasy is often paired with science fiction, but it is different. Fantasy features

creatures or beings that don’t exist in our real world and/or includes magic or the supernatural.

• In some stories the supernatural is hidden in the real world, and the presence of mythical creatures or the use of magic is a surprise to real-world characters.

• The entire world is a fantasy world, with characters accepting magic as a matter of course. Think mythological creatures come to life. Think dragons or faeries, unicorns or elves. Think sword and sorcery. Think vampires and werewolves and shape shifters as major characters, even as protagonists.

• Like sci-fi, fantasy encourages readers to imagine new worlds and creatures. It also shows us ways to get along with those different from us.

SUB-GENREWithin a genre, there are multiple ways you can go to tell a story within the same Genre.

Example: Within a the Genre THRILLER a sub-genre could be:• Political. Think spy stories and Cold War stories. The antagonist may be out to destroy

or take over a country or direct its policies toward a certain end.

• Historical. Set in the past. Think of thrillers that feature the murders of Jack the Ripper or other real-world villains, though historical don’t have to feature recognizable individuals.

• Psychological: Deal with mind games.. What seems real may not be, may be only a character’s imagination or fears. Think a battle of wits. The antagonist works to deceive the main character or drive him crazy. Psychological thrillers can be dark, twisted, and driven by emotion.

• Technological. Think robots and computers and machines that either seek to take over the world or can be used to do so. Think too of gadgets that can defeat those other machines.

SCI-FI SUB GENRES• Aliens: This one’s pretty self-explanatory. If the novel features creatures or beings from

another planet or world, the sub-genre is aliens. The presence of aliens can be helpful or harmful to other characters.

• Time Travel: Characters typically use some kind of machine to travel either backward or forward in time. Characters may be stuck where they end up, or they may be able to travel at will.

YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENTAfter going over some examples of different types of Genres, you are all going to be given the same story scenario.

You will then randomly pick a genre and write a 5-7 page script using typical conventions from the genre you picked.

SCENARIO: Frankie Archer is your typical high school student. One day, he finds a mysterious letter from an unknown person. The letter lists the details of the location to an object that will grant the person who finds it one wish…ANY wish. This object will remain there until midnight that night. He must find the location of this magical object before a rival student does.