Genre research

Film genres are identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of films that have similar techniques or conventions such as content, subject matter, structures, themes, mood, situations, narrative events, styles and recurring icon. There are sub genres which are identifiable sub-classes within the larger film genre, with their own distinctive subject matter, style, formulas and iconography and there are primary genres.

Primary film genres include the following:

• Action Films- usually include high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, races against time and crises featuring non-stop motion
• Adventure Films- exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales, very similar to or often paired with the Action film genre
• 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.
• Musicals- cinematic forms that emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant way, or they are films that are focused on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography.
• Science Fiction- often visionary and imaginative- complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, quests, fantastic places, new technology, and extraordinary monsters.
• 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 action for the film.
• Westerns- major defining genre of the American film industry- a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier. They are one of the oldest, most enduring genres with very recognizable plots, elements and characters.
• Epics-take an historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, dramatic scope and high production scope.
• Dramas- serious, plot-driven films, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction.
• Crime Films- feature the sinister actions of criminals, mobsters, bank robbers, underworld figures, and ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life.
• Comedy Films- light hearted plots deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter by exaggerating the situation, language, action, relationships and characters.

This YouTube video gives a good understanding of the different genres within film and it gives examples with different clips from movies which makes it easier to understand. This video also allowed to know different movies that I could use as examples for genres.