FILM GENRES

Cinematography 2

ASSIGNMENT
1) Watch a )ilm from one of the classic )ilm

genres that we discuss in class. Take notes as

you watch the )ilm and be prepared to answer
the re)lection questions regarding your )ilm on
the sheet provided.
2) Pay special attention to the characteristics of
the )ilm that meet the criteria for the )ilm genre.
Begin brainstorming ideas for a short )ilm ()ive
minutes or less) that matches your chosen
genre
In Storyboard That, begin to sketch out your
idea for a short )ilm. Take into consideration
your limitations- actors, props, location, in class
)ilming time. Identify what genre and sub-genre
you will be imitating.
3) Re)lect on these questions
How does the genre affect the production
of a )ilm?
How do different )ilm genres manipulate
reality ?
For whom is it made? How does it address
its audience?
What outside in)luences can we perceive in
terms of )inance, ownership, institution,
and sociocultural context?

MATCHING CINEMATOGRAPHY TO MOVIE GENRES

The "look" of a film is dependent

on eective cinematography, and
that look is vital in conveying
movie genre. Establishing genre
quickly helps an audience know
what to expect in a film. A
couple elements of
cinematography that come into
play to indicate genre are:

Lighting

Composition

Camera movement

Lenses

LIGHTING AND COMPOSITION TO IDENTIFY GENRES

Step 1: Light the Shot: Lighting is an obvious key in several genres, but perhaps it's
easier to recognize in particular ones. In musicals, the lighting is generally bright,
sometimes called "high-key" lighting. This results in a bright mood, which is not unusual
for most classic musicals. Conversely, darkness and shadows are typical in horror and
suspense films. Film noir uses this technique to an extreme, implying that things are
happening in the shadows. For drama, it depends on the mood of the particular piece, but
it's typically naturalistic.

Step 2: Compose the Shot: Composition deals with how you place things before the
lens. Where things go in the frame makes a dierence. In musicals, it's wide shots that
play big. They're open and uncluttered. In horror or suspense films, every detail is
important. They use a lot of close ups, because close-up's can show importance and
heighten emotion. For film noir, there's things that are close, and there are things that are
distant; that is, there's a great deal of depth of field. To accomplish this, most filmmakers
use shorter lenses that keep both foreground and background in focus at the same time.
Drama uses lots of cuts; rather than having lots in the frame to show everything
important, filmmakers just cut to whatever is important.

CAMERA MOVEMENTS AND LENSES TO IDENTIFY GENRES

Step 3: Move the Camera- Since the motion is motivated by music, musicals utilize carefully
choreographed camera moves to go with the carefully choreographed dances. There's a fluid
nature to the genre, and filmmakers work hard to make it look easy. In suspense films and film
noir, movement is minimal, as it adds to the suspense. Sometimes audiences feel
uncomfortable because they want the camera to move, or they're aware of something going on
just outside the frame.

Drama uses camera movements typically in three ways: horizontally, vertically or in

combination. For horizontal movement, filmmakers use a simple pan or dolly tracks. Dolly
tracks are useful in moving in or out, too. For vertical movement, it is typically a tilt up or
down. To combine vertical and horizontal movement, usually a crane or a jib-boom is used,
that allows the camera to move left, right, up, down or diagonally.

Step 4: Use Lens and Focus Creatively- For bright musicals, (most of the time) the shots
will be sharply focused. For suspense, much of the time the camera will have a soft focus, but
there's another popular technique used: the rack focus. A rack focus can have something
important in the foreground in focus, then it may "rack" (or shift the focus) to someone in the
distant background who may be the suspect-or the next victim. Dramas often use zoom-ins
and zoom-outs.

THE SILENT FILM

Characteristics: These are the films of the early era that were without
synchronized sound, from the earliest film (around 1891), until the first
'talkie', The Jazz Singer (1927) was produced.Calling them silent films is
something of a misnomer - movie theaters provided pianists, wurlitzers, and
other sound machines, and some films were produced with complete musical
scores. Most early silents were accompanied with a full-fledged orchestra,
organist or pianist to provide musical background and to underscore the
narrative on the screen. Some even had live actors or narrators.

Silent Film Genre Sub-types: Many early silent films were either dramas,
epics, romances, or comedies (often slapstick). One-reelers (10-12 minutes)
soon gave way to four-reel feature-length films.

Film Examples: Lumiere Brothers First Films, A Trip to the Moon, The Gold Rush,
The Kid, City Lights, Steamboat Bill, Jr., Metropolis, Nosferatu, Modern Times, The
Ten Commandments

CITY LIGHTS
Silent Film

THE MUSICAL

Characteristics: Musical/dance films are cinematic forms that

emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant
way (usually with a musical or dance performance integrated as part of
the film narrative), or they are films that are centered on combinations
of music, dance, song or choreography

Musical Genre Sub-types: Animated, Backstage Musicals (making

of), Beach Party Films, Musical Biographies, Broadway Show Musicals,
Comedy Musicals, Concert Films, Dance Films, Dramatic Musicals,
Fairy-tale Musicals, Film-Opera, Hip-Hop Films, Operettas, Rockumentary, Romantic Musicals, Show-Biz Comedy, Western Musicals

Film Examples: Singin in the Rain, On the Town, The Wizard of Oz, West
Side Story, Hard Days Night, Grease, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mamma
Mia, Chicago, High School Musical.

SINGIN IN THE RAIN

The Musical

THE COMEDY

Characteristics: Comedies are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately

designed to amuse and provoke laughter (with one-liners, jokes, etc.) by
exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters.

Comedy Genre Sub-types: Action, Animals, Black Comedies (Dark Humor),

British Humor, Comedy Thrillers, Comic Criminals (Home Alone), Coming of
Age, Crime/Caper Comedies, Deadpan, Dumb Comedies, Fairy Tale, Family,
Farce, Fish-out-of-water, Gross-out, Horror Comedies (Scream), Lampoon,
Meet-Cute" Screwball or Romantic Comedies (Rom-Com), Mock-umentary
(Fake Documentary such as Best in Show or A Mighty Wind), Musical Comedies,
Parenthood, Parody, Satire, School Days, Screwball, Slacker, Slapstick, SocialClass, Spoofs, Stand-Up, Supernatural Comedies (Aliens Attack), Teen, War,
Western, Zombie Comedies

Film Examples: Duck Soup, Bringing Up Baby, Some Like It Hot, Dr. Strangelove,
Whats Up, Doc?, Annie Hall, When Harry Met Sally, Fargo, Monty Python, The
Producers, The Jerk, Anchorman, A Fish Called Wanda

THE JERK
The Comedy

THE WESTERN

Characteristics:Westerns are the 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 (six-guns, horses, dusty towns and trails, cowboys,
Indians, etc.). Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and
expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed.

Western Genre Sub-types: Animal, Biographies, Cattle Drive, Cavalry,

Comedy Westerns, Euro-Westerns, Frontier, Gunfighters, Historical, Hybrid
Westerns (with horror, noir, road movie, martial arts, etc.), Indian War or
Indian Westerns, Military, Modern Western, Musical Western, Outlaws,
Revenge, Romantic Westerns, Science-Fiction Western, Shootout, Spaghetti
Western, Spoof Western

Film Examples: Stagecoach, Red River, The Searchers, Shane, High Noon, 3:10 to
Yuma, Unforgiven, Blazing Saddles, Dances with Wolves, The Lone Ranger, The Good,
the Bad, and The Ugly, The Last of the Mohicans, Django Unchained, There Will be Blood

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

The Western

COMBAT FILM

Characteristics:War (and anti-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 for the action of the film.

Combat Genre Sub-types: War films are often paired with other
genres, such as action, adventure, drama, romance, comedy (black),
suspense, and even epics and westerns, and they often take a
denunciatory approach toward warfare. They may include POW
tales, stories of military operations, and training.

Film Examples: Bataan, Sergeant York, Sands of Iwo Jima, Stalag 17,
Paths of Glory, The Great Escape, Jarhead, Lone Survivor, Zero Dark
Thirty, Black Hawk Down, The Hurt Locker.

THE HURT LOCKER

The Combat Film

THE DOCUMENTARY

Characteristics:Documentary Films strictly speaking, are non-fictional, "slice of life" factual works
of art - and sometimes known as cinema verite. For many years, as films became more narrativebased, documentaries branched out and took many forms since their early beginnings - some of
which have been termed propagandistic or non-objective.

Documentary Genre Sub-types: 'biographical' films about a living or dead person, a well-known
event (Waco, Texas incident, the Holocaust, the Shackleton expedition to the Antarctic), a concert
or rock festival (Woodstock (1970) and Gimme Shelter (1970), Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)), a
comedy show (Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy shows), a live performance (Cuban musicians as in
Buena Vista Social Club (1998), or the stage show Cirque du Soleil-Journey of Man (2000)), a
sociological or ethnographic examination following the lives of individuals over a period of time
(Michael Apted's series of films: 28 Up (1984), 35 Up (1992) and 42 Up (1999)) an expose
including interviews (Michael Moore's social concerns films), a sports documentary (extreme
sports, such as Extreme (1999) or To the Limit (1989)), a compilation film of collected footage from
government sources, a 'making of' film (such as the one regarding the filming of Apocalypse Now
(1979)) an examination of a specific subject area (e.g., nature- or science-related themes, or
historical surveys, such as The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball, or World War II, etc.) spoof
documentaries, termed 'mockumentaries' (such as This is Spinal Tap (1984) and Best in Show (2000))
,

Film Examples: Endless Summer, On Any Sunday, Sicko, Dogtown and Z-Boys, Riding Giants, Step Into
Liquid, Dust to Glory,When We Were Kings (1996), A Brief History of Time, Hoop Dreams

A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME

Documentary Films

FILM NOIR

Characteristics: Film noir (meaning 'black film') is a distinct branch of

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. However, film noir has not been exclusively confined to
this era, and has re-occurred in cyclical form in other years in various
neo-noirs. Noirs are usually black and white films with primary moods
of melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment,
pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia. And
they often feature a cynical, loner hero (anti-hero) and femme fatale, in a
seedy big city.

Film Examples: Sunset Boulevard, The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity,

The Third Man, The Big Sleep, The Big Heat, Detour, Touch of Evil, Citizen
Kane

CITIZEN KANE
Film Noir

THE SUSPENSE FILM

Characteristics:Thrillers are often hybrids with other genres - there

are action-thrillers, crime-caper thrillers, western-thrillers, film-noir
thrillers, even romantic comedy-thrillers. Another closely-related
genre is the horror film genre. Thriller and suspense films are
virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations. They 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.

Suspense Genre Sub-types: Action, Crime-Caper, Western, Film

Noir, Romantic Comedy, Spy

Film Examples: Diabolique, Vertigo, Rear Window, Rope, Wait Until

Dark, Duel, Chinatown, Laura, The Usual Suspects, The Big Sleep

REAR WINDOW
The Suspense Film

THE DRAMA

Characteristics:Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic

characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and
interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special-eects, comedy, or action, Dramatic
films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets.

Drama Genre Sub-types: Adaptations, Based upon True Stories, Addiction and/or
Alcoholism, Adventure, Americana, Autobiographies/Biographies, "Chick" Flicks or "GuyCry" Films, Christmas Films, Coming-of-Age, Courtroom Dramas, Crime Dramas, Diary
Films, Disease/Disability, Disaster, Docu-dramas, Ethnic Family Saga, Spy Films, Feminist,
Gay and Lesbian, Generation Gap, High School, Holiday Film, Inspirational, Investigative
Reporting, Legal/Courtroom, Life Story, Literary Adaptation, Love, Medical, Melodramas
(Tearjerkers, or Weepies), Musical Drama, Odd Couple, Period Film, Police Drama,
Presidential Politics or Political Dramas, Prison Drama, Psychological Drama, Race
Relations/Inter-racial Themes, Religious, Resistance, Reunion, Romantic, Showbiz Dramas,
Soap Opera, Social Problem/Social Commentaries, Small-town Life, Sports Dramas or
Biopics, Supernatural, Teen (or Youth) Films, Tragedy, Urban Drama

Film Examples: On the Waterfront, Seven Samurai, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Bridge
Over the River Kwai, Fury, The Accused, A Few Good Men, Primary Colors, The Best Years of our Lives

A FEW GOOD MEN

The Drama

ACTION FILM

Characteristics: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.), non-stop motion,
spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous, often two-dimensional 'goodguy' heroes (or recently, heroines) battling 'bad guys' - all designed for pure
audience escapism. The Adventure Film is very similar and often paired with the
action film genre and can include traditional swashbucklers, serialized films, and
historical spectacles, searches or expeditions for lost continents, "jungle" and
"desert" epics, treasure hunts, disaster films, or searches for the unknown.

Action Genre Sub-types: Action Combat, Aviation, Anti-War, Blaxploitation,

Civil War, Combat, Escape, Espionage, Historical, Martial Arts, Military,
Prisoner of War (POW)/Escape, Propaganda, Resistance, Spy, Superhero, War
Epic, War Romance

Film Examples: James Bond Franchise, Lawrence of Arabia, The Dark Knight, Hancock,
The Bourne Franchise, Mortal Kombat, Die Hard, Tomb Raider, Gangs of New York

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

Action Film

THE CRIME FILM

Characteristics: Crime (gangster) films are developed around the

sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bankrobbers,
underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law,
stealing and murdering their way through life. Criminal and gangster
films are often categorized as film noir or detective-mystery films - because of
underlying similarities between these cinematic forms. This category
includes a description of various 'serial killer' films.

Crime Genre Sub-types: 'Bad Girl' Movies, Blaxploitation, Buddy Cop,

Cops & Robbers, Courtroom Drama, Crime Comedy or Drama,
Detective/Mysteries, Espionage, Femme Fatales, Film Noir, Gangs, Heist,
Juvenile Delinquency, Law and Order (or Legal), Lovers on the Run, Road
Films

Film Examples: Diabolique, Vertigo, Rear Window, Rope, Wait Until Dark,
Duel, The Godfather, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, The Roaring Twenties, White Heat

GOODFELLAS
The Crime Film

THE EPIC FILM

Characteristics:Epics include costume dramas, historical dramas, war films,

medieval romps, or 'period pictures' that often cover a large expanse of time set
against a vast, panoramic backdrop. Epics often share elements of the elaborate
adventure films genre. Epics take an historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary,
or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied
by grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, high production values, and a sweeping
musical score. Epics are often a more spectacular, lavish version of a biopic film.
Some 'sword and sandal' films (Biblical epics or films occurring during antiquity)
qualify as a sub-genre.

Suspense Genre Sub-types: Alternate History (What if?), Biblical, British

Empire, Dark Ages, Greek Myth, Historical or Biographical Epics (Biopics), Indian
History, Literary Adaptation, Medieval (Dark Ages), 'Period Pictures, Religious,
Roman Empire, Romantic Epic, Sword and Sandal, War or Westerns (Epic)

Film Examples: Gone with the Wind, Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, Lincoln, Noah, The
Ten Commandments, Titanic

LINCOLN
The Epic Film

THE HORROR FILM

Characteristics: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 cathartic
experience. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to
today's CGI monsters and deranged humans. They are often combined with science fiction when the
menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens.

Suspense Genre Sub-types: B-Movie Horror, Cannibalism/Cannibal Films, Classic Horror,

Costume Horror, Creature Features, Demons or Demonic Possession, Dracula, Found Footage,
Frankenstein (or other Mad Scientists), Ghosts, Gore, Gothic, Haunted House/Hauntings,
Halloween, Horror Comedy (Humorous), Macabre, Man-Made Horrors, Monsters, Natural Horror,
Occult, Older-Woman-In-Peril Films ("Psycho-Biddy", aka 'Hag Horror' or Hagsploitation'),
Paranormal, Post-Apocalyptic (or Apocalyptic) Horror, Psychic Powers, Psychological Horror,
Reincarnation, Sadistic Horror, Satanic Stories, Sci-Fi Horror, Serial Killers, Slashers or "Splatter"
Films, Supernatural, Survival Horror, Teen Terror ("Teen Screams), Vampires, Witchcraft, Wolves,
Werewolves, Zombies

Cinematography techniques for horror films: http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/

cinematography-tips-for-horror-filmmakers/

Film Examples: Diabolique, Vertigo, Rear Window, Rope, Wait Until Dark, Duel, Scream, Nightmare on Elm
Street, Halloween, Silence of the Lambs, The Blair Witch Project, The Exorcist, Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

Horror Film

THE SCI-FI

Characteristics: Sci-fi films are often quasi-scientific, visionary and imaginative - complete with heroes,
aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy
villains, futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters ('things or
creatures from space'), either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. They are sometimes an
oshoot of fantasy films (or superhero films), or they share some similarities with action/adventure films.
Science fiction often expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind and easily overlaps with
horror films, particularly when technology or alien life forms become malevolent, as in the "Atomic Age" of
sci-fi films in the 1950s.

Suspense Genre Sub-types: Action or Adventure, Alien Invasion, Aliens, Extra-Terrestrial Encounters,
Anime, AI (Artificial Intelligence), Atomic Age, Classic Sci-Fi, Creature Films, Disaster, Dystopic or
Dystopia, End of World, Exploration, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, "First Contact, Futuristic (or Future Noir),
Galactic Empire, Lost Worlds, Mad Scientists, Militaristic, Monsters and Mutants, Mythic Fables or
Mythology, Natural Horror, Near Future, Other Dimensions, Outer Space, Parallel (or Alternate) Universe,
Post-Apocalyptic (or Apocalyptic), Pre-historic, Psychological Sci-Fi, Pulp, Punk Sci-Fi (i.e., Steam Punk,
Nano Punk, Atom Punk, Cyber Punk, etc.), Religious or Theological, Robots, Cyborgs and Androids, Sci-Fi
Comedies/Horror/Thrillers, Space Opera, Space or Sci-Fi Westerns, Speculative, Star Trek, Super-Hero
Films, Supernatural, Tech-Noir, Time or Space Travel, Virtual Reality

Film Examples: Frankenstein, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, E.T.- The Extra Terrestial, Alien. Blade Runner, The
Terminator, Back to the Future, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Blade Runner, Jurassic Park, Total Recall, Interstellar

E.T.-THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL

Sci-Fi Film

ANIMATION

Characteristics:Animation is more of a medium than a film

genre in and of itself; as a result, animated movies can run the
gamut of traditional genres with the only common factor being
that they dont rely predominantly on live action footage.
Animated movies can be loosely divided into 2D and 3D
animations, with the following techniques distinguishing them
further.

Suspense Genre Sub-types: Traditional, Rotoscoping, Puppet,

Claymation, Live Action, Animation, Cutout, 2D CGI, 3D CGI

Film Examples: Lord of the Rings, Coraline, Wallace and Grommit,

Space Jam, Fantastic Planet, Chicken Run, Paperman, Frozen, Toy
Story, Up

CHICKEN RUN
Animation