Genres

Comedy

Comedy is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. The aim of the film is to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are typically light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences. The comedy genre often humorously exaggerates situations, ways of speaking, or the action and characters.

The comedy genre can be considered the oldest film genre - comedy was ideal for the early silent films, as it was dependent on visual action and physical humour rather than sound. Slapstick is one of the earliest forms of comedy and it featured practical jokes, accidents and water soakings. One of the most famous examples of this is Charlie Chaplin, he was one ofthe most influential figures of thesilent era, whose screen character“The Tramp” became a globalphenomenon and remains one ofcinema's most iconic images.

Slapstick

Slapstick comedy was popular in the earliest silent films seen as though sound was not for the comedy to be effective. Slapstick films involve aggressive, physical and visual action, including harmless or painless cruelty and violence and often vulgar sight gags. TheThree Stooges is a famousexample of this form ofcomedy.

Fish-out-of-waterIn a fish-out-of-water comedy the main

character finds themselves in an unusual environment, which drives most of the humour. The Coen Brothers are known for using this technique in all of their films, though not always to comedic effect. Some films including people fitting the"fish-out-of-water" billincluding The Big Lebowskiand A Serious Man. More’obvious examples would beBig and Elf.

Parody

A parody film is a comedy that satirizes other film genres or classic films. Such films employ sarcasm, stereotyping, mockery of scenes from other films, and the obviousness of meaning in a character's actions. Anexample of this is theScream film series andShe’s All That as theyparody already existingfilms.

Black Comedy

The black comedy film deals with normally taboo subjects, including, death, murder, sexual relations, suicide and war, in a satirical manner. Examples are Burn After Reading andKeeping Mum.

Gross-outGross-out films are a relatively recent

development of the postmodern era. These films rely heavily on vulgar, sexual or “toilet” humour. Examples include Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something about Mary and the American Pie series.

Romantic ComedyThe romantic comedy sub-genre typically

involves the development of a relationship between a man and a woman. The stereotyped plot line follows the "boy-gets-girl", "boy-loses-girl", "boy gets girl back again" sequence. There are innumerable variants to this plot. This sub-genrehas developed greatly in the past 20years, most likely due to the successof When Harry Met Sally... in 1989.Other examples include You’ve GotMail and Notting Hill.

Science Fiction

Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception and time travel, often along with futuristic elements such as spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar space travel or other technologies.

The genre has existed since the early years of silent cinema, when Georges Melies' A Trip to the Moon in 1902 amazed audiences with its trick photography effects.

The next major example in the genre was the 1927 film 

Metropolis. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the genre consisted mainly of low-budget B-movies.

After Stanley Kubrick's 1968 landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey, the science fiction film genre was taken more seriously. In the late 1970s, big-budget science fiction films filledwith special effects became popular with audiences after the success of Star Wars and paved the way for the blockbuster hits of subsequent decades like The Avengers.

Drama

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, sexuality, poverty, class divisions, violence against women and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves, others and society.

At the centre of a drama film is usually acharacter who is in conflict at a crucialmoment in their lives. They often revolvearound families; films like Ordinary Peopledig under the skin of everyday life to ask bigquestions and touch on the deepest emotionsof normal people. Dramas often, but not always, have tragic or a painful resolutions and concern the survival of some tragic crisis, like the death of a family member like in Terms of Endearment, or a divorce as featured in Kramer vs Kramer. Drama films are nominated for the Academy Awards - more than any other film genre.

Sub-GenresDramatic films include a very large spectrum of film

genres. Because of the large number of drama films, these movies have been sub-categorized:

• Crime drama – Character development based on themes involving criminals, law enforcement and the legal system.

• Historical drama  – Films that focus on dramatic events in history.

• Docudrama – a docudrama uses professionally trained actors to play the roles of real events, which are "dramatized“ slightly.

Sub-Genres• Comedy-drama – is in which there is an equal, or

nearly equal balance of humour and serious content.• Melodrama – features a plot that appeals to the

heightened emotions of the audience. Melodramatic plots often deal with crises of human emotion, failed romance or friendship, strained familial situations, tragedy, illness, or emotional and physical hardship.

• Romance – films that dwell on elements of romantic love.

• Tragedy – films in which a character's downfall is caused by a flaw in their character or by a major error in judgment.

In the 2000s biopics such as Ali, 8 Mile, Ray,Walk the Line, and Milk have becomepopular among filmmakers. The Gulf Warand similar wars were an inspiration fordramatic films in war drama movies likeBlack Hawk Down and Jarhead. Despitethe drop in popularity of the romanticdramas some of them have enjoyed big box office and critical success, the controversial and

groundbreaking Brokeback Mountain, for example, won several awards. Slumdog Millionaire, a critically acclaimed romantic-drama, was been nominated for ten Academy

Awards and went on to win eight of them, including Best Picture.

ThrillerThriller is a broad genre that uses suspense,

tension and excitement as the main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror.  Conventions of this genre are things such as red herrings, plot twists and cliffhangers. A thriller is a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.

Conspiracy Thriller

The hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only they recognize. Examples include The Da Vinci Code and JFK.

Crime ThrillerThis is a hybrid type of both

crime films and thrillers thatoffers a gripping accountof a successful or failed crime. These films often focus on the criminal rather than a policeman. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists, and double-crosses. Some examples of crime thrillers involving murderers include No Country for Old Men, Silence of the Lambs. Examples of crime thrillers involving heists or robberies include Entrapment.

Political Thriller

The hero/heroine must ensure thestability of the government thatemploys him. The success of SevenDays in May in 1962 and The

Manchurian Candidate in 1959 established this sub-genre.

Examples include The Interpreter, State of Play and The Ghost Writer.

Psychological thrillerThe conflict between the main characters is

mental and emotional, not physical. Characters are dragged into a dangerous situation that they are not prepared for. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolishthe other‘s mental state. AlfredHitchcock’s films are notableexamples of the genre, such asSuspicion, Strangers on a Trainand Psycho. As are Shutter Island,Phone Booth and Panic Room.

Spy thrillerThe protagonist is typically a government agent who

must take action against rival government agents or, in the postmodern era, terrorists. The subgenre usually deals with fictional espionage in a realistic way. It is a significant aspect of British cinema with many films set in the British Secret Service. The spy film usually fuses action and science fiction, however, some spy films fallsafely in the action genre ratherthan thriller like James Bond,especially those having frequentshootouts, car chases etc. Thrillerswithin this subgenre includeHannah, Tinker Tailor SoldierSpy, The Tourist and Taken.

Supernatural thriller

The film brings in an otherworldly element (fantasy or supernatural) mixed with tension, suspense and plot twists. Sometimes the protagonist and/or villain has some psychic ability and superpowers. Examples include, The

Skeleton Key and What Lies Beneath.

Techno thriller

A suspense film in which the manipulation of sophisticated technology plays a prominent part. There typically elements of action and science fiction. Examples include Jurassic Park and I, Robot.

FantasyFantasy films usually involve magic, supernatural

events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap. Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism and the extraordinary.

In fantasy films, the hero often undergoes some kind of mystical experience and must ask for assistance from powerful, superhuman forces. Flying carpets, magic swords and spells, dragons, and ancient religious relics or objects are common elements.

As a cinematic genre, fantasy has traditionally not been regarded as highly as the related genre of science fiction. Until recently, fantasy films often suffered from inferior production values, over-the-top acting and decidedly poor special effects. These were significant factors in fantasy films’ low regard. Even 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, which did much to improve thegenre's reputation in public as wellcritical circles, was still derided insome quarters because of its comicbook-like action sequences andtongue in cheek comedy.

Since the late 1990s, however, the genre has gained new respectability in a way, driven principally by the successful adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy is notable due to its ambitious scope, serious tone and thematic complexity. These pictures achieved phenomenal commercial and critical success, and the third instalment of the trilogy becamethe first fantasy film ever to winthe Academy Award for BestPicture. The Harry Potterseries has been a tremendousfinancial success and boasts anenormous and loyal fan base.