Movie Score Basics Scene Mood Setting Funny Vs Serious

Definition of Film Genres

Film Genres: Film genres are various forms or identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of films. (Genre comes from the French word meaning "kind," "category," or "type"). Genres provide a convenient way for scriptwriters and film-makers to produce, cast and structure their narratives within a manageable, well-defined framework (to speak a common 'language'). Genres also offer the studios an easily 'marketable' product, and give audiences satisfying, expected and predictable choices.

Genres refers to recurring, repeating and similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, styles, themes, syntax, templates, paradigms, motifs, rules or generic conventions that include some of the following:

Components of Film Genres

1. The creation of a characteristic SETTING or PERIOD: - modern day - specific decade or year - historical or fictional - urban/rural, etc. with various stereotypes, props, or icons	Horror: Dark and isolated foreboding places and unexplained things, located in forests or woods, out-of-the-way camp grounds or areas (off the beaten path), graveyards or cemeteries, basements, attics, spooky castles, haunted houses, abandoned buildings or structures, locked doors to remote rooms
	Sci-Fi: Outer space, in a planetary system or on a planet, or in the future or parallel universe or dimension, or in a virtual world, or during time travel, with laser blasters and spaceships, aliens, etc.
	Sports: Sports arenas or other venues (track, football baseball or soccer field, boxing ring, race track, basketball or tennis courts, etc.), with teams, athletes, referees, judges, coaches and competition or combat displaying physical skill or endurance, crowds and audiences and fans
	War: battlefields or war zones, with bomber planes and tanks, involved in naval, air, or land battles; spy activities, also includes scenes with soldiers either at war or on the homefront, or in basic training (preparation for fighting), or POW camps
	Westerns: on the frontier, small towns, ranches, during cattle-drives, in Native-American villages, with stagecoaches, saloons, horses, six-shooters or revolvers, rifles, Stetson hats, bandannas, spurs, and buckskins, and ten-gallon hats
2. The use of CHARACTERS (or stock characterizations):	Comedy: the nerd, the wise-cracker, the jock, geek, or token minority, buddies, gay best friend
	Crime: the hard-boiled detective or private eye, police officer, gangsters, hoodlums, criminals, robbers, murderers, a mob boss, inmates, fugitives, a gun-for-hire, jewel robbers, arms or drug dealers, car thieves, con artists, unforgettable villain(s)
	Horror: zombies, werewolves, vampires, ghosts or serial killers, slashers, witches, predators, mad scientists, demons, shape-shifters, monstrous or giant creatures, supernatural forces, large numbers or masses of something dangerous (or harmless)
	Sci-Fi: aliens or monsters/killers, space or time travelers (astronauts, starship pilots, explorers, etc.), superheroes, mutants, robots (cyborgs, androids, bionic humans, humanoids, etc.), space pirates, clones or replicants
	Sports: the underdog, athletes, superstars, the jock vs. the brain, the coach, the team, reenactments or docu-dramas of real-life sports figures or events (or of fictional ones)
	Westerns: outlaws and cowboys, drifters, rustlers, a cattle ranch empire or RR baron-owner, the cavalry, homesteaders, bounty hunters, the Marshal or Sheriff, stereotypical 'heroic saviors' or 'good guys', saloon characters
3. The use of REPRESENTATIVE CONTENT and SUBJECT MATTER: (the storyline, themes, narrative or plot) resonant with other films in the genre category	Action: the chase or pursuit sequence or extended fight scene (sometimes in slo-mo), gun violence, race against time, various life-threatening situations, a mad killer on the loose, a bigger-than-life brawny and/or heroic action character, high body counts, display of martial arts, extensive stunts, mindless violence (secondary character development) and use of CGI
	Comedy: witty dialogue, spoofs, parodies (i.e. Mel Brooks, Airplane! (1980), the Scream trilogy), gross-out humor and slapstick (pratfalls, sight-gags), clownish comedies with central comic figure(s) (Marx Bros., Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Mae West, Martin & Lewis, Bob Hope, Harold Lloyd, Danny Kaye, Robin Williams, Woody Allen, Will Ferrell, Pee-Wee Herman, Eddie Murphy, etc.), rites of passage, fish-out-of-water, mistaken identity, traditional dating rituals (will he/she or won't he/she?), cross-dressing, 'screwball' comedies, romantic comedies, sex comedies, black comedies (absurdist situations)
	Crime: who-dun-its, heists or capers, robberies, rival gangs, police procedurals, the FBI, an avenging detective, arch-villains, organized crime and criminal syndicates, gangster and mob family tales, hit-men, gang-race warfare, bootlegging, counter-cultural heroes, tension with a ticking clock, real-life criminal portraits, violence and nihilism
	Horror: fear inducing situations, the 'final girl' survivor, urban legends, ghost stories, the mysterious and unknown, revenge beyond the grave, the paranormal and occult, bloody gore and torture with killing instruments, survival-horror, possessions, exorcism, "found-footage" tales, body violations, death during sex, horror in abandoned or run-down places, buried alive, serial killings, good vs. evil, psychological terror
	Melodramas: the self-sacrificial maternal figure, family crises, suffering, emotional conflict, terminal illness or death, loss, broken or failed relationships, overwrought emotions, tragedy, unrequited love, toxic friendships
	Musicals: singing (solos, duets, choruses, ensembles) and dancing, 'putting on a show', spectacular stage productions with beautiful costuming, orchestra or band accompaniment, often with a romantic subplot
	Romance: stages of courtship, 'falling in love' and the subsequent break-up and reconciliation, forbidden love, searching for love, Cyrano tales, sacrificial love, true love, fairy tales, love at 'first sight', love triangles, "weepies", unconditional love, escapist dramas, romantic comedies (identity switches)
	Sci-Fi: interstellar travel, 'space operas', doomsday and apocalyptic scenarios after an eco- or nuclear disaster, invasion of Earth by hostile aliens (or other creatures), extensive visual effects
	War: combat or war scenarios, including actual battle conflict or traing and preparation for war between nations or factions; also POW situations, spy or Resistance fighter activities, veterans vs. rookies, tight-knit teams or groups of soldiers, conflict against incredible odds, PTSD, fight or flight scenarios, generals in war rooms or on battlefield, men on a heroic mission, victory or defeat
	Westerns: conflicts between native Americans and frontier encroachments or US cavalry, hero (white hat) vs. villains or outlaws (black hat) plots, 'spaghetti' westerns; 'revisionist' westerns, B-westerns, musical and comedy westerns, cattle drives
4. The use of FILMING TECHNIQUES AND FORMATS:	camera angles (use of low and high angles) and shooting style (hand-held or stationary, POV, or 'found footage') lighting (high-key, or low/dark lighting) the style of editing (length of edits, use of jump cuts) color schemes make-up and costuming (use of blood, masks, special effects)
5. The use of MUSIC AND AUDIO: - to enhance or emphasize various characteristics - to advance the plot - to create a mood or atmosphere (danger, adventure, laughter, fear, sensual, excitement)	Romance or Comedy: upbeat Horror: foreboding, eerie Drama: depressing, dramatic Sci-Fi: other-worldly