Film genre - WikiHQ

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"set in the American West that embod[y] the spirit, the struggle and the demise of the new frontier". Pictured: Clint Eastwood in the Spaghetti Western film A Fistful of Dollars (1964).|alt=]]

A film genre is a stylistic or thematic category for motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film.

Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre criticism, film genres are usually delineated by "conventions, iconography, settings, narratives, characters and actors". One can also classify films by the tone, theme/topic, mood, format, target audience, or budget. These characteristics are most evident in genre films, which are "commercial feature films [that], through repetition and variation, tell familiar stories with familiar characters and familiar situations" in a given genre.

A film's genre will influence the use of filmmaking styles and techniques, such as the use of flashbacks and low-key lighting in film noir; tight framing in horror films; or fonts that look like rough-hewn logs for the titles of Western films. In addition, genres have associated film scoring conventions, such as lush string orchestras for romantic melodramas or electronic music for science fiction films.

With the proliferation of particular genres, film subgenres can also emerge: the legal drama, for example, is a sub-genre of drama that includes courtroom- and trial-focused films. Subgenres are often a mixture of two separate genres; genres can also merge with seemingly unrelated ones to form hybrid genres, where popular combinations include the romantic comedy and the action comedy film. Broader examples include the docufiction and docudrama, which merge the basic categories of fiction and non-fiction (documentary).

Genres are not fixed; they change and evolve over time, and some genres may largely disappear (for example, the melodrama). and the "hardboiled" detective; while those in Westerns, stock characters include the schoolmarm and the gunslinger. Regarding actors, some may acquire a reputation linked to a single genre, such as John Wayne (the Western) or Fred Astaire (the musical). Some genres have been characterized or known to use particular formats, which refers to the way in which films are shot (e.g., 35 mm, 16 mm or 8 mm) or the manner of presentation (e.g., anamorphic widescreen). A film's atmosphere includes costumes, props, locations, and the visceral experiences created for the audience. Aspects of character include archetypes, stock characters, and the goals and motivations of the central characters. Some story considerations for screenwriters, as they relate to genre, include theme, tent-pole scenes, and how the rhythm of characters' perspective shift from scene to scene.

Examples of genres and subgenres

{| class="wikitable"

|+Genres and subgenres

!Genre

!Description

!Subgenre(s)

!Examples

|Action film

|Associated with particular types of spectacle (e.g., explosions, chases, combat)

Disaster film
Heroic bloodshed: defined by stylized action sequences and themes such as duty, brotherhood, honour, redemption.
Martial arts film: focusing on the excitement and values of martial arts
Spy film: centered on the excitement and entertainment of espionage rather than political or psychological aspects.
Superhero film
War film

Commando (1985)
Die Hard (1988)
Face/Off (1997)
The Last Samurai (2003)
Pushpa: The Rise (2021)

|Adventure film

|Implies a narrative that is defined by a journey (often including some form of pursuit) and is usually located within a fantasy or exoticized setting. Typically, though not always, such stories include the quest narrative. The predominant emphasis on violence and fighting in action films is the typical difference between the two genres.

Pirate film
Swashbuckler film
Samurai film

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
Romancing the Stone (1984)
Wanted: Dead or Alive (1984)
Stardust (2007)
Jungle Cruise (2021)

|Animated film

|A film medium in which the film's images are primarily created by computer or hand and the characters are voiced by actors. Animation can incorporate any genre and subgenre.

CGI animation
Cutout animation
Live-action animated film
Stop motion film
Claymation
Traditional animation

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Toy Story (1995)
Spirited Away (2001)
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Ne Zha 2 (2025)

|Comedy film

|Defined by events that are primarily intended to make the audience laugh.

Action comedy film
Buddy comedy
Dark/black comedy film
Mockumentary
Parody film (including spoof film)
Screwball comedy
Slapstick film

Safety Last! (1923)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Caddyshack (1980)
Old School (2003)
3 Idiots (2009)

|Drama film

|Focused on emotions and defined by conflict, often looking to reality rather than sensationalism.

Docudrama
Legal drama
Medical drama
Political drama
Psychological drama
Teen drama

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Sooryavansham (1999)
Changeling (2008)

|Fantasy film

|Films defined by situations that transcend natural laws and/or by settings inside a fictional universe, with narratives that are often inspired by or involve human myths.

Found footage
Ghost films
Monster movie
Vampire films
Werewolf films
Slasher film
Splatter film
Zombie film
Supernatural horror

Frankenstein (1931)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The Exorcist (1973)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Tumbbad (2018)

|Melodrama

|A genre, mode, style or sensibility characterized by an emphasis on intense and exaggerated emotions and heightened dramatic situations. Unlike drama, melodrama functions as a code that opposes realism, exaggerating the conventions of representation and mise-en-scène to depict the emotional states of the characters.

Korean melodrama

Way Down East (1920)
Brief Encounter (1945)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Imitation of Life (1959)

|Musical film

|A genre in which songs performed by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters or may serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate "production numbers".

Jukebox musical
Sung-through musical

Singin' in the Rain (1952)
West Side Story (1961)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Secret Superstar (2017)

|Noir film

|A genre of stylish crime dramas particularly popular during the 1940s and '50s. They were often reflective of the American society and culture at the time.

Neo-noir
Horror-noir
Tech-noir
Pulp-noir
Rural-noir

The Letter (1940)
Laura (1944)
Chinatown (1974)
Blood Simple (1984)
Marco (2024)

|Pornographic film

|Pornographic films are typically categorized as either softcore or hardcore pornography. In general, softcore pornography is pornography that does not depict explicit sexual activity, sexual penetration or extreme fetishism. It generally contains nudity or partial nudity in sexually suggestive situations. Hardcore pornography is pornography that depicts penetration or extreme fetish acts, or both. It contains graphic sexual activity and visible penetration.

Erotic horror

Blue Movie (1969)
Mona the Virgin Nymph (1970)
Deep Throat (1972)
Behind the Green Door (1972)
The Devil in Miss Jones (1973)
The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976)

|Romance film

|Characterized by an emphasis on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters, with romantic love or the search for it typically being the primary focus.

Historical romance
Paranormal romance
Romantic comedy
Romantic drama
Romantic fantasy
Romantic thriller

Gone with the Wind (1939)
Casablanca (1942)
When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Ghost (1990)
Aashiqui 2 (2014)

|Science fiction film

|Films are defined by a combination of imaginative speculation and a scientific or technological premise, making use of the changes and trajectory of technology and science.

Psychological thriller
Mystery film
Techno-thriller
Political thriller

M (1931)
Deliverance (1972)
Fight Club (1999)
Runaway Jury (2003)
L2: Empuraan (2025)

|Western film

|A genre in which films are set in the American West during the 19th century.) was used to organize films according to type.

By the 1950s André Bazin was discussing the concept of "genre" by using the Western film as an example; during this era, there was a debate over auteur theory versus genre. The perceived genre of a film can change over time; for example, in the 21st century The Great Train Robbery (1903) classes as a key early Western film, but when released, marketing promoted it "for its relation to the then-popular genres of the chase film, the railroad film and the crime film".

A key reason that the early Hollywood industrial system from the 1920s to the 1950s favoured genre films is that in "Hollywood's industrial mode of production, genre movies are dependable products" to market to audiences – they were easy to produce and it was easy for audiences to understand a genre film. In the 1920s to 1950s, genre films had clear conventions and iconography, such as the heavy coats worn by gangsters in films like Little Caesar (1931).

The conventions in genre films enable filmmakers to generate them in an industrial, assembly-line fashion, an approach which can be seen in the James Bond spy-films, which all use a formula of "lots of action, fancy gadgets, beautiful woman and colourful villains", even though the actors, directors and screenwriters change. Jim Colins claims that since the 1980s, Hollywood films have been influenced by the trend towards "ironic hybridization", in which directors combine elements from different genres, as with the Western/science fiction mix in Back to the Future Part III.

Audience expectations

Many genres have built-in audiences and corresponding publications that support them, such as magazines and websites. For example, horror films have a well-established fanbase that reads horror magazines such as Fangoria. Films that are difficult to categorize into a genre are often less successful. As such, film genres are also useful in the areas of marketing, film criticism and the analysis of consumption. Hollywood story consultant John Truby states that "...you have to know how to transcend the forms [genres] so you can give the audience a sense of originality and surprise".

Some screenwriters use genre as a means of determining what kind of plot or content to put into a screenplay. They may study films of specific genres to find examples. This is a way that some screenwriters are able to copy elements of successful movies and pass them off in a new screenplay. It is likely that such screenplays fall short in originality. As Truby says, "Writers know enough to write a genre script but they haven't twisted the story beats of that genre in such a way that it gives an original face to it".

Cinema technologies are associated with genres. Huge widescreens helped Western films to create an expansive setting of the open plains and desert. Science fiction and fantasy films are associated with special effects, notably computer generated imagery (e.g., the Harry Potter films). The system was based upon the structure biologists use to analyze living beings. Williams wrote a companion book detailing his taxonomy, which claims to be able to identify all feature length narrative films with seven categorizations: film type, super genre, macro-genre, micro-genre, voice, and pathway.

Categorization

thumb|[[War film or anti-war movie: Lewis Milestone's All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930|336x336px]]

Because genres are easier to recognize than to define, academics agree they cannot be identified in a rigid way. Furthermore, different countries and cultures define genres in different ways. A typical example are war movies. In United States, they are mostly related to ones with large U.S. involvement such as World wars and Vietnam, whereas in other countries, movies related to wars in other historical periods are considered war movies.

Film genres may appear to be readily categorizable from the setting of the film. Nevertheless, films with the same settings can be very different, due to the use of different themes or moods. For example, while both The Battle of Midway and All Quiet on the Western Front are set in a wartime context and might be classified as belonging to the war film genre, the first examines the themes of honor, sacrifice, and valour, and the second is an anti-war film which emphasizes the pain and horror of war. While there is an argument that film noir movies could be deemed to be set in an urban setting, in cheap hotels and underworld bars, many classic noirs take place mainly in small towns, suburbia, rural areas, or on the open road.

The editors of filmsite.org argue that animation, pornographic film, documentary film, silent film and so on are non-genre-based film categories.

Linda Williams argues that horror, melodrama, and pornography all fall into the category of "body genres" since they are each designed to elicit physical reactions on the part of viewers. Horror is designed to elicit spine-chilling, white-knuckled, eye-bulging terror; melodramas are designed to make viewers cry after seeing the misfortunes of the onscreen characters; and pornography is designed to elicit sexual arousal. This approach can be extended: comedies make people laugh, tear-jerkers make people cry, feel-good films lift people's spirits and inspiration films provide hope for viewers.

Eric R. Williams (no relation to Linda Williams) argues that all narrative feature-length films can be categorized as one of eleven "super genres" (action, crime, fantasy, horror, romance, science fiction, slice of life, sports, thriller, war and Western). For example, according to Williams, a film like Blazing Saddles could be categorized as a comedy (type) Western (super-genre) musical (voice), while Anomalisa is a drama (type) Slice of Life (super-genre) animation (voice). Williams has created a seven-tiered categorization for narrative feature films called the Screenwriters Taxonomy.

Film in the context of history

In order to understand the creation and context of each film genre, we must look at its popularity in the context of its place in history. For example, the 1970s Blaxploitation films have been called an attempt to "undermine the rise of Afro-American's Black consciousness movement" of that era. Film genres such as film noir and Western film reflect values of the time period. While film noir combines German expressionist filming strategies with post World War II ideals; Western films focused on the ideal of the early 20th century. Films such as the musical were created as a form of entertainment during the Great Depression allowing its viewers an escape during tough times. So when watching and analyzing film genres we must remember to remember its true intentions aside from its entertainment value.

Over time, a genre can change through stages: the classic genre era; the parody of the classics; the period where filmmakers deny that their films are part of a certain genre; and finally a critique of the entire genre.