Film Genres

In film theory  genre  refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed. Films were not really subjected to genre analysis by film historians until the 1970s. All films have at least one major genre.

Film genres can be categorized in several ways. They are 

1.    The  environment or setting where the story and action takes place, 

2.    The theme or topic refers to the issues or concepts that the film revolves around. 

3.    The mood is the emotional tone of the film. 

4.    The Format refers to the way the film was shot or the manner of presentation (e.g.: 35 mm,16 mm or 8 mm).  and 

5.    The target audience. 

Listed below are some of the most common and identifiable film genre categories, / type or category.

Action films 
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. A major sub-genre is the disaster film.

Adventure films
Adventure films are usually exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales, very similar to or often paired with the action film genre. 

Thriller

Thriller and suspense films are  types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. The acclaimed Master of Suspense is Alfred Hitchcock. 

Dramatic films

Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets. Melodramas,epics,historical dramas or romantic  genres. Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction.

Horror films
 Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from  CGI monsters to deranged humans. The fantasy and super natural  film genres are not usually synonymous with the horror genre. There are many sub-genres of horror: teen terror, serial killers, Satanic, etc. Horror films are 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 purifying experience.

Crime (gangster)

Crime (gangster) films are developed around the sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hood who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life.  This category includes a description of various 'serial killer' films.

Comedies

Comedies are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter jokes, etc. by exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters. This section describes various forms of comedy    including slapstick,   and parodies, romantic comedies, black comedy, and more

                                      

Biopics
Biopics' is a term derived from the combination of the words "biography" and "pictures." They are a sub-genre of the larger drama and epic film genres, These films depict the life of an important historical personage (or group) from the past or present era

Sci-fi films

Sci-fi films are often quasi-scientific, visionary and imaginative - complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters, either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. Science fiction often expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind

 Film noir 

Film noir (meaning 'black film') is a distinct branch of the crime or gangster  the crime/gangster sagas from the 1930s. Strictly speaking, film noir is not a genre, but rather the mood, style or tone of various American films that evolved in the 1940s, and lasted in a classic period until about 1960.  film noir, or suspense or thriller films that focus on the unsolved crime usually the murder or disappearance of one or more of the characters, or a theft, and on the central character - the hard-boiled detective-hero, as he/she meets various adventures and challenges in the cold and methodical pursuit of the criminal or the solution to the crime.

Fantasy films
Fantasy films, usually considered a sub-genre, are most likely to overlap with the film genres of science fiction and horror, although they are distinct. They often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, and the extraordinary. One of the major categories of fantasy-action films are the super-hero movies, based quite often on an original comic-strip or comic book character. They may appeal to both children and adults, depending upon the particular film.

Road films

The on-the-road plot was used at the birth of American cinema but blossomed in the years after World War II, reflecting a boom in automobile production and the growth of youth culture. Even so, awareness of the "road picture" as a genre came only in the 1960s A road film is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. The genre has its roots in spoken and written tales of epic journeys.

The Motorcycle Diaries:The Motorcycle Diaries  is a 2004 biopic about the journey and written memoir of the 23-year-old Ernesto Guevara, who would several years later become internationally known as the iconic Marxist guerrilla commander and revolutionary Che Guevara.

War and Anti-War Films
War and Anti-War Films provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. Typical elements in the action-oriented war plots include  camp experiences and escapes,  personal heroism . Themes explored in war films include combat, survivor and escape stories, tales of gallant sacrifice and struggle, studies of the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and intelligent and profound explorations of the moral and human issues.

War films can also make political statements - unpopular wars (such as the Vietnam War and the Iraq War), have generated both supportive and critical films about the conflict  

Holocaust Films:

Steven Spielberg's award-winning epic   Schindler's List (1993) presented the devastating story of the Holocaust through the actions of womanizing German industrialist/war profiteer Oscar Schindler (Liam Neeson) who saved a thousand Jewish lives. Spielberg And exiled Best Director Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002), with a Best Actor Oscar for lead actor Adrien Brody, was the harrowing story of survival for Jewish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman during the Holocaust.

War films are often paired with other genres, such s romance, comedy (black), and suspense-thrillers.  War films as a major film genre emerged after the outbreak of World War I

 

Musical/dance films

Musical/dance films are cinematic forms that emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant way. This films are centered on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography. Major sub genres include the musical comedy or the concert film. 

Sports Films
Sports Films are those that have a sports setting (football or baseball stadium, arena, or the Olympics, etc.), competitive event or athlete that are central and predominant in the story.